PBS高端访谈:美国女足的夺冠会不会提升女子竞技的地位?

 JUDY WOODRUFF:What does this win mean for the future of women's professional soccer in the U.S.?

We turn to Cheryl Cooky, a professor of women's studies at Purdue University, who has published studies on the differences between the way men's and women's sports are seen. And Deborah Slaner Larkin is the CEO of the Women's Sports Foundation, which works toward safe and equitable¹ sports opportunities for girls and women.

And we welcome you both.Deborah Larkin, to you first. How big a deal is this women's World Cup?

DEBORAH SLANER LARKIN, CEO, Women's Sports Foundation: Well, it's a huge deal.

This really started from 1999, when we won the second World Cup, and the next generation of girls who looked up to those stars are playing today, so it's not only those athletes, but it's the next generation of girls and boys in all sports who want to play.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Cheryl Cooky, how do you see the significance of it?

CHERYL COOKY, Purdue University: I think of this as a tremendous moment, not only for the U.S. women's soccer team, but for all those fans out there, all the aspiring² young girls and boys who want to be athletes. I think this is a tremendous moment for them.

I think it's a tremendous moment for our culture as well, that we can all join together and celebrate the tremendous accomplishments³ and prowess in female athleticism⁴ that we saw displayed last night.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Deborah Larkin, we mentioned the disparity between men's and women's soccer. How much disparity is there today?

DEBORAH SLANER LARKIN: Oh, it's quite noticeable, quite dramatic. We can start with money. The women get to share $2 million for the winners, but in the men's world cup, the men got to share $8 million and they lost. The women had to play on a turf field, which is much more difficult to play on, and the men do not have to play on a turf field.

And so while they play the same amount of time with the same amount of energy, the temperatures on a turf field are much, much hotter. So it's very dramatic, what the differences are. I kind of likened it to when we used to talk about that when Fred Astaire and Ginger⁵ Rogers would dance, Ginger Rogers had to do it going backwards⁶ and in heels. That's the difference.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Cheryl Cooky, what would you add to that? And why is this disparity still there more than 40 years after Title IX, the federal law, was passed outlawing⁷ discrimination on the basis of gender⁸ in education?

CHERYL COOKY: Just to add to that, I think it's interesting to look at the media coverage⁹.

The Major League soccer — men's soccer league in the United States just recently signed an eight-year $90 million contract with a major sports network, ESPN and FOX Sports, to have their games televised, whereas the National Women's Soccer League, the female counterpart, has no TV contract, has only three sponsors, compared to the 20 sponsors for the men's team.

And we know that the MLS professional league has struggled in terms of generating revenue and generating a fan base. So, I think the lack of a national contract for the women's team really does impact how we can really come to know women's sports — or women's soccer, I should say, in the United States.

How this all connects to Title IX, I think, is a really interesting question. We have seen a tremendous growth and explosion in the number of girls and women that are participating in sports. However, there are still a number of areas — and we were talking about media and sponsorship and those sorts of issues — there's a number of ways in which women's sports, both at the high school, collegiate level, as well as the professional level, still suffer from these disparities.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, let me — Deborah Larkin, let me turn to you on that, not only why they still exist, but what can be done about it? We are decades past this — again, the passage of this law. What needs to happen for there to be more of a — not to abuse the term — but for there to be more of an even playing field?

DEBORAH SLANER LARKIN: That's right.Well, we really have to put teeth into the law when we talk about compliance¹⁰ of Title IX. In high school sports, when Title IX was first passed, one in 27 girls played sports. Now the number we use is two in five.

But I'm going to talk about it in a different way. A third of the girls who play are getting all the kind of exercise in sports they need. A third get a little. And a third get none. And it's the third that get none and a little are who we need to focus on, because they're not getting the education, health and leadership benefits.

Girls who play sports do better in school, have aspirations¹¹ for college, earn more money in the work force, are less involved in delinquent¹² behaviors. So we need to put our money where our mouth is and put money behind girls' sports and compliance for Title IX.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Cheryl Cooky, how do you see this question of girls and women not having the same opportunity as men when it comes to participating in sports?

CHERYL COOKY: Yes, I think there's a lot of ways in which there are still many types of inequalities, some that we can see and some that we can't, some that we're aware of and some that we're not.

If we look at simple things like when sports are played, the NBA, the professional league — and, of course, this isn't applying to Title IX, but we see this at the high school and the collegiate levels. Oftentimes, the men's teams play in the high profile, the regular season. The girls and women's teams oftentimes play in off-seasons. They have the less desirable playing time.

So I think that there's these kinds of subtleties¹³ that are just beyond getting more girls involved in sports.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, this big win for USA women's soccer certainly gives us an opportunity to look at these issues again.

And we want to thank both of you for talking with us. Cheryl Cooky, Deborah Slaner Larkin, we appreciate it.

DEBORAH SLANER LARKIN: Thank you.

CHERYL COOKY: Thank you very much.

1 equitable   

adj.公平的；公正的

参考例句：

• This is an equitable solution to the dispute. 这是对该项争议的公正解决。
• Paying a person what he has earned is equitable. 酬其应得,乃公平之事。

2 aspiring   

adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求

参考例句：

• Aspiring musicians need hours of practice every day. 想当音乐家就要每天练许多小时。
• He came from an aspiring working-class background. 他出身于有抱负的工人阶级家庭。 来自辞典例句

3 accomplishments   

n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就

参考例句：

• It was one of the President's greatest accomplishments. 那是总统最伟大的成就之一。
• Among her accomplishments were sewing,cooking,playing the piano and dancing. 她的才能包括缝纫、烹调、弹钢琴和跳舞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 athleticism   

n.运动竞赛，崇尚运动，竞技热

参考例句：

• He brings defense. He brings talent. He brings athleticism. That's a lot. “他带来的防御，他带来了人才，他带来了身体，这是很多”。 来自互联网
• Each of these sports isn't won through sheer athleticism alone. 每个体育项目无法凭借纯粹的运动能力而获胜。 来自互联网

5 ginger   

n.姜，精力，淡赤黄色；adj.淡赤黄色的；vt.使活泼，使有生气

参考例句：

• There is no ginger in the young man.这个年轻人没有精神。
• Ginger shall be hot in the mouth.生姜吃到嘴里总是辣的。

6 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

7 outlawing   

宣布…为不合法（outlaw的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Regulations are outlawing certain refrigerants, such as chlorofluorocarbons, which contain ozone-depleting chemicals. 随后出台的政策禁用了部分制冷剂，如破坏臭氧层的氟氯碳化合物。
• An amendment outlawing sale of intoxicating liquors(1920)was repealed in 1933. 规定售卖酒类为非法的一个宪法修正案（一九二○年）在一九三三年被废止。

8 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。

9 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

10 compliance   

n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从

参考例句：

• I was surprised by his compliance with these terms.我对他竟然依从了这些条件而感到吃惊。
• She gave up the idea in compliance with his desire.她顺从他的愿望而放弃自己的主意。

11 aspirations   

强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音

参考例句：

• I didn't realize you had political aspirations. 我没有意识到你有政治上的抱负。
• The new treaty embodies the aspirations of most nonaligned countries. 新条约体现了大多数不结盟国家的愿望。

12 delinquent   

adj.犯法的，有过失的；n.违法者

参考例句：

• Most delinquent children have deprived backgrounds.多数少年犯都有未受教育的背景。
• He is delinquent in paying his rent.他拖欠房租。

13 subtleties   

细微( subtlety的名词复数 )； 精细； 巧妙； 细微的差别等

参考例句：

• I think the translator missed some of the subtleties of the original. 我认为译者漏掉了原著中一些微妙之处。
• They are uneducated in the financial subtleties of credit transfer. 他们缺乏有关信用转让在金融方面微妙作用的知识。