外媒看中國(guó)：為何中國(guó)光棍這么多

Singles' Day - the Chinese opposite of Valentines that's turned into a massive online shopping event - has been all over the news. It's a day when single people are supposed to buy themselves presents, or get them from their coupled-up friends. But there are sinister sociological reasons at play behind China's 'celebration' of single life. And the imbalance could have big consequences for the country.

光棍節(jié)——中國(guó)的反情人節(jié)，現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)成為了盛大的電子商務(wù)盛會(huì)。在這一天，單身的人會(huì)給自己買(mǎi)禮物，或者從他們已經(jīng)成雙成對(duì)的朋友那里收到的禮物。然而，在中國(guó)的光棍節(jié)背后還有這復(fù)雜的社會(huì)學(xué)原因，這也對(duì)中國(guó)社會(huì)產(chǎn)生了巨大的影響。

There were 34 million more men than women in China in 2011. Part of that is natural - usually there are 105 boys born for every 100 girls. But the Chinese gender ratio at birth is much more stark. It was 116 boys to 100 girls in 2012. The one child policy is largely to blame. Brought in to curb population expansion, the policy allowed only one child per family.

2011年，中國(guó)男性比女性多出3400萬(wàn)，這種情況有自然的成因——每出生100個(gè)女孩就會(huì)有105個(gè)男孩出生。但是中國(guó)的性別比率會(huì)更懸殊一點(diǎn)，2012年每100個(gè)女孩會(huì)就會(huì)有116個(gè)男孩出生。而這種現(xiàn)象的背后，很大的一個(gè)原因是計(jì)劃生育政策。由于人口數(shù)量龐大，政策要求每個(gè)家庭只能要一個(gè)孩子。

But because male children are seen as more valuable, as well as more likely to support their parents in old age, some parents chose to have a son over a daughter. The result? Large numbers of surplus men who will likely never get married. In fact, one study has predicted that by 2030, 1 in 5 Chinese men in their 30s will never have married , while another states that 94% of unmarried people in China are men.

但是因?yàn)槟泻⒆訉?duì)家里顯得更為重要，在父母年邁時(shí)也看上去更能照顧他們，因此一些父母會(huì)有重男輕女的思想。結(jié)果呢?大量的男性可能找不到配偶。實(shí)際上，一項(xiàng)調(diào)查預(yù)測(cè)到2030年，20%的中國(guó)男性30幾歲會(huì)還沒(méi)結(jié)婚，另一個(gè)調(diào)查表明94%的未婚人士會(huì)是男性。

Some parents are trying to find partners for their sons at physical markets, where people post personal ads detailing their characteristics, as well as their work and educational achievements. Traditionally China has seen high levels of marriage, usually among the young, but measures brought in by the government, as well as increased education and career opportunities for women have meant marriages are happening later.

一些家長(zhǎng)會(huì)幫自己的兒子相親，貼上廣告介紹兒子的性格、工作和教育背景。通常來(lái)說(shuō)中國(guó)的婚姻都是較高標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的，尤其是在年輕人之間。但是政府標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的引入，以及教育程度的提高、女性工作機(jī)會(huì)的增加都使得年輕人結(jié)婚更晚。

It's also traditional that women marry up - meaning they marry men from a higher socioeconomic bracket than themselves. So women at the top and men at the bottom find themselves alone. That's a big problem in a society that still focuses on family life as the ideal. One study has even suggested a link between an imbalanced sex ratio and growth in violent crime in the country.

同樣，女性嫁得好也是很正常的——她們通常會(huì)與社會(huì)地位比自己高的男性結(jié)婚。因此社會(huì)地位高的女性和社會(huì)地位低的男性就剩下了。社會(huì)仍舊把家庭關(guān)系假設(shè)得非常理想，一項(xiàng)調(diào)查同時(shí)認(rèn)為不平衡的性別比例和國(guó)家暴力犯罪率也有關(guān)系。

There's a huge number of young, single Chinese people and Chinese businesses have tackled that market aggressively. But Singles Day can't solve all the problems China's singles face. Indeed, it's possible it's causing even more problems, as men resort to increasingly risky lines of work to increase their chances of gaining mon

大量的單身青年促進(jìn)了中國(guó)的市場(chǎng)，然而光棍節(jié)卻解決不了中國(guó)的單身現(xiàn)狀。實(shí)際上，它可能會(huì)創(chuàng)造更多問(wèn)題。因?yàn)槟腥丝赡軙?huì)為了掙錢(qián)娶妻而采取非同尋常的掙錢(qián)手段。當(dāng)金錢(qián)勝過(guò)浪漫，中國(guó)的婚姻會(huì)變得更加現(xiàn)實(shí)。