Other experts fear that cracking down on sex-selective abortion could lead to unsafe, illicit abortions or infanticide if the underlying wishes of the parents remain unchanged. In other words, the battle for China's baby girls will ultimately depend on changing preferences. But as Li points out, that is a long-term struggle, and society pays a high price in the meantime.
另外一些专家担心，若父母执意要生男孩的话，严厉制裁选择性堕胎会导致父母们们选择没有安全保证的非法人流或者杀害婴儿。换句话讲，这场为了中国女婴的战斗依赖于父母观念的改变。但是，正如李教授所讲，这是一个长期的斗争，同时需要社会付出很大的努力。
The roots of son-preference lie deep in Chinese culture. Traditionally, the bloodline passes through the male side. Women also "marry out", joining their husband's families and looking after their in-laws, not their own parents. For a long time, a son was your pension. Having a girl was wasteful. "Even though son-preference is not rational from the viewpoint of society as a whole, it is a rational choice for an individual," says Li.
重男轻女的观点深深植根于中国的文化之中。传统上认为，血统通过男方传递下去，因为女子“嫁出门”，加入到男方的家庭中，去照顾公婆而非自己的父母。从长远角度讲，养儿就如养老，养女则是一种浪费。“重男轻女从社会角度来讲是一种不理性的选择，但从父母个人角度来看却是一种理性的选择”，李树茁教授如是说。 Chen's home lies near lush rice paddies, where farmers in wide-brimmed straw hats bend double. The community used to rely on agriculture and believed a boy was necessary for the heaviest work in the fields.
"I can't really blame [my in-laws]; their view was a common one. We have a saying, 'The better sons you have, the better life we can have,' because men have more strength and can carry out more work," says Chen.
陈星晓的家在繁茂的稻田附近，稻田里常有带着宽边草帽的农民在弯腰工作。村子里的人过去以农业为生，他们认为，在收获时节，男孩对于田里的农活必不可少。
她说，“我不能责怪我的公婆，他们的观念很普遍。我们这有句俗语叫‘儿子越好，日子越好’，因为男人们有更大的力气，能承担更多的工作”
In fact, official policy has adapted to these assumptions. China's strict birth-control rules, introduced just over 30 years ago to curb a soaring population, restrict most couples to one birth. But there are several exemptions. Ethnic-minority families are allowed more than one child; couples who are both only children are permitted to have two. The most striking example is the exception made for rural households. While their urban counterparts are generally restricted to one birth, rural couples are allowed a second - if their first is a girl. The statistics show just how important producing at least one son is: the sex ratios for second and third births are vastly more skewed than for first children.
事实上，官方的政策也已经为适应这种观念而调整。中国在30年前实施了严格的生育政策来抑制飞速增长的人口，限定大部分夫妻只能生一胎。但有许多例外：少数民族家庭允许生多胎；夫妻双方都是独生子女，允许有第二胎。最引人注目的是针对农村家庭的特例。相比于城市人口中对于一胎的普遍限制，农村夫妻在第一胎为女孩的情况下允许有第二胎。二胎三胎的性别比率比第一胎要失衡的多，这项统计也表明了至少有一个儿子的重要性。
When Chen's daughter was born, a little over 30 years ago, the consequences of the ultrasound had yet to be felt in Shengzhou. But by 1982, 124 boys were being born for every 100 girls. Five years later that figure had risen again, to 129.
Then something striking happened: the ratio dropped steeply. By 1996 it was 109.5. Soon after, according to statistics, it returned to the natural level.
30多年前，当陈星晓的女儿出生时，使用B超的严重后果在嵊州便已经可以察觉的到。到1982年，那里的男女出生比率已达到124：100，五年后升到129：100.
然后，一件引人注目的事情发送了，这个比率急速下降。到1996年，男女出生比率为109.5：100。再不久之后，根据统计，这个比率回到了自然水平。
You do not have to look far for part of the explanation. Shengzhou is, it boasts, International Necktie City of the 21st Century, making 350m ties a year – or 40% of the world's supply – as well as huge quantities of gas stoves and cone diaphragms for speakers.
你不必花气力去寻找个中缘由。按嵊州自己的说法，它是21世纪的国际领带之都，年产350万条领带，占世界的40%，同时还生产大量气炉和扬声器的纸盆。
Its factories offer plenty of jobs for daughters, allowing them to make a hefty economic contribution to the household. Across the country, manufacturers have frequently preferred female employees, regarding them as more careful and less troublesome.
这里的工厂为女性提供了大量的工作，使得她们可以为自己的家庭做出巨大的经济贡献。在这个城市里，制造商们通常更愿意雇佣女性，因为他们认为女性更加细心，并且很少惹麻烦。
Many rural families have less land than they used to; and machinery is available to work the soil, making brute strength less important. China is beginning to develop a welfare system. And development has brought other changes – couples who move into cities have more exposure to new ideas, and less pressure from extended families, say experts.
很多农村家庭拥有的土地都比原来有所减少，同时他们有机械可以用在土地工作上，这使得蛮力变的不再那么重要。同时，中国正在开始发展福利机制。专家们提到，这些发展带来了一些其它的变化：移居城市的夫妻能更多的接触新的思想，并且来自大家庭的压力变的更小了。
Old habits and beliefs are eroding. In villages as well as towns, conjugal ties between husband and wife have become more important, while the filial links between parent and child have become less so. Young couples are more likely to live apart from relatives. Few parents can now count on a dutiful daughter-in-law caring for them; and many are noticing that daughters are doing a better job.
旧的思想与观念在逐渐销蚀。如同城镇那样，在村庄里，夫妻关系变的更加重要，与此同时，家长与子女间的关联逐渐减弱。年轻夫妻更多的是与亲人分开，单独居住。很少有父母能指望上儿媳来照顾自己，与此同时，很多人开始认识到女儿却能够更好的照顾自己。
Chen admits that she was initially disappointed when her daughter was born. "Of course, I wanted to have a boy. But after giving birth, I thought: 'I don't care. This is my baby,'" she says.
"I looked around me; one of my neighbours had five sons and one daughter. One day, when he was 60 or 70, he wanted some money from his sons for living costs. He cooked a tableful of dishes and bought wine and invited his sons. But none of them agreed to give the money to him. He was furious and smashed the table with his stick. And I thought: 'Well, sons are useless.'"
陈星晓承认，当初她的女儿出生时她感到很失望。她说，“我当然想要个男孩。但生下女儿后，我想：‘我并不介意（是男是女），因为这是我自己的孩子’”。
“看看自己的身边，我的一位邻居有五个儿子和一个女儿。在他六七十岁的一天，他想从儿子们那里得到一些生活费。他做了一桌菜，买了酒，请他的儿子们一起吃饭。但是没人愿给他生活费用。他愤怒至极，手拿大棒把餐桌打的稀烂。这让我认识到，养儿无用。”
Meanwhile, she noticed, daughters were returning to visit their parents, bringing gifts and money. Despite strong pressure from her husband and in-laws, she refused to have another child: Qiaoyue was enough for her.
同时，她注意到女儿们却常回家看望父母，同时带着礼物和钱。尽管承受着丈夫和公婆的巨大压力，她却拒绝要第二个孩子，她认为女儿乔悦对来说足矣。
Anthropologist Yunxiang Yan's work suggests that others in China are drawing similar conclusions – and that it is changing their attitude towards girls.
"You can see clearly that a trend of treating sons and daughters equally is slowly emerging in some regions and developing in others," says Yan, of the University of California, Los Angeles.
人类学家闫云翔的研究表明，很多国人也得出了同样的结论，这些结论也正在改变他们对于女孩的看法。
在加利福尼亚大学洛杉矶分校教书的他提到，“你可以清楚的看到男女平等的趋势正在一些地区缓慢出现或发展”。
Some even think that son preference may partially correct itself. The surplus of men has increased competition for brides, meaning families must buy ever more expensive housing to ensure their sons can marry – increasing the economic attractiveness of daughters.
一些人甚至认为,重男轻女的人有可能会部分纠正自己的错误。男性的过剩加剧了对新娘的竞争，这意味着家庭必须购买的更贵的住房，增加对女孩的经济吸引力，这样才能保证自己的儿子顺利结婚
The government has spent an estimated 300 million yuan (£2.4m) trying to precipitate this shift in preferences. Li is the lead consultant in the Care for Girls programme, which combines carrot and stick with educational projects.
为了实现这种观念上的转变，政府已经投资了约300万人民币。李树茁是“关爱女孩行动”的首席顾问，他将胡萝卜大棒政策与教育引导项目相结合。
There are punishments for sex-selective abortions and extra subsidies for couples who do not use their right to a second child after having a daughter. One county in Fujian has built houses for daughter-only families.
在严惩有性别取向的堕胎的同时，对于一胎是女儿却放弃要二胎的夫妻，给予额外的补贴。福建的一个县甚至为只有女儿的家庭建房子。
But Ru Xiaomei, deputy director of the international liaison department at the National Population and Family Planning Commission, says the programme is designed to promote female equality in general. So there are roadside signs telling villagers that girls can continue the family line; focus-group discussions for mothers-in-law; help packages for women starting businesses and extra encouragement for girls to enter schools.
但国家计生委对外联络部的副部长汝小美说到，这个行动是为了在整体上推动男女的平等。因此，他们在路边设置了许多标语，告诉村民女孩一样是家庭的延续；成立讨论小组讨论婆媳关系；给予创业的女性以帮助，并鼓励女孩去上学。 Officials have even tried to promote the idea of men marrying into women's families, rather than vice versa.
甚至男方嫁入女方家里而非女方嫁入男方的观点也被一些官员大力推广过。
A pilot programme in 24 areas, selected for their very high imbalances, saw the average ratio fall from almost 134 in 2000 to just under 120 in 2005 – still high, as the experts involved acknowledge, but a substantial improvement. It has since been rolled out across China; Li says it is hard to know how exactly how much of a difference it is making, but is confident it has shown results across the country.
在24个男女极不平衡的行动试点区，男女出生比率的平均值从2000年的134：100降到了120：100，有关专家认为这个比例仍然较高，但已经有了可观的提高。这个行动已经被推向全国，李树茁教授认为，要确切知道这个活动会产生多大影响很困难，但他确信活动已经在全国展露成效。
Others have concerns: Dr Lisa Eklund of Sweden's Lund University suggests in a recent thesis on son preference that parts of the programme could backfire. Capitalising on gender norms – such as the idea that women are caring – may increase sympathy for girls in the short term, but in the long run reinforce stereotypes – and, thereby, son preference.
Similarly, the social and economic incentives "are partially based on the assumption that having daughters creates vulnerability ... They convey the message that daughters are not as valuable as sons, and that families with only daughters are in need of financial support," she warns.
一些人却持有疑虑：瑞典兰德大学的丽萨·埃克隆博士在最近的一篇关于重男轻女的论文中提到，这项行动里的部分活动可能会适得其反。从性别规范上入手（例如女性更应得到关爱的观点）或许可以在短期内增加对女孩的关怀，但从长远来讲，强调性别规范却是对陈规旧俗的强调，然后这将导致重男轻女思想的加剧。类似的，社会关怀和经济帮助的动机“是部分基于生女儿会给家庭带来易受伤害的弱点这样一个假定….这样便传递了女儿不如儿子的信息以及有女儿的家庭需要经济支持的观点”，她这样警告道。
Whatever the merits of individual policies, government intervention has helped to rebalance births. In the early 90s, South Korea had Asia's highest ratio at birth; by 2007, it had a normal rate. Experts suggest that reforming the family law system, expanding female employment and increasing urbanisation were key.
但无论个别政策的优劣，政府干预确实使得出生男女的比例再次恢复平衡。在90年代初期，韩国的男女出生比率居整亚洲之首；到2007年，这个比率已经恢复正常。专家们认为改良家庭法系统，扩大女性就业面以及加速城市化是解决问题的关键。
"I think that the preference for sons is decreasing in China, especially in the more affluent coastal areas, where the SRB shot up fastest earlier," says Dr Monica Das Gupta of the World Bank, who has been tracking son preference in Asia. "But you shouldn't expect to see the sharp decline you saw in South Korea, because South Korea is a small, homogeneous country ... The new ideas swept through the country very quickly. In China it will take longer because of its size and internal differentiation."
世界银行的莫妮卡·达斯·古普塔（音译）说道，“我认为在中国，重男轻女的思想正在减少，尤其是那些更加富裕的地区，那里的自然婴儿出生性别比很早就在迅速降低。但像韩国那样的急速下降不太可能见到，因为韩国是个小国（，中国与之不同）”，古普塔一直在跟踪观察亚洲重男轻女的情况。
Professor Yuan Xin, of Nankai University's Population and Development Institute, warns that it will take at least 10 or 20 years' more work to end a preference that dates back thousands of years. Others think that is optimistic.
南开大学人口与发展学会的袁欣（音译）教授警告说，中国至少还需要十几二十几年的努力才能终结重男轻女这样一个可以追溯至几千年前的观念。即便如此，还是有人认为这种看法过于乐观。
Chen says she has witnessed attitudes in Shengzhou shift in the past few decades. Even her in-laws have been won over, because her daughter treats them so well. "I'm not boasting, but I think I took the lead," she says. "There's been a very positive trend, but I won't say things have changed totally."
陈星晓说她目睹了嵊州重男轻女观念在过去几十年内的转变。他的公婆和丈夫也不再持有这样的观念，因为女儿对他们特别好。她说道，“不是我自夸，在这方面我确实是个领头人。现在观念的转变有了很乐观的趋势，但也不能说情况已经完全改变。”
Recently, a neighbour agreed to have a second child under intense pressure from her husband's family, joking that she was damned if the next child was a girl. "It was twin daughters," says Chen ruefully. "The mother-in-law still wants boys."
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发表于 2011-11-4 01:46
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