ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the reasons why some women have to play the reluctant rejecters of men despite their dreams of getting married, and the challenges and dilemmas they face in making their work marriage lifestyle choices. The high employment rate of Chinese women was largely attributed to the ready availability of cheap domestic helpers from the country side known as ayis who helped with household chores and child caring. Hence, the economic justification of the 'patrilocal' custom is further diminished, and what lingers on is only the patriarchal ideology of the past, which is not enough to persuade today's women to give up their promising careers for a lifetime of domesticity. However, many of the women in this study did not need their parents' help in buying a house, as they had well-paid jobs of their own and were self-sufficient enough to pay for their own homes.
