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Chinese singletons create ads to refuse “bihun”

bihun.png

BEIJING — "You must marry!"

北京——"你一定要结婚!"

It's a phrase many single Chinese are steeling themselves to hear from well-meaning but busybody relatives during the Lunar New Year holiday, which begins on Feb. 7, when millions of Chinese will return home.

这是许多单身中国人准备在农历新年假期从虽然善意、但爱管闲事的亲戚们那里听到的一句话,农历新年始于2月8日,上亿的中国人将在这个节日期间回老家。

So great is the social pressure to marry that the phrase "bihun!" (逼婚!), or "must marry," is a meme here, a joke, even. Not marrying and producing offspring is considered unfilial and Chinese society traditionally views the unmarried as less than full adults. That places unbearable pressure on gay or transgender Chinese, many of whom may not have revealed their sexuality to their families, on people who have been unlucky in love and especially on young women, for whom the pressure to marry may begin as young as 20, the legal marrying age for women.

结婚的社会压力如此巨大,以至于"逼婚!"这个短语在中国成了一个网络流行词(meme),甚至是个玩笑。不结婚、不生育后代被认为是不孝,中国社会的传统认为未婚的人不完整。这给同性恋或变性者施加了无法承受的压力,他们中的许多人可能还未向他们的家庭透露自己的性取向,也给恋爱不走运的人施加了无法承受的压力,尤其是年轻的女性,对她们来说,结婚的压力在刚刚达到法定结婚年龄20岁时,就开始了。

Reflecting all that, "bihun" has given rise to a thriving matchmaking industry for singletons who may prefer to rent a partner for the holiday to deceive their relatives rather than face the badgering. It even provided the theme for a popular 24-part television series, "Renting a Girlfriend to Go Home for New Year."

作为这一切的反映,"逼婚"已经让一个为单身者牵线搭桥的行业得以蓬勃发展,这个行业专为那些想租个伴侣回家过年的人服务,这些单身者宁愿欺骗他们的亲戚,也不想听家人唠叨自己的婚姻问题。这个现象甚至还为一个名为《租个女友回家过年》的24集电视连续剧提供了题材。

This year, a group of like-minded friends decided to push back and paid for an ad extolling singlehood to go up on Thursday at the busy Dongzhimen subway station in Beijing, where it can be seen by millions over the month it will be there.

今年,一群志同道合的朋友们决定做点反击,他们掏钱制作了一个广告,颂扬单身的好处,广告将于周四在北京繁忙的东直门地铁站登出,数以百万计的人将在广告出现的一个月里看到它。

Only one, though. At 38,000 renminbi, nearly $5,800, for a 3-by-4.5-foot ad, the group of about 10, who include students, artists and civil society workers who met via social media, cannot afford more, said Coby, 27, a nongovernmental worker who, fearing the impact on her private life if her Chinese name were published, asked to be identified only by her English name.

但仅有一张广告。一张1米×1.5米大小的广告的价钱是3.8万元,这个约有10人的小组负担不起更多的广告,他们通过社交媒体相识,有学生、艺术家,以及公民社会工作者,一位27岁的非政府工作者说,因担心如果报纸给出她的中文名会对自己的私人生活产生影响,该人要求只用她的英文名Coby。

We're just a few friends who got together before Spring Festival," as Lunar New Year is also called, "and just thought, the pressure is too much. It's at its worst at this time. It's so big!" Coby said in a telephone interview. "So we thought we'd put up an ad in the subway where a lot of people would see it."

"我们只是春节前相识的几个朋友,"农历新年又叫春节,"只是觉得压力太大了。这个时期尤其糟糕。压力巨大!"Coby在一次电话采访中说。"所以我们觉得,我们也许能在地铁站里登个广告,很多人会在那里看到它。"

Making that happen involved submitting designs to an advertising company, which vetted them with the local branch of the Beijing Industry and Commerce Bureau.

为了刊登广告,需要向一家广告公司提交设计,公司与北京工商局的一个下属部门一起对设计进行审核。

The company and the officials rejected an initial design that showed a defiant young woman with her hands crossed above her head in a "no!" gesture, the sun shining fiercely behind her, the characters for "bihun" crossed out on her T-shirt.

公司和官员拒绝了最初的设计,那个设计表现的是一名做出挑战姿态的年轻女子,她把双手交叉在头顶上做出"不!"的手势,太阳在她身后光芒四射,她T恤衫上的"逼婚"两字被打上叉子。

No reason was given, said Xiong Jing, another member of the group.

该组的另一名成员熊静(音)说,没有告诉他们拒绝的理由。

"So we chose a gentler design," Coby said.

"所以,我们改用了一个更温和的设计,"Coby说。

Here's the final product:

这是最终的广告:

It reads:

上面写道:

"Dear Daddy, Mommy, don't worry.

The world is so big. 

There are so many different ways for people to live.

Singletons can also be very happy."

"世界那么大

"亲爱的爸爸妈妈别担心

"人生有很多种

"单身也可以很幸福"

And this is followed by a hotline for singles: 010-64808179.

还给了一个单身自在热线:010-64808179。

The line is open Wednesdays and Fridays from noon to 7 p.m.

该热线每周三、五,中午12点到晚7点有人接听。

Here is the original design the group submitted:

该小组最初提交的设计如下:

The company and the officials "said the word 'bi,' " which means "force," "compel'' or "must," "sounds the same as, you know, that 'bi,' " Ms. Xiong said, referring to a part of the female anatomy that features in many vulgarities around the world.

广告公司和官员说,"'逼'字听起来与那个bi的声音一样,你明白吧。"熊女士说,她指的是世界上许多语言的脏话里都有的那个女性解剖结构,而"逼"的意思是强迫、迫使,必须。

So, no "bi."

所以,不能用"逼"。

But Ms. Xiong said she was unsure why was it acceptable to use the word "bi" if the message favored marriage but unacceptable if it did not. "Bihun," or "must marry," is ubiquitous even in public and in advertising.

但熊女士说,她不明白,为什么"逼"字用在支持婚姻的信息中可以接受,但用在不支持的信息中就不可接受呢。"逼婚"或"必须结婚"的字样在公共场所和广告上到处可见。

The text, too, was watered down. The original read:

广告词也淡化了。最初的是:

"Bihun

"逼婚

Back off!

"退

Scram!

"散

I'm a member of the non-marrying tribe.

"我的人生我做主

Singlehood is happy, too."

"今年过节别逼婚"

A woman answering the telephone at the Beijing Industry and Commerce Bureau said the bureau vets all outdoor advertising. If the content is in line with China's advertising law, officials usually will approve it, she said. She declined to give her name, saying she was unauthorized to speak to the news media.

在北京市工商局接听电话的女子表示,工商局审查所有的户外广告。她说,如果内容在中国广告法允许的范围内,官员通常会批准。她拒绝透露自己的名字,称没有对新闻媒体发表评论的授权。

The ad is set to hang near a busy exit at Dongzhimen station until early March, after the holiday.

该广告将出现在东直门地铁站繁忙出口附近,直到春节过后的三月初。

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2016-06-23

3 responses on "Chinese singletons create ads to refuse "bihun""

  1. With thanks. I appreciate this!

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