VOA慢速英语2015 印度自拍运动:提升女孩地位

AS IT IS 2015-07-09 India’s Selfie Campaign Boosts¹ Fathers, Daughters 印度自拍运动:提升女孩地位

Recently, Indian Prime² Minister Narendra Modi launched³ a campaign on social media. The campaign is aimed at recognizing and celebrating the lives of girls. It is part of the Indian government’s ‘Save Daughter, Teach Daughter’ movement, which began earlier this year.

The Indian leader used a radio broadcast last Sunday to urge people to publish photographs taken with their daughters on social media. He expressed hope that this could revolutionize the movement to save the country's girls. Within hours of his speech, thousands of people had tweeted the photos, known as selfies, with the hashtag #SelfiewithDaughter.

Sexual⁴ inequality has long been a major problem in India’s highly⁵ patriarchal society. For years, Indian families have wanted boys more than girls. In India, many girls are considered inferior⁶ to boys. Some are even killed before they are born or as newborns because they are thought to be less desirable⁷. For every 1,000 boys up to the age of six years, India has 914 girls.

It was not just fathers in India who answered Mr. Modi's call. Fathers in countries as far away as Sweden also posted pictures with daughters.

The prime minister said he got the idea for the campaign from Sunil Jaglan, a village leader in the northern state of Haryana. Haryana state has the country's worst gender⁸ inequality.

Sunil Jaglan launched a “Selfie with Daughter” competition last month. He began by posting a photo with his three and one-half year old daughter. During a recent visit to his village, Mr. Jaglan told VOA that his efforts resulted from his daughter’s birth in 2012.

He says it all started when he passed out sweets to celebrate the arrival of his newborn daughter. He says his classmates and others thought at first he had a son. They could not believe that someone would give out sweets at the birth of a girl.

Sunil Jaglan wanted to express his thanks to the health care workers who helped the girl and her mother during childbirth. He says he offered the workers a nice tip as a way of saying thanks. But they refused the money, saying a girl's birth was not worth the same tip as a boy.

Mr. Jaglan is now the father of two daughters. He says he did not want them to grow up in such an environment. His efforts in the village of Bibipur have produced results: the number of girls to boys there is improving as the centuries-old customs begin to change.

Prime Minister Modi said a new hope is born by a campaign like the one in Bibipur, more so because it has begun in an area where the problem is most serious.

Mr. Modi said the government's campaign gets added strength when it is accepted by an individual, by society or by a village.

Social activists⁹ hope this campaign will not just be another public relations effort, but will support India's push to give its daughters the same positions as it sons.

Words in This Story

selfie – informal n. a photograph of oneself shared on social media

patriarchal –adj. controlled by a man or men

inferior  - adj. lower in quality

gender – n. sex; the state of being male or female

1 boosts   

n.宣扬( boost的名词复数 )；帮助v.促进( boost的第三人称单数 )；增加；吹捧；向上推起

参考例句：

• The rocket boosts the astronaut into space. 这火箭能把宇航员送入太空。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A sincere compliment boosts one's morale. 由衷的称赞可鼓舞一个人的精神。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

2 prime   

adj.首要的，主要的；最好的，第一流的

参考例句：

• The prime minister spoke of the general insecurity in the country.总理谈到了全国普遍存在的不安全。
• He met with the Prime Minister of Japan for an hour.他和日本首相会见了一个小时。

3 launched   

v.发射( launch的过去式和过去分词 )；[计算机]开始（应用程序）；发动；开展（活动、计划等）

参考例句：

• He launched a bitter diatribe against the younger generation. 他对年轻一代发起了猛烈的抨击。
• The product was launched amid much fanfare worldwide. 这个产品在世界各地隆重推出。

4 sexual   

adj.性的，两性的，性别的

参考例句：

• He was a person of gross sexual appetites.他是个性欲旺盛的人。
• It is socially irresponsible to refuse young people advice on sexual matters.拒绝向年轻人提供性方面的建议是对社会不负责任。

5 highly   

adv.高度地，极，非常；非常赞许地

参考例句：

• It is highly important to provide for the future.预先做好准备非常重要。
• The teacher speaks very highly of the boy's behaviour.老师称赞这个男孩的表现。

6 inferior   

adj.劣等的，次的，下级的；n.下级，下属

参考例句：

• These oranges are inferior to those I bought last week.这些桔子没我上个周买的好。
• They sell inferior goods at that store.那家商店卖劣等货。

7 desirable   

adj.值得拥有的；可取的，有利的

参考例句：

• Some reasonable adjustments seem desirable.某些合理的调整似乎是可取的。
• Prolonged negotiation was not desirable.拖长了的谈判并不是大家所想要的。

8 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

9 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》