China
Raymond Zhou
Chinese parents put a lot of pressure on their sons, said Raymond Zhou in Beijing’s China Daily. They expect their boys to “marry and bear children, preferably as early as possible.” Any son who comes home from university for the Lunar New Year without a fiancée on his arm is a sore disappointment. That’s why some young men have taken to renting New Year’s dates. They pay young women to travel to their home village and impress the folks. Elderly social commentators denounce the trend as immoral. Presumably they’re afraid that the faux couple might actually engage in some kind of physical contact, and that the whole arrangement could amount to “prostitution” thinly disguised. But there’s a more modern reason to oppose these rent-a-dates. Don’t we want to bring our parents into the 21st century? Faking an engagement only encourages the folks to keep “observing old customs” instead of “thinking for the benefit of their children.” Until we’re allowed to admit we’re not ready for marriage, “nobody will be enlightened.”
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