经济学人下载:性别选择,哑巴啦?

Still, the merits of her book outweigh such flaws. Ms Hvistendahl’s distinctive contribution is twofold. She provides a history of the modern practice of sex-selective abortion, based on new and detailed research, and she helps readers think about its possible consequences. Most of them look grim. America’s violent Wild West, she points out, had a huge preponderance of men. Excess males in central and southern China also contributed to the Taiping rebellion of 1850-64, one of the bloodiest civil wars in history.

尽管如此，她的书依然瑕不掩瑜。赫弗斯坦托尔女士（Ms Hvistendahl）特殊的贡献是双重的。以新的详细的研究为基础，她提供了性别选择堕胎的现代实践的历史，而且她帮助读者思考这种实践的可能后果。大部分结果看上去很严酷。她指出，美国充满暴力而荒凉的西部绝大多数为男子。中国中部和南部男性过多也促成了1850年至1864年历史上最血腥的内战之一的太平天国起义。

Sex selection, Ms Hvistendahl says, still does not get its proper attention. Female genital mutilation is all over the websites of UNICEF and the World Health Organisation. Sex selection, in contrast, hardly gets a mention. One hopes her book will help the subject get its due.

赫弗斯坦托尔女士（Ms Hvistendahl）表示， 性别选择仍然得不到应有的重视。联合国儿童基金会和世界卫生组织的网站上到处都是毁坏女性外阴的信息。相反，性别选择几乎不值得一提。谁都希望她的书将有助于这个主题得到应有的承认。