美国国家公共电台 NPR For Abortion Activists In Argentina, A Campaign Waged Online Faces A Disconnect

 

NOEL KING, HOST:

All right. In Argentina, the Senate has rejected a bill that would have legalized abortion². If it had passed, Argentina would have become one of a few countries in Latin America where abortion is legal. This came as a big blow for feminist³ groups who've been protesting on the streets of Argentina for months. Social media also played a big role in this campaign. NPR's Jasmine Garsd has the story.

JASMINE GARSD, BYLINE⁴: It's a sunny day, and a woman walks past a young man on the street. He mutters an obscene cat call.

(SOUNDBITE OF YOUTUBE VIDEO, "PIROPOS-CUALCA")

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Speaking Spanish).

GARSD: In the clip, the woman smiles and says, thank you. But then the camera pans to her fantasy, what she really wishes she could do.

(SOUNDBITE OF YOUTUBE VIDEO, "PIROPOS-CUALCA")

GARSD: The video goes on to show her, in her imagination, pulling out a knife and stabbing him. It's a comedy skit⁵, a dark one. Since it published on YouTube in 2014, it's gotten over 1.3 million views and catapulted Argentine comedian⁶ Malena Pichot to Internet fame. It's part of a wave of young Latin American feminists⁷ who have very skillfully used social media to get the message out and take down long-held sexist tradition.

MALENA PICHOT: (Speaking Spanish).

GARSD: "Every day, I have girls on the street approaching me," says Pichot, "telling me that they are feminists because they saw some skit of mine. I mean, clearly, outside of television, online, in life, something is undeniably happening with the feminist movement." The digital feminist movement first tackled harassment⁸, kind of Argentina's #MeToo moment, but it quickly pivoted⁹ to something more divisive - legalizing abortion.

An estimated 500,000 women abort¹ illegally in the country every year. The hashtag #legalabortionnow took over Argentine Twitter and Facebook. Over the last few months, women showed up in droves in downtown Buenos Aires and around the country wearing green handkerchiefs symbolizing¹⁰ the cause, demanding a change.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Chanting in Spanish).

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: (Speaking Spanish).

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Chanting in Spanish).

GARSD: Conservatives fought back. They had their own symbol - a light-blue handkerchief, the color of the Argentine flag. They, too, went on social media with the anti-abortion hashtag #savebothlives. And then the holiest of all Argentines, Pope Francis himself, weighed in with an Instagram post in which he's holding a baby, captioned¹¹ - the divine gift of life must be promoted, guarded and protected from conception to its natural end.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Speaking Spanish).

GARSD: And that's the final vote, announced in the Argentine Senate on Thursday morning. Abortion remains¹² illegal. I have never felt prouder of my country, tweeted one woman, an opponent of abortion. Another activist¹³ tweeted bitterly, go home and rest, senators. Tomorrow, you can send your lovers to abort at a private clinic. That was retweeted several thousand times, but as the Argentine feminist movement found out yesterday, online support doesn't always translate into political victory.

Jasmine Garsd, NPR News, New York.

1 abort   

v.使流产，堕胎；中止；中止(工作、计划等)

参考例句：

• The captain instructed them to abort the mission.上尉指示他们中止执行任务。
• With this button the user can abort the audio sequence.用户可以用该按钮终止音频序列。

2 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

3 feminist   

adj.主张男女平等的，女权主义的

参考例句：

• She followed the feminist movement.她支持女权运动。
• From then on,feminist studies on literature boomed.从那时起，男女平等受教育的现象开始迅速兴起。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 skit   

n.滑稽短剧；一群

参考例句：

• The comic skIt sent up the foolishness of young men in love.那幅画把沉溺于热恋中的青年男子的痴态勾勒得滑稽可笑。
• They performed a skit to amuse the crowd.他们表演了一个幽默小品来娱乐观众。

6 comedian   

n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员

参考例句：

• The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
• The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。

7 feminists   

n.男女平等主义者，女权扩张论者( feminist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Only 16 percent of young women in a 1990 survey considered themselves feminists. 在1990年的一项调查中，只有16%的年轻女性认为自己是女权主义者。 来自辞典例句
• The organization had many enemies, most notably among feminists. 这个组织有许多敌人，特别是在男女平等主义者中。 来自辞典例句

8 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

9 pivoted   

adj.转动的，回转的，装在枢轴上的v.（似）在枢轴上转动( pivot的过去式和过去分词 )；把…放在枢轴上；以…为核心，围绕（主旨）展开

参考例句：

• His old legs and shoulders pivoted with the swinging of the pulling. 他一把把地拉着，两条老迈的腿儿和肩膀跟着转动。 来自英汉文学 - 老人与海
• When air is moving, the metal is pivoted on the hinge. 当空气流动时，金属板在铰链上转动。 来自辞典例句

10 symbolizing   

v.象征，作为…的象征( symbolize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• This symbol later evolved into a common hieroglyphic symbolizing victory. 这幕场景后来逐渐演化为象征胜利的普通象形文字。 来自时文部分
• Mooncakes reunion, is symbolizing the Mid-Autumn festival will feed. 月饼象征着团圆，是中秋佳节必食之品。 来自互联网

11 captioned   

a.标题项下的； 标题所说的

参考例句：

• This paper reviews the production, development and nationalization of the captioned materials. 本文就铜系合金引线框架材料的生产、发展和国产化进程作一论述。
• Please advise other considerable hotels for this captioned group. 请推荐其它一些高级的旅馆给这一群打标语的人。

12 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

13 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。