译文及生词短语整理：朗读者小组
今天的话题很有意思～
其实女性喜欢的言情小说，和男性喜欢的玄幻小说，都是一种满足人们幻想的文学题材，没有优劣之分。
有好的言情小说（《飘》《简爱》），也有好的玄幻等类型的小说～
今天生词比较多，加油！
Translation
Stop dissing romance novels already
早就不应该再贬低言情小说了
By Ron Charles
What does a woman want?
女性想要什么？
If you’re in publishing, this is not an idle — or sexist — question. As Ian McEwan said more than 10 years ago, “When women stop reading, the novel will be dead.”
如果你从事的是出版行业，那么这就不是一个无聊或者歧视女性的问题。就像伊恩·麦克尤恩10年以前所说的：“如果女性不再阅读，那么小说产业就完蛋了。”
The economic power of reading women was on full display Friday night at Politics and Prose, one of the nation’s premier independent bookstores, in Washington. For the first time, the store held a romance event, dubbed “Passion and Prose.” The panel of four authors was moderated by Diane Gaston, a writer of Regency romances and a member of the Washington Romance Writers Association. The event was a welcome if late acknowledgment that romance accounts for a full third of all the fiction sold in the United States. If that doesn’t get your heart racing, you may be dead.
爱阅读女性的经济力量，在周五晚上的Politics and Prose书店得到了完美展示。Politics and Prose位于华盛顿，是美国最重要的独立书店之一。这是这家书店第一次组织言情小说活动，这次活动的名字是“激情与散文”。四位作家组成的问答小组由Diane Gaston主持，Diane Gaston是一位专注于英国摄政时期言情小说的作家，她同时是华盛顿言情作家协会的成员。这次活动是令人愉悦的，因为活动后期宣布了言情小说占据了美国小说销量三分之一的消息，如果这还不能让你心跳加速、热血澎湃，那么或许你的心已死。
But for Politics and Prose, a happy ending wasn’t guaranteed. Summer isn’t the busiest season. Friday nights are tough. Would local romance readers get the word about this innovative panel discussion?
但是对于Politics and Prose书店来说，并不能确保这次活动有一个完美的结果，因为夏季并不是销售旺季，而且周五晚上这个时间选的也不咋地。当地的言情小说读者能收到关于这次创新性的专题讨论会的消息吗？
Oh, they got the word. A hundred chairs filled up quickly, and many more eager readers stood listening around the edges. Yes, the crowd was almost entirely female, but it skewed younger and more racially diverse than other readings I’ve attended. And the energy level was fabio. Clearly, these readers — voracious readers — were thrilled to be at an event that embraced their literary passion.
事实证明，她们收到了消息，活动准备的100张椅子很快就坐满了人，更多热切的读者在会场周边站着参加整个讨论会。当然观众大部分是女性读者，但是相比于我参加的其他读者见面会，这一次的观众更年轻、在种族分布上也更加多样化，而且现场观众热情四射，很明显这些读者，这些如饥似渴的读者，她们非常兴奋，因为参加的是一场与她们的文学激情相关的专题讨论会。
So why must this uniquely successful genre keep enduring slights and insults? After all, snobs dismiss all kinds of pop culture — from hip-hop to sitcoms — but romance novels elicit a special degree of fervent condescension. That denigration fits a larger historical pattern that regards any of the particular interests of women — from midwifery to knitting to “old wives’ tales” — as inferior to the particular interests of men. Are romance novels any more formulaic or unrealistic than the spy novels and thrillers that attract a male readership? Is there any reason — besides stale misogyny — to question the intelligence of romance authors and their fans?
那么为什么这种极其成功的文学体裁持续受到轻视与辱骂？毕竟那些自以为是的知识分子否定所有形式的流行文化，比如嘻哈音乐、情景喜剧等，但是言情小说受到格外强烈的傲慢诋毁。这种诋毁符合一种较大的历史模式，即无论是女性的哪种兴趣爱好，从助产学到针织女工再到荒诞故事，都比男性的兴趣爱好要低级。相比于那些吸引男性读者群的间谍小说和恐怖小说，言情小说有更多的刻板或者不切实际吗？除了陈腐的厌女因素，有任何其他理由来质疑言情小说作家和言情读者的智商吗？
New words
1. dubbed ['dʌbd]
adj. 被称为的
e.g. Today's session has been widely dubbed as a "make or break" meeting.
今天的会议被大众称为“不成则散”的会议。
2. voracious [vəˈreɪʃəs]
adj. 贪婪的；贪吃的；狼吞虎咽的
e.g. a voracious reader
一个如饥似渴的读者
3. genre 英 [ˈʒɒnrə] 美[ˈʒɑnrə]
n. 类型、体裁
e.g. a literary genre
文学体裁
4. slight [slaɪt]
n. 怠慢；轻蔑
e.g. It's difficult to persuade my husband that it isn't a slight on him that I enjoy my evening class.
很难劝说我丈夫相信我喜欢去上夜校课程并不是对他的冷落。
5. snob 英[snɒb] 美[snɑb]
n. 自以为学识渊博的人，自命不凡的人
e.g. a bunch of intellectual snobs
一群自命不凡的知识分子
6. sitcom 英[ˈsɪtkɒm] 美[ˈsɪtkɑm]
abbr. 情景喜剧（situation comedy）
e.g.I heard that a new sitcom is coming out next season.
我听说下一季会推出一个新的情景喜剧。
7. fervent 英[ˈfɜ:vənt] 美[ˈfɜ:rvənt]
adj. 炽热的；热烈的
e.g. Lots of men and women in the West are fervent supporters of bloodstained setups.
在西方，大量的男人和女人是大规模杀人装置的强烈支持者。
8. condescension 英[ˌkɒndɪ’senʃn] 美[ˌkɑndɪˈsɛnʃən]
n. 傲慢态度
e.g.There was a tinge of condescension in her greeting.
她的问候中带着一丝傲慢。
9. denigration [ˌdenɪ'ɡreɪʃn]
n. 诋毁
e.g. Your writing is lovely, funny, but I don't think the denigration of a serious scientist like Collins does a lot of good.
你写得很可爱，也有趣，但我并不认为诋毁像柯林斯这样一位认真的科学家有多好。
10. midwifery [ˌmɪdˈwɪfəri]
n. 产科学，助产学；助产术
e.g. Smellie improved the forceps and wrote a bestselling practical midwifery handbook.
斯梅利改良了产钳，并写下了实用的助产术手册。
11. formulaic [ˌfɔ:mjuˈleɪɪk]
adj. 公式化的；刻板的；套话堆砌的
e.g. This project was a milestone because I didn’t do a lot of formulaic things.
这次事件是一个里程碑，因为我没有时间去做很多公式化的东西。
12. misogyny 英[mɪˈsɔdʒɪni] 美[mɪˈsɑdʒɪni]
n. 厌恶女人，厌女观
e.g. The club's refusal to allow women to become members is sheer misogyny.
那家俱乐部不允许女人成为会员是纯粹的厌女症表现。
Phrases
1.be moderated by 由...主持
2.panel discussion 专题讨论会
3.literary passion 文学热情
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