A digital magazine on sexuality, based in the Global South: We are working towards cultivating safe, inclusive, and self-affirming spaces in which all individuals can express themselves without fear, judgement or shame
Trying to live up to the expectations of those you care about isn’t easy! Li Chenxi is 27 years old and has been facing pressure from her family to get married. She herself has no such desire and is fine with the way she lives; but to keep those she cares about happy she, like so many of us, finds a creative way to sustain her mum’s fantasy!
In the Chinese province of Yunnan, ‘early marriage’ is a common phenomenon. Dearth of employment opportunities compels parents to marry off their children before leaving for work in bigger cities. The cultural trend favours early marriage, so there is no social stigma attached to it.
China’s family-planning policy was first introduced in the late 1970s to rein in the surging population by limiting most urban couples to one child and most rural couples to two children, if the first child born was a girl.