I've got my essay done and I need some advice from native speakers.What should I do? Here comes the himono onna Could you name some of the most popular terms to describe young women in mainland China?-- “3S women”; “otaku”, “himono onna”…But, wait, aren’t they the same? Well, definitely not!Though otaku and himono onna, which is simply known as himono, are both famous for their love of staying indoors, while the 3S women, who are labeled as single, seventies and stuck, as well as himono share their same passion for work, the three of them are actually similar but different. And if we take a closer look into their love romances and working careers, we can clearly see the differences. For a otaku, a love romance is something very subtle; she may want it but somehow she can’t find it. While in a 3S woman’s case, she may have several love affairs at the same time yet be hesitant about getting married. As for a himono, she announces from the very beginning that she has already denouced her pursuit of romance. Considering their working careers, on average, the 3Ss are the ones who do excellent jobs enjoying their high-ranking incomes whereas the otakus have a variety of job performance and some of them may be even out of work. While in most cases, himonos usually are the 20-somethings who stand at the threshold of new careers trying their very best to get promotions. This time, we will pay our particular attention to himono. Literally, himono means “dried-fish woman” in Japanese and is put forward by the playwright of Hotaru no Hikari ,one popular Japanese TV series.The himono group here is growing so big that Chinese just load the word from Japanese to refer to those hardworking women who enjoys staying indoors after work without romance. Yishan Hu, a 25-year-old university graduate, who is now working in a big company says she prefers staying at home all day rather than dating anyone. “It’s too much trouble so I quit.” Everytime she is asked out, she will find herself excuses. Like many other himonos,her off-work hours revolve around the computer. Life to her is rather simple and pleasant staying at home,yet things are different when she is at work. “Sometimes I just sit there typing, calculating without taking any meals. I’m so focused that I don’t feel hungry at all. ” Elaborately dressed-up, pretty, taken seriously at work and highly efficient;one can hardly discover that “her at work” and “her at home” ,who is nothing but a lazy frump, are actually the same person! So what went wrong? Why can’t they perform as “well” as they do at work? Or at least, they should have acted more like young ladies as they supposed to be. “Himonos are the products of a high pressure society.” Ning Wang concluded in one periodical of the Chinese Academic Journal. “You see, deep down their souls, they are lonely waiting for someone else. However, instead of trying to go outside searching the world, to actually socialize with others, they tend to fear. They fear to be turned down. They are under so high pressure that they can not find their ways out once they are jilted by their lovers. And that’s why so many of them are still inexperienced in love.” So Wang suggests himonos ease their minds and learn to deal with pressure more positively. “There can be no help if they don’t help themselves.” She added. --Pressure, that might be one explanation. But what about the valuations of the outside world? One netizen says that he will not have a himono girlfriend as he thinks that’s boring staying indoors. “I just can’t figure out how they manage to do so!” Another netizen says he is confused about himono and otaku. “Anyway, neither of them (otaku and himono) has attraction to me… ” Not only the young men find himonos are unacceptable, but also their female counterparts. A recent interview published online from qq.com says that some young women would rather be “Qingnu”, that is the slavery of love, than himonos. The way of life that himono leads is still unacceptable which, I think, has a very subtle impact on himonos themselves. It’s just like a two-party fight, when one pushes the other, the other will certainly push back. “I don’t care about whatever they think of me. I’m just who I am. I feel good about it!” said “Yingzi”, or shadow, on Douban, a popular Chinese website. Soon more himonos from the same website followed up her comment expressing their sympathy. Following up on this issue, I joined in some himono interest groups online and find myself come to a better understanding of them. First is about the age. Most of the self-claimed himonos, I found, are younger than they should be. A majority of them are students rather than working women. Another is about passion for work and future career. “My work has occupied most of life. I’ve no time to care for someone. I think, you know, that one has to be at pains to make one’s own living in such a competitive world.” said Suiyi, a netizen from Douban. And such kind of idea is indeed being widely practised. Moreover I think they are quite prudent when it comes to starting a love romance. Thinking over too many things is common among them. “I would definitely be in a whole world of trouble! Think of the responsibility one has to take and the bondings and the sharings; besides I can no longer bare being pathetic…” said FavoriteBlue who has had a sour love romance. “Other than going out with someone, there are a good many things that are valuable. I just don’t want to waste my time and life on something that I can live without.” Said 7&Monosacch who has never been gone out. Maybe Wang’s right that himono as a social phenomenon can be changed. Or maybe what the himonos are practising is just another way of life…