向前一步:第147期 让你的另一半成为你真正的人生搭档(5)

 　　A 2009 survey found that only 9 percent of people in dual-earner marriages said that they shared housework, child care, and breadwinning evenly. 2009年的一项调查发现，双薪家庭里只有9%的夫妻表示会共同分担家务劳动，一同承担照看孩子、养家糊口的责任。

　　So while men are taking on more household responsibilities, this increase is happening very slowly, and we are still far from parity¹. 所以，尽管男性也在慢慢承担起更多的家务劳动，但这种变化非常缓慢，远远达不到平等分担的状态

　　(Perhaps unsurprisingly, same-sex couples divide household tasks much more evenly.) （这并不奇怪，同性夫妇在分担家务时要平等很多）。

　　Public policy reinforces this gender² bias³. 相关的国家政策更强化了这种性别差异。

　　The U.S. Census⁴ Bureau considers mothers the "designated parent," even when both parents are present in the home. 即使父母都在家里，美国人口统计局也将母亲默认为“指定家长”。

　　When mothers care for their children, it's "parenting," but when fathers care for their children, the government deems it a "child care arrangement." 母亲照顾孩子是“养育”，但如果是父亲照顾孩子，政府则把这视为“育儿安排”。中国的国家政策同样强化了“女性是孩子的主要照看者”的观念。

　　I have even heard a few men say that they are heading home to "babysit" for their children. 我甚至听到过一些男人说正准备回家“看看孩子”，

　　I have never heard a woman refer to taking care of her own children as "babysitting." 但从来没听过一个女人把照顾自己的孩子说成“看看孩子”。

　　A friend of mine ran a team-building exercise during a company retreat where people were asked to fill in their hobbies. 我的一个朋友在公司野外拓展活动中负责团队建设。当填写自己的业余爱好时，

　　Half of the men in the group listed "their children" as hobbies. 团队里有一半的男人把“照看孩子”列进了这一栏。

　　A hobby? For most mothers, kids are not a hobby. Showering is a hobby. 业余爱好？对大多数母亲来说，带孩子可不是爱好，淋浴才是。

　　My friends Katie and Scott Mitic flip⁵ this pattern. 我的朋友凯蒂和斯科特夫妇颠覆了这个模式。

　　Katie and Scott are both Silicon⁶ Valley entrepreneurs who work full-time⁷. 他们俩都是硅谷的企业家，有全职工作。

　　About a year ago, Scott traveled to the East Coast for work. 一年前，斯科特去了东海岸工作。

　　He was starting a late-morning meeting when his phone rang. 有一天上午，会议刚开始时，他的电话响了。

　　His team only heard one side of the conversation. 他的团队成员听到他在电话这头说：

1 parity   

n.平价，等价，比价，对等

参考例句：

• The two currencies have now reached parity.这两种货币现已达到同等价值。
• Women have yet to achieve wage or occupational parity in many fields.女性在很多领域还没能争取到薪金、职位方面的平等。

2 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。

3 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

4 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

5 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

6 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。

7 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。