中國網(wǎng)站品牌欄目（頻道）
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Screen grab from "Angry Brides" game. |
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Anger at the practice of demanding dowries, which can lead to violence against brides, has prompted a takeoff of "Angry Birds" called "Angry Brides" that aims to highlight the illegal practice still prevalent in many South Asian countries. Dowries -- such as jewelry, clothes, cars and money -- are traditionally given by the bride's family to the groom and his parents to ensure she is taken care of in her new home. The custom was outlawed more than five decades ago. But it is still widely practiced, with the groom's family demanding even more money after marriage, leading to mental and physical harassment that can drive the woman to suicide. In the worst cases, she may be murdered by her husband and his family, often in so-called "stove burnings" where she is doused in kerosene and set on fire. "The Angry Brides game is our way of throwing a spotlight on the nuisance of dowry," said Ram Bhamidi, senior vice president and head of online marketing for Shaadi.com, a matrimonial website with two million members. "According to a 2007 study ... there is a dowry-related death every four hours in India. We condemn this menace and have consistently run campaigns on social media to help create awareness of the issue." The name of the app, available on the group's home page (www.facebook.com/shaadicom), is a spinoff from the globally popular "Angry Birds" game. Its home page shows a red-clad, eight-armed woman resembling a powerful female Hindu goddess. Underneath, there is a caption: "A woman will give you strength, care and all the love you need ... NOT dowry!" To play the game, users have to try and hit three dodging grooms -- a pilot, builder and doctor. There is a wide array of weapons to choose from, including a stiletto shoe, a frying pan, broomstick, tomato and loafer. Each groom has a price tag, starting at 1.5 million rupees ($29,165). Every time the player hits a groom, his value decreases and money is added to the player's Anti-Dowry Fund, which is saved posted on their Facebook page. "Since we launched the game last week, more than 270,000 people have liked the app. Both men and women seem to be playing it," said Bhamidi. According to latest figures from India's National Crime Records Bureau, there were 8,391 cases of dowry-related deaths in the country and 90,000 cases of torture and cruelty toward women by their husbands or family in 2010. (Read by Emily Cheng. Emily Cheng is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
為表達(dá)對索要嫁妝的陋習(xí)的憤怒，模仿“憤怒的小鳥”而成的游戲“憤怒的新娘”在網(wǎng)絡(luò)上走紅。這款游戲旨在引起人們對這一仍然在很多南亞國家盛行的非法行為的重視，這種行為可能導(dǎo)致新娘遭到暴力。 傳統(tǒng)上講，新娘的娘家會(huì)向新郎及婆家贈(zèng)予珠寶、衣物、汽車和金錢等嫁妝，以確保新娘在她的新家里會(huì)得到照顧。 五十多年前這一風(fēng)俗就被定為非法，但是如今依舊盛行。有些男方家庭婚后會(huì)索要更多錢財(cái)，導(dǎo)致妻子受到精神和肉體折磨，甚至可能導(dǎo)致自殺。 在最慘痛的案例中，妻子可能會(huì)被丈夫和婆家謀殺，通常是被潑上煤油燒死，也就是所謂的“被火爐燒死”。 婚戀網(wǎng)Shaddi.com的高級副總裁兼網(wǎng)絡(luò)營銷主管拉姆?巴密迪說：“我們通過‘憤怒的新娘’這款游戲把嫁妝這種陋習(xí)推上前臺(tái)?！痹摼W(wǎng)站有兩百萬名成員。 “2007年的一項(xiàng)調(diào)查顯示，印度每四個(gè)小時(shí)就會(huì)有人因與嫁妝有關(guān)的案件而死亡。我們譴責(zé)這種惡行，而且一直在社交媒體上舉辦活動(dòng)，以便讓民眾認(rèn)識(shí)到這個(gè)問題。” 這款游戲發(fā)布在該網(wǎng)站的Facebook主頁上，名稱模仿了全球知名游戲“憤怒的小鳥”。主頁上有一位紅衣八臂女，象征著法力無邊的印度教女神。 下方的說明寫道：“女人能給你力量、關(guān)心和你需要的愛，絕非嫁妝！”。 玩游戲時(shí)，玩家必須擊中三個(gè)閃躲的新郎，分別是飛行員、建筑工和醫(yī)生。玩家可挑選多種武器，包括細(xì)高跟鞋，煎鍋、掃帚、西紅柿和拖鞋。 每個(gè)新郎身上都有標(biāo)價(jià)，150萬盧比（29165美元）起價(jià)。玩家每次擊中新郎，新郎的身價(jià)就會(huì)縮水，而這筆虛擬貨幣就會(huì)轉(zhuǎn)入玩家的“反嫁妝基金”，并顯示在他們的Facebook主頁上。 巴密迪說：“自從我們上周發(fā)布這款游戲以來，已經(jīng)有27萬多人喜歡上它。玩家有男性也有女性?！?/p> 印度國家犯罪統(tǒng)計(jì)局的最新數(shù)據(jù)顯示，2010年因嫁妝死亡的案件有8391起，另有九萬起女性遭到丈夫或婆家虐待的案件。 相關(guān)閱讀 英國發(fā)布奧運(yùn)禮節(jié)指南：別擁抱印度人 （中國日報(bào)網(wǎng)英語點(diǎn)津 實(shí)習(xí)生唐徐進(jìn) 編輯：Julie） |
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Vocabulary: takeoff: 嘲弄性的模仿 |
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