Are you a "budget wife"?

你是“经济适用女”吗?

Despite the name, being a budget wife -- or jingji shiyong nv in Chinese --is harder than it seems. According a list published by an anonymous Web user onSina Weibo, China's most popular micro-blogging platform, to qualify as one, youmust:

光听名字可能觉得挺简单，但其实想要符合标准成为“经济适用女”，比想象中的要难。根据中国最流行的社交网络平台新浪微博上一位匿名用户发表的标准，想做一个经济适用女，你必须满足下面的条件：

Be between 5'2" and 5'8"

身高 158-172cm

Weigh between 100 and 120 pounds

体重 45-55公斤

Have long hair that trails over shoulders

披肩长发

Be warm and mild in personality

性格温和

Have B- to C-cup size breasts

胸围 B-C罩杯

Not be a "gold digger" (baijinnv)

不败金

Not be a flirt

不花痴

Not be horny

小闷骚

Earn between roughly $500-$1000 per month

月薪3000-6000元

Have a BA or above

本科以上学历(小编注：此处英文有误，原标准为“专科以上学历”)

Know how to cook and wash clothes

会洗衣做饭

Be responsible and sympathetic

有同情心和责任心

Speak appropriately

谈吐得体

Be educated and reasonable

知书达理

Within two days of its posting, Web user (and, it happens, policeman)@王于京's comment containing the above list was re-tweeted over 10,000 times andgathered over 6,700 replies. This newly coined term used to be a trending topicon Sina Weibo, with 5.6 million mentions.

这些“经济适用女”标准是由一个叫王于京的警察在微博中发布的，在短短两天内，微博就被转发超过1万次，收到回复超6700条。这个新词曾一度成了新浪微博的热门话题，共有560万条微博提及。

"Budget wife" is the female counterpart of "budget husband," or jingjishiyong nan, a concept introduced at least six years ago. The 2009 publicationof the book Me and My Budget Husband popularized the term, and its 2012transformation into a TV drama series fueled the term's further spread.

前有“经济适用男”，后有“经济适用女”。“经济适用男”的概念其实在六年前就已经有了，2009年小说《我和我的经济适用男》发布让“经济适用男”这个词火了，2012年由该书改编的同名电视剧播出，也让这个术语更深入人心。

The word "budget husband" originates from the word "budget housing" (jingjishiyong fang), government subsidized public housing for low-income households.As the name implies, budget husbands' economic power trails that of "diamondhusbands" -- intelligent, educated, rich, and well-mannered men from respectablefamilies. Nonetheless, a budget husband is, according to Baidu, the new idealamong Chinese female white-collar workers.

“经济适用男”这个词源自政府补贴为低收入家庭修建住房的“经济适用房”一词。从名字上我们就能看出，“经济适用男”们经济实力当然不如传说中的“钻石王老五”：钻石王老五指的是聪明、受过良好教育、富有、举止得体且出身较好的男性们。但根据百度信息显示，“经济适用男”现在是中国女白领们最理想的对象。

One of the main characteristics of a budget husband is that he be "normal."Not ugly but not too handsome; neither poor nor rich. In short: mediocre.

“经济适用男”的主要特征之一就是“普通”：不丑也不太帅，不穷也不会太有钱。简而言之计就是一个词儿：平庸。

But this mediocrity promises stability. Budget husbands are reliable, bothfinancially and emotionally. They will loyally stay at home and take care of thehouse; they will not go out to bars or have extramarital affairs.

因为这种平庸就代表着稳定。“经济适用男”很可靠，不论是经济上还是情感上都非常值得依赖。他们会老实待在家照顾家人，不泡吧不搞婚外情。

The criteria of a budget husband are as follows:

“经济适用男”标准如下：

Between 5'8" and 5'11"

身高172cm-182cm

Weighs between roughly 145-190 pounds

体重65-85公斤

Normal haircut and appearance

发型普通

Warm and mild personality

性格温和

Does not smoke, drinks little, doesn't love frequenting bars

不吸烟少喝酒，不爱泡吧

Has a BA or above

本科以上学历

Earns between $500 and $1,600) per month

月薪3000-10000元

Knows how to cook

会做饭

Has filial piety and refined manners

有孝心，举止斯文

Patient, loving, keen to advance forward, modest, earnest, magnanimous,absolutely devoted and loyal,

有耐心、有爱心、有上进心;谦虚、稳重、大方，对待爱情忠诚不二

ready to shoulder responsibility

有担当

The newly released "budget wife" list has sparked much debate among ChineseWeb users. A running poll on Weibo found that 50.6 percent of those who votedconsider such standards "fleeting" and believe finding a suitable match is moreimportant, while 15.9 percent believe that the standards are unreliable and infact describe baifumei (fair-skinned, rich, and beautiful women), and notregular women.

最近发布的“经济适用女”标准也在中国网友中引起热议。新浪微博进行的一项调查发现，50.6%的投票者认为这些标准都是浮云，找一个适合自己的对象才最重要;15.9%的网友认为标准不靠谱，按照这个标准找的其实是“白富美”，不是普通女人。

10.8 percent find the standards reliable and believe that women who possesssuch qualities would manage a household well. 9.4 percent answered they theseare criteria for finding housekeepers, not wives. Only 6.9 percent of the votersagreed that women who fit the description are suitable wives for budgethusbands.

10.8%的网友认为这些标准靠谱，认为拥有这些特质的女性应该很会持家。9.4%的人认为这是找管家保姆的标准，不是找老婆。只有6.9%的投票者认为符合描述的女性会是“经济适用男”们的理想妻子。

Some 6.4 percent answered indignantly, "What, if you don't have a B-cupthen you're not fit for marriage?"

还有6.4%的网友很愤怒地回答道：“怎么，没有B罩杯就不适合结婚了么?”托福听力下载

Many female Web users criticized the list as unrealistic and unattainable,describing standards for "goddesses." Others protested their superficiality,posing questions such as: "Why does your hair have to be long?" "If the wifecan't cook, why doesn't the couple just eat out, or cook together?"

很多女性网友都批评所谓的“经济适用女”标准不现实，根本达不到，认为这些标准找的是“女神”。其他网友则认为这些标准太肤浅，她们提出这样的问题：“为什么必须留长发?”、“如果老婆不会做饭，为什么夫妻俩不出去吃或一起做呢?”等。