“老男孩”现象泛滥 是晚到的成熟？

英语自学网

　　The latest affliction to hit today's young male?
        　　A widespread condition known as "Peter Pan Syndrome," according to author Kay S. Hymowitz。
        　　Hymowit''s book, "Manning Up: How the Rise of Women Has Turned Men Into Boys," is excerpted in the Wall Street Journal, and discusses the "novel sort of limbo, a hybrid state of semi-hormonal adolescence and responsible self-reliance" that characterizes many young men in today's society。
        　　Though she attributes a number of elements to the notable emergence of this boy-to-man subculture, chief among them are financial stability and changing sexual hierarchies。
        　　"Like adolescents in the 20th century, today's pre-adults have been wait-listed for adulthood," Hymowitz offers. "Marketers and culture creators help to promote pre-adulthood as a lifestyle. And like adolescence, pre-adulthood is a class-based social phenomenon, reserved for the relatively well-to-do."
        　　"Those who don't get a four-year college degree are not in a position to compete for the more satisfying jobs of the knowledge economy."
        　　"Women have risen to positions of power in the meantime, with 34 percent of American women between the ages of 25 to 34 holding college bachelor's degrees, versus just 27 percent of men, and this imbalance further cultivates these so-called 'man-children,'" she argues。
        　　这种现象是当今年轻男性的另一大问题?
        　　凯伊•S•西墨威茨在她的书里《男人雄起：女性的崛起如何让男人变成男孩》，便提到了众所周知的“彼得•潘综合征”。《华尔街日报》摘录了本书某些章节，并讨论了"这种新型的混沌状态，荷尔蒙水平处于青春期，又有一定的自力更生能力"，而这正是当今社会许多年轻男性的确切写照。
        　　虽然凯伊认为这种“老男孩”现象的出现有诸多因素，然而最主要的还是经济的稳定性和变化了的性别结构。
        　　西墨威茨说：“像许多20世纪的青少年一样，如今的处在成年前期的年轻人尚未达到成人的成熟状态。而市场营销者们和文化领跑者们又大肆宣扬成年前期这样的生活状态。和青少年一样，成年前期成为一个阶层性的社会现象，仅出现在生活相对宽裕的群体里。”
        　　“那些没有大学文凭的人在知识经济的时代很难找到十分满意的工作。”
        　　她说：“同时，女性的地位也不断攀升，在美国，25至34岁这个年龄段里，34%的女性持有学士学位，而男性仅27%，这种差距催生了所谓的‘老男孩’'现象。”