Students watch as the Black Eagles, South Korea's Air Force special flight team, perform during Seoul Air Show 2005 media day at the Seoul Military Airport, south of central Seoul October 17, 2005. |
If you are thirty-plus and a woman with a masters degree in South Korea, you may need the help of a matchmaker to find love -- and your worried mother may even end up doing the legwork for you. As women in this rich Asian country have become better educated, with five times as many now getting advanced degrees as in 1995, they have also become more choosy and are less likely to settle for the role of meek spouse traditionally expected of Korean women. "I heard if you are a female with master's degree, it is much harder to arrange a meeting than if you have a bachelors degree because of an unfavorable perception toward 'too smart women' here," said Lee, 24, a college senior in Seoul who wished to be known only by her last name. The age at which Korean women are getting hitched has risen by an average 4.1 years over the past 20 years to 28.9 years, according to Statistics Korea, and that has created plenty of worried mothers getting things rolling for their daughters. "My daughter is in her early 30's, an age considered late for marriage here", said a woman in her mid 50s who wished to be identified only by her surname Ahn and who took her daughter to one of the many match-making agencies in Seoul. "I was worried that if she does not find her match this year, it will be much more difficult to marry in the coming years, so I went to the firm with her and made her join." At DUO, a matchmaking firm, its 26,000 members can choose between five different membership programs with fees from 1.08 million won ($971) to 8.8 million won. In a bid to attract clients, the site displays the average annual income of its male and female customers, as well as statistics on their professional standing. "In a privately set up blind date, you cannot be entirely sure of how much of personal information given to you is accurate," said DUO spokesman Yon Jun. Critics say the industry prioritizes income, status and materialism. Local wags have coined the phrase "employage" to sum up employment and marriage. "If your father works in the financial industry or is a high-ranking administrator, you will find your match with similar backgrounds through a matchmaking firm, starting a perfect marriage on the back of parental support," said comedian Choi Hyo-jong, a presenter on a local satirical show called "the Wart's Kindergarten". (Read by Brian Salter. Brian Salter is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
如果你是一個(gè)三十多歲的韓國(guó)女碩士,那么你可能需要媒人的幫助才能找到愛(ài)情,你那憂心忡忡的媽媽甚至可能親自跑腿給你物色對(duì)象。 隨著這個(gè)富裕的亞洲國(guó)家的女性教育程度的提高,她們對(duì)擇偶也變得更挑剔,不甘于做溫順的傳統(tǒng)韓國(guó)女人。如今韓國(guó)的高學(xué)歷女性人數(shù)是1995年的五倍。 一位不愿透露名字的首爾大學(xué)生李小姐說(shuō):“我聽(tīng)說(shuō),如果你是一位女碩士,那么給你安排一次相親會(huì)比女本科生難得多,因?yàn)樵谶@里人們對(duì)‘太聰明的女人’沒(méi)有什么好感。”李小姐今年24歲,正在讀大四。 韓國(guó)統(tǒng)計(jì)局的數(shù)據(jù)顯示,韓國(guó)女性現(xiàn)在的平均結(jié)婚年齡為28.9歲,在過(guò)去20年內(nèi)增加了4.1歲。這使得許多母親為嫁女兒操碎了心。 55歲左右的安女士曾帶自己的女兒去找過(guò)首爾眾多婚介機(jī)構(gòu)中的一家。她說(shuō):“我女兒現(xiàn)在三十出頭,就找對(duì)象來(lái)說(shuō)在這里已經(jīng)被認(rèn)為是很晚了。” “我擔(dān)心如果她今年找不到對(duì)象,明后年就會(huì)更難嫁出去,所以我就和她一起去婚介所,讓她加入成為會(huì)員。” 在婚介公司DUO,它的2.6萬(wàn)名會(huì)員可以選擇價(jià)位從108萬(wàn)韓元(971美元)到880萬(wàn)韓元的五種不同的會(huì)員套餐。 為了吸引客戶,該婚介網(wǎng)站會(huì)展示男女客戶的平均年收入,以及職業(yè)身份方面的資料。 DUO的發(fā)言人永駿說(shuō):“在私人安排的相親中,你無(wú)法完全確定給你的個(gè)人信息有多少是準(zhǔn)確的。” 批評(píng)人士稱(chēng),婚介行業(yè)把收入、地位和物質(zhì)放在第一位。當(dāng)?shù)叵矚g說(shuō)笑的人還造出了雇傭和婚姻的合成詞employage。 喜劇演員蔡孝鐘(音譯)說(shuō):“如果你的父親在金融行業(yè)工作,或他是一個(gè)位高權(quán)重的管理者,你會(huì)通過(guò)婚介公司找到門(mén)當(dāng)戶對(duì)的對(duì)象,在父母的支持下走進(jìn)完美的婚姻。”蔡孝鐘是當(dāng)?shù)刂S刺類(lèi)節(jié)目“缺點(diǎn)幼兒園”的主持人。 相關(guān)閱讀 美國(guó)單身女性自購(gòu)訂婚戒指防“感恩節(jié)逼婚” 日本單身人數(shù)創(chuàng)歷史新高 1/4不想找對(duì)象 臺(tái)灣30歲熟女打破傳統(tǒng) 和自己結(jié)婚 (中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)英語(yǔ)點(diǎn)津 陳丹妮 編輯:Julie) |
Vocabulary: legwork: 外出搜集情況的工作;跑腿活兒 get hitched: 結(jié)婚 wag: 愛(ài)說(shuō)笑打趣的人,能言善辯的人 wart: 缺點(diǎn) |