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) |
如果你是一個三十多歲的韓國女碩士,那么你可能需要媒人的幫助才能找到愛情,你那憂心忡忡的媽媽甚至可能親自跑腿給你物色對象。 隨著這個富裕的亞洲國家的女性教育程度的提高,她們對擇偶也變得更挑剔,不甘于做溫順的傳統(tǒng)韓國女人。如今韓國的高學歷女性人數(shù)是1995年的五倍。 一位不愿透露名字的首爾大學生李小姐說:“我聽說,如果你是一位女碩士,那么給你安排一次相親會比女本科生難得多,因為在這里人們對‘太聰明的女人’沒有什么好感?!崩钚〗憬衲?4歲,正在讀大四。 韓國統(tǒng)計局的數(shù)據(jù)顯示,韓國女性現(xiàn)在的平均結(jié)婚年齡為28.9歲,在過去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首爾眾多婚介機構(gòu)中的一家。她說:“我女兒現(xiàn)在三十出頭,就找對象來說在這里已經(jīng)被認為是很晚了?!?/p> “我擔心如果她今年找不到對象,明后年就會更難嫁出去,所以我就和她一起去婚介所,讓她加入成為會員?!?/p> 在婚介公司DUO,它的2.6萬名會員可以選擇價位從108萬韓元(971美元)到880萬韓元的五種不同的會員套餐。 為了吸引客戶,該婚介網(wǎng)站會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:“在私人安排的相親中,你無法完全確定給你的個人信息有多少是準確的?!?/p> 批評人士稱,婚介行業(yè)把收入、地位和物質(zhì)放在第一位。當?shù)叵矚g說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:“如果你的父親在金融行業(yè)工作,或他是一個位高權(quán)重的管理者,你會通過婚介公司找到門當戶對的對象,在父母的支持下走進完美的婚姻?!辈绦㈢娛钱?shù)刂S刺類節(jié)目“缺點幼兒園”的主持人。 相關(guān)閱讀 日本單身人數(shù)創(chuàng)歷史新高 1/4不想找對象 (中國日報網(wǎng)英語點津 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: 愛說笑打趣的人,能言善辯的人 wart: 缺點 |