Whatever other reasons may explain the lack of women's voices on the nation's op-ed pages, the lack of women asking to be there is clearly part of the problem. Many opinion page editors at major newspapers across the country say that 65 or 75 percent of unsolicited manuscripts, or more, come from men.

不管有其他多少理由可以解釋，全美民意論壇版缺少女人的聲音，顯然部分問題出在很少女人主動要求參與。全美各大報很多意見版主編指出，自由投稿者有65%或75%，甚至更高的比率來自男性。

The obvious solution, at least to Catherine Orenstein, an author, activist and occasional op-ed page contributor herself, was to get more women to submit essays. To that end Ms. Orenstein has been training women at universities, foundations and corporations to write essays and get them published.

至少對凱瑟琳．歐倫斯坦，很明顯的解決之道是鼓勵女人多投稿。她本身是作家、活躍人士，偶爾投稿民意論壇版。為了達到這個目標，歐倫斯坦一直在訓練大學、基金會及企業女性寫評論文章並設法發表。

Uproars over the sparse numbers of women in newspapers, or on news programs, in magazines, and on best-seller lists regularly erupt every couple of years. A doozy occurred in 2005, after the liberal commentator Susan Estrich and Michael Kinsley, then editor of The Los Angeles Times's opinion pages, got into a nasty scuffle over the lack of female columnists. That dustup is what motivated Ms. Orenstein to take her op-ed show on the road, which she has done with support from the Woodhull Institute, an ethics and leadership group for women.

每隔幾年，女性在報刊雜誌、新聞性節目及暢銷書排行榜人數偏低，常會引起輿論大嘩。2005年，在自由派評論員蘇珊．艾斯特瑞奇和洛杉磯時報當時的言論版主編金斯利，因女性專欄作家太少而演出嚴重齷齪的衝突後出現正面的轉折。那次爭論推促歐倫斯坦的論壇秀上路，她這項計畫得到女性倫理與領導團體「伍哈爾組織」贊助。

"It's a teachable form," Orenstein said recently. "It's not like writing Hemingway. You show people the basics of a good argument, what constitutes good evidence, what's a news hook, what's the etiquette of a pitch."

「這種文體是可以傳授的，」歐倫斯坦最近說。「這又不像要寫海明威。你向人呈現一項好的論點的基本要素，什麼可以構成好的論證，什麼是新聞引子，什麼是某個論述的規範。」

Over the past 18 months several hundred women and men (though in fewer numbers) have taken the seminar, which can cost a group up to $5,000, Orenstein said. She has not kept records, but said about two dozen former students have sent her clips of their published essays to say thank you. Suzanne Grossman at Woodhull didn't have comprehensive statistics but said that the first pilot session for a dozen women produced 12 op-ed articles. (Some participants wrote more than one.)

歐倫斯坦說，過去18個月，好幾百名男女（但男性少得多）參加研習班，每個參加的團費要五千美元。她並沒有保留完整的紀錄，但她表示，約廿餘名她教過的學生把她們已發表的文章剪報寄給她，並表達謝意。伍哈爾組織的蘇珊．葛羅斯曼沒有完整的數據，但她說，第一梯次實驗班約12個女人共發表12篇評論文章，但有些參加的人不只寫一篇。

"I try to convey the idea that there is a responsibility," she said. "Op-ed pages are so enormously powerful. It's one of the few places open to the public. Where else is someone like me going to get access It's not like I can call up the White House: 'Hello'"

「我試圖傳達一項概念，就是這是一種責任，」她說。「民意論壇版極有影響力，這是少數幾個對讀者開放的版面，否則像我這種人哪有什麼門路？我又沒什麼能耐，可以打電話給白宮說：『哈囉？』」

About 30 women gathered recently for one of Orenstein's seminars. Eighteen, mostly from nonprofit organizations, sat around a large conference table in Manhattan, while a dozen or so listened in through a speaker phone in Washington.

約30名女性最近聚在歐倫斯坦的一個研習班，其中18人大半來自非營利組織，她們坐在紐約曼哈坦，另外約12人則透過華府電話麥克風聽。

Orenstein asked: Could every woman at the large rectangular table name one specific subject that she is an expert in and say why The author of "Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked: Sex, Morality and the Evolution of a Fairy Tale," Orenstein began by saying, "Little Red Riding Hood" and writing the words in orange marker on an oversize white pad.

歐倫斯坦問：坐在大長方桌的每個女人，可否講出一種各自專精的問題並說明原因？歐倫斯坦因著有《小紅帽寬衣解帶：童話的性、道德及演變》一書，所以她率先說：「小紅帽」，並以橙色鉛字筆將這三個字寫在超大白色便條紙上。

Of the next four women who spoke, three started with a qualification or apology. "I'm really too young to be an expert in anything," said Caitlin Petre, 23.

接著四個發言的女人，有三個一開口就談自己的資歷或道歉。「我實在太少不更事了，不可能有什麼專長，」23歲的凱特林．派特瑞說。

"Let's stop," Orenstein said. "It happens in every single session I do with women, and it's never happened with men." Women tend to back away from "what we know and why we know it," she said.

「別再說了，」歐倫斯坦說。「我幫女人開的每一堂課都這樣，男人從來不會這樣。」女人每每碰到「我們知道什麼及為什麼知道」這個問題時總是打退堂鼓，她說。

Next she asked the participants why they thought it important to write op-ed articles. Women shouted: "Change the world," "shape public debate," "offer a new perspective," "influence public policy."

她接著問學員，為什麼她們覺得寫評論文章很重要，這些女人大喊：「改造世界」，「形成公共論壇」，「提出新觀點」，「影響公共政策」。

"You are all such do-gooders," Orenstein said laughing, "I love this." She then proceeded to create another kind of list that included fame, money, offers of books, television series and jobs.

「妳們都可以當好人好事代表，」歐倫斯坦笑著說。「我很欣賞這點。」她接著再開列另一張清單，包括名利、出書、上電視當名嘴及工作。

"What I want to suggest to you," she continued, is that the personal and the public interests are not at odds, and "the belief that they are mutually exclusive has kept women out of power." Don't you want money, credibility, access to aid in your cause she asked.

「我想告訴各位，」她接著說，個人利益和公共利益並不衝突，「認定兩者不能並存，使女人無法掌權。」難道妳們不想要錢、名利、有人協助推動你們的理念？她問道。

"I've never heard anyone say that before," Cristina Page, a spokeswoman for Birth Control Watch in Washington said. "What you've just said is so important. It's liberating."

「我從沒聽過任何人提到那點，」位於華府的「節育監控」組織女發言人克莉絲提娜．佩吉說。「妳剛剛提的論點很重要，有如醍醐灌頂。」