Brides in Stockholm who want their fathers to walk them down the aisle are likely to be told it can't be done, as some pastors are refusing to allow the practice they say is sexist, a pastor said in late September.
"In Sweden we have worked hard in many different ways to eliminate everything that is unequal," said Yvonne Hallin, a Lutheran Church vicar in the Stockholm region.
She said she would not allow the custom in her parish and noted that Stockholm's bishop issued a recommendation in 2003 that pastors discourage it.
PHOTO: EPA
Couples who marry "are equal when it comes to finances, politics, values ... but when they come to the church ... the woman suddenly turns into a man's property," she said.
Hallin said she has informed a father who was to walk his daughter down the aisle on Sep. 22 that he would not be doing so.
The news rubbed the mother of the bride the wrong way, who said that the ceremony would go ahead as planned but that the couple had had to give in to the pastor's wishes.
"In this case it wasn't the couple who became angry but the parents," Hallin said, adding that most people "don't find it strange."
She noted that the custom of fathers walking their daughters down the aisle "is not a Swedish tradition. It has been imported from American and British films."
But even in America and Britain, many brides do not have their fathers accompany them while walking down the aisle. Some choose to walk alone as a sign of their independence.
(STAFF WRITER, WITH AFP)
那些希望由父親陪著自己走紅地毯的斯德哥爾摩新娘們可能要失望了，因為有些牧師不容許這樣性別歧視的儀式，一位牧師於今年九月下旬時說。
「在瑞典，我們一直努力以各種方式消除一切不平等的事情，」斯德哥爾摩地區一座路德派教堂的女牧師伊凡．哈琳說。
她說她自己的教區不允許這種習俗，並指出，斯德哥爾摩的主教在二○○三年建議牧師，不要鼓勵這樣的做法。
「夫妻不管是在財務、政治、價值觀等方面都是平等的，但是當他們一來到教堂，女人好像一下子變成男人的財產，」她說。
哈琳說她已通知一位原本今年九月二十二日要陪她女兒走紅地毯的父親不要這麼做。
這件消息惹惱了新娘的媽媽，她說典禮還是會照原定計畫進行，只不過這一對新人還是得向牧師低頭。
哈琳說：「發生這樣的事情，生氣的不是那一對新人，而是他們的父母，」她補充說，其實大部分的人「並不覺得這種做法很奇怪。」
她還表示，父親陪同出嫁女兒走上紅地毯並不是「瑞典的傳統，而是從美國和英國電影上學來的。」
然而即使在美國或是英國，有很多新娘走上紅地毯進行婚禮時，沒有父親的陪同。有些人選擇獨自一個人走紅地毯，象徵她們的獨立自主。
（法新社／翻譯：楊鴻泰）
網球天王費德勒（Roger Federer）於上週四（15日）宣布引退，為長達二十四年的職業生涯畫下了句點。回顧過去，他曾經贏得二十個大滿貫冠軍，與對手喬克維奇、納達爾合稱「網壇三巨頭」，如今這名年屆四十一歲的傳奇即將引退，令許多球迷感到不捨。今天就讓我們從他的引退宣言，來學TOEIC測驗的常考英文吧！ acknowledge 認可、承認 費德勒在Twitter上發聲明宣布退休，其中一段這樣感謝他的團隊： I really want to thank and acknowledge my amazing team. . . who have given me the best advice and have always been there for me. （我真的想要感謝和認可我優秀的團隊…，你們給予我最棒的建議，且一直陪伴著我。） acknowledge解釋為「認可」，單字來自於knowledge「知識」，字首「ac-」有「朝向某方向」的意思，代表come to understand or recognize 的意思，因此就是「認可、承認」。 acknowledge 後面加上動名詞，表達「承認做了」某件事情。動詞後面加上動名詞表達已經做了某件事情，其他常見動詞還有forget。forget 後方加上to V 則表達忘記做某件事情。 She acknowledged having been at fault.（她承認自己有做錯。） She forgot turning on the TV.（她忘記已經開了電視。） She forgot to turn on the TV.（她忘記要開電視了。） acknowledge + that acknowledge 加上 that 名詞子句的用法，則代表「承認」某件事情。 She acknowledged that she had been at fault.（她承認自己有過錯。） All I want is some acknowledgment that his behavior is unreasonable. （我只要你們承認他的行為是無理取鬧就好。） 名詞變化acknowledgment 則是去掉 e 並在字尾加上「-ment 」。 We sent her a copy of the book in acknowledgment of her part in its creation. （我們寄給她一本書，以感謝她為這本書的問世所做的貢獻。） 片語in acknowledgement of代表「認可某件事情」，除了動詞加上受詞的用法，也可以採用名詞變化。若用動詞改寫則是We sent
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