Chinese men believe that the husband should be more intelligent and successful than the wife so that the couple may enjoy the bliss of a long married life. According to a saying, man should be talented while woman should be a beautiful flower pot. The male view in general is that a working woman will never be a good wife while the ideal wife is a housewife.
Therefore, a steadily increasing number of working women in the country are finding it hard to get a suitable spouse. With millions of women going out for work, they can now afford to buy cars. Their lifestyles have undergone radical changes. One or two generations ago, a girl would be married off when she was 15. Men today are compelled to adapt to women’s new roles following the clamping of severe restrictions on the number of children they are permitted to have. Under the new system, employed women are turning to friendship agencies and websites to find the kind of man they would like to live with.
A successful friendship agency owner says that since Chinese men are suspicious of successful women, they have to suffer more than working women in the West. Several of them have now learned to live a single life, spending money lavishly on luxuries and shopping and enjoying life in that sense.
The Sunday Telegraph of UK recently quoted a Chinese newspaper report which said a 32-year-old woman in China advertised for a male baby-sitter for her infant son. Soon some readers wrote to her warning her that she would not get him because no man would be willing to work for a woman. In fact, the woman received more than 300 applications for the position. The explanation is that in southwestern China, a monthly salary of 80 sterling pounds is considered very good.
A recent Canadian study revealed that fat women stood a greater risk of weakening their intellectual powers and thinking slowly than thin women. The report said the fat ones were more sensitive to pain and had a reduced capacity to endure pain.
Researchers at a Canadian university undertook the study by observing 38,000 samples consisting of both men and women. Their weight, gender, smoking habits and educational qualifications were also considered in the study which found that most men dismissed the overweight issue as nothing more than a matter of embarrassment.
On the other hand, women in general believed that increased weight had a bad influence on health because of high levels of sugar or blood pressure. The researchers also emphasized the need for doctors considering overweight an illness which adversely affected the people’s daily life and the mental state.
In a similar study, it was found that the rise in obesity in most countries was linked to watching TV programs or working at computers over a long period. According to the study, one out of every eight men and six women suffered from overweight. It also warned that more than one-third of women and one-fourth of men showed a tendency to increase their weight steadily.
The study explained that the cause for the increase in obesity in recent years was mainly lazy habits and inadequate physical exercise in addition to sitting for long periods watching television and computer screens. The researchers also believed that the habit of spending long hours in front of TV and computers has become widespread because of the lack of awareness on the part of people about the health hazards linked to the practices.
The study which used 2,000 children noted that the average weight of children increased from 54 kg in the 1980s to 60 kg this year and that the children of the present generation were experiencing a sharp fall in their physical agility.
Ten-year-olds in 1985 were capable of running 1.6 km in about eight minutes whereas children of the same age today need about 10 minutes to cover the same distance. Just imagine what the time will be in another 10 years.
We all tell a lot of lies every day. They need not, necessarily be serious but must be told with seriousness. For example, former US President Bill Clinton’s lies to his wife about his relations with Monica Lewinsky. Our lives are full of lies. Everyone has a long list of white lies, which he tells in his daily dealings with others.
There should, however, be a limit to the lies one tells as suggested by studies conducted by an English university. Any person who habitually tells lies in order to make a positive impact on his friends, family or boss, is undoubtedly suffering from some kind of behavioral disturbance.
The professor of social science who headed the research team said women generally showed a greater tendency to tell lies. The study found that 92 percent of the women told lies with great ease. This revealed the extent of behavioral disturbances they suffered and which, in turn, drove them to seek refuge in telling lies. With the lies, women aim at concealing their personality defects, appearing impressive to others or drawing others’ attention.
According to the professor, the majority of successful women suffer from behavioral disturbances. The study also showed that modern women were constantly being exposed to severe stress conditions mainly because of their attempts to imitate the women appearing on TV.
Women were also prompted to tell lies because they loved to be praised about their looks and wanted to please others with their conduct. They also are keen to win friendships that guarantee them a life free of loneliness. If the habit of telling lies becomes obsessive, women should make sure that it does not develop into a behavioral disorder that will be bad for her socially.