美式新闻英语第 32 课：2007 May Be 'Year of the Woman' in French Politics
2007 年可能成为法国政坛的“妇女年” -3

Only five of the 27 European Union countries score lower. Globally, France ranks an unimpressive 86th place out of 139 nations, behind Greece, Gambia, Afghanistan and Tunisia. 在 27 个欧盟国家中，只有 5 个国家比例低于法国。从世界范围讲，在 139 个国家中，法国列在不起眼的第 86 位，在希腊、冈比亚、阿富汗和突尼斯之后。

Emmanuelle Latour, secretary general of France's Parity Observatory, a government-created body, explains why. 法国宇称天文台（政府机构）台长以马内利 · 拉图尔解释了此事原因。

(French) Latour says France is only slowly entering the democratic revolution, when it comes to gender parity, mostly because of European directives. （法语）拉图尔说法国只是在逐步进入民主革命时期，发生性别平等事件，大多是因为欧洲的影响。

She says male dominance in politics and in the private sector has historical backing. For example, France once observed Salic laws that barred women from ascending the throne. 她说男权统治政治和私人领域有历史作为支撑。例如，法国曾经发现萨利族的法律禁止女性登上王位。

But Latour believes that things can change with a little political will.  She points to the example of neighboring Spain, where Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has championed women's rights through new legislation and by appointing an equal number of men and women to his cabinet. 但是拉图尔相信有一点政治意愿参与，事情就会改变。她以邻国西班牙为例，社会党总理帕萨特罗已通过新的立法拥护妇女权益，并在其内阁中任命相等数量的男性和女性政员。

Several French prime ministers have also promoted women in politics, with varying degrees of conviction. 几任总统都曾通过不同程度的行动推进女性政治。

In 2000, the former leftist government passed a parity law, stipulating political parties field an equal number of male and female candidates in legislative and local elections.  2000 年，前左翼政府通过一项平等法案，规定在立法选举和地方选举中，男女参选人数要平等。

Although most of the smaller parties have observed the law, the two largest, the Socialists and the Union for a Popular Movement Party, have not. 虽然大多数小党派遵守这项法案，但是两大党，社会党和人民运动联盟，却并不在意。

This year may be different. The Socialists, for one, have vowed to observe the parity law in the June legislative vote.今年也许会有所不同。首先，社会党在六月份的立法选举中已宣布遵守平等法案。

But for now, the country's attention is focused on the presidential race and the chances that one woman, Segolene Royal, might win it. 但是现在，全国视线都聚焦在总统竞选，以及一位女性 塞格琳 · 罗雅尔可能获胜的事情上。