Sheng nu

Sheng nu (剩女; shèngnǚ; common translation: "leftover women" or "leftover ladies") is a derogatory term made popular by the All-China Women's Federation that classifies women who remain unmarried in their late twenties and beyond. The term is most prominently used in China, including a state sponsored directive and program, but has been used to describe women across Asia, India, and North America. The term has gone on to become widely used in the mainstream media and has been the subject of several televisions series, magazine and newspaper articles, and book publications focusing on both the good and bad aspects of the term and surrounding culture. Xu Xiaomin of The China Daily described the sheng nus as "a social force to be reckoned with" while others have argued the term should be taken as a positive to mean "successful women". The slang term, 3S or 3S Women, meaning "single, seventies (1970s), and stuck" has also been used in place of sheng nu. The equivalent term for men, guang gun (光棍) meaning bare branches, is used to refer to men who do not marry and thus do not add 'branches' to the family tree. Similarly, shengnan (剩男) or "leftover men" has also been used.