The Unequal Tolerance of Delayed Marriage for Men and Women in China

Abstract

Delayed marriage has become increasingly common in China, yet social responses to this phenomenon remain unevenly distributed between men and women. This paper examines how delayed marriage is evaluated through a gendered lens, focusing on the unequal tolerance extended to men and women who postpone marriage. Rather than treating delayed marriage as a neutral demographic outcome, the study conceptualizes it as a socially constructed category shaped by normative expectations, moral judgments, and everyday interaction. Drawing on a sociological and gender-oriented perspective, the paper analyzes how gendered life scripts, family expectations, public discourse, and informal social sanctions work together to regulate marriage timing. It argues that marriage timing functions as a key mechanism of gender regulation, granting men greater temporal flexibility while subjecting women to heightened scrutiny and moral pressure. Through the cumulative effects of labeling, media narratives, peer comparison, and familial negotiation, unequal tolerance is internalized and incorporated into individual life planning. By shifting attention from marriage behavior to social evaluation, this study contributes to understanding how gender inequality is reproduced through ordinary norms and interactions in contemporary China.