Gender roles are changing but prejudice persists, even in the privacy of a household and among the highly educated.

性別角色不斷發(fā)生變化，但即便使是在家庭內(nèi)部或是受過(guò)高等教育的群體當(dāng)中，性別歧視依舊存在。

Lin Shaohua, a noted translator of Japanese literature, gave a lecture to a class of master of public administration students the other day. In the question-and-answer session, a student asked him how he managed his time well enough to be so prolific in translation and writing, on top of his job as a university teacher. Lin said the trick is in "not doing any household chores".

知名日本文學(xué)翻譯家林少華不久前為公共管理碩士做了一場(chǎng)講座。在問(wèn)答環(huán)節(jié)，一名學(xué)生問(wèn)林教授是如何規(guī)劃時(shí)間，才能夠在翻譯與寫(xiě)作以及他的本職工作——大學(xué)教師中取得如此豐碩的成果。林教授表示，訣竅在于“不做任何的家務(wù)活?！?/p>

As he described it in his microblog, the male students all laughed while the women kept silent. So he turned to the latter and said the wear and tear on men of cleaning pots and pans would remove their manliness and ambitions, turning them into effeminate creatures, at the same time turning women into tomboys.

當(dāng)他在微博中發(fā)布這一觀(guān)點(diǎn)后，學(xué)生中出現(xiàn)“男笑女默”的情況。為此，他向女生們解釋稱(chēng)，男性長(zhǎng)期承擔(dān)刷鍋洗碗的工作將會(huì)殆盡他們的男子氣概，消磨他們的雄心抱負(fù)，導(dǎo)致男性越來(lái)越娘炮，而同時(shí)女性越來(lái)越像女漢子。

The remark was so tongue-in-cheek that, without the benefit of an audible voice, it is difficult to determine whether it was meant to be sarcastic. Since Lin deleted his post in the aftermath of swarms of critical responses, I figure that it was intended as a sincere explanation and, possibly, a piece of advice on the rigorous division of gender roles.

這話(huà)聽(tīng)起來(lái)像半開(kāi)玩笑半認(rèn)真，但未能親耳聽(tīng)到林教授說(shuō)出這些話(huà)的情況下，我們很難判定這句話(huà)是否是用來(lái)諷刺挖苦的。當(dāng)這一觀(guān)點(diǎn)遭到圍攻后，林少華刪除了該條微博。因此，我認(rèn)為他發(fā)表這條微博的初衷可能是出于真誠(chéng)的解釋目的，是對(duì)性別角色嚴(yán)格分界給出建議。

Now I don't believe China is an extremely male-chauvinistic society. Since the Enlightenment Movement, otherwise known as the May Fourth Movement of 1919, Chinese society has struggled to free itself from the shackles of feudalism, which includes institutional discrimination against women. While we cannot claim that women in China have achieved equality in every field, they have proved that they can hold their place next to men with no preferential treatment whatsoever. In fact there are so many fields and professions in which women are beating their male peers hands down that affirmative action, as it is known in North America, is often reserved for men who have turned out to be the weaker party in fair competition.

我認(rèn)為現(xiàn)在的中國(guó)并不是一個(gè)極端男性沙文主義社會(huì)。封建主義存在著對(duì)女性的制度性歧視，但自五四運(yùn)動(dòng)以來(lái)，中國(guó)社會(huì)一直在奮力掙脫它的束縛。盡管我們無(wú)法斷言中國(guó)女性在各個(gè)領(lǐng)域都實(shí)現(xiàn)了平等，但她們確實(shí)證明了現(xiàn)在可以在男性身邊頂半邊天，不需要享受任何優(yōu)待。實(shí)際上，在許多領(lǐng)域和專(zhuān)業(yè)，女性可以輕而易舉地打敗她們的男同胞，因而，后者變成為公平競(jìng)爭(zhēng)中弱勢(shì)一方，更加需要如北美洲的平權(quán)法案的幫助。

There has been discussion over the past decade about the sources of male weakness. Some point to the lack of military-style training in schools and others reckon male children are more pampered because they are supposed to carry on the family lineage. The fashion trend has clearly swerved to the epicene man. The fashion du jour is embodied by androgynous styling, an appearance firmly established as the paragon of metro sexual beauty.

在過(guò)去的十年里，缺乏男子氣的原因一直是大家探討的焦點(diǎn)。有些人指出，這是由于學(xué)校缺乏軍事化訓(xùn)練，另一些人則認(rèn)為由于現(xiàn)在的孩子被看作是家族血脈的延續(xù)，就變得越來(lái)越驕縱。中性人成為時(shí)下的潮流趨勢(shì)。當(dāng)下的這一潮流體現(xiàn)在這種人的風(fēng)格可男可女，而這種長(zhǎng)相是建立在完美展現(xiàn)性別美之上的。

Some see this as a threat to the traditional notion of masculinity, and some educators and parents want to turn the tide, or at least put a brake on it. They send boys to boot camps where the youngsters can presumably toughen their bodies and minds. I don't know whether they also lament the disappearance of after-class fistfights that were such a fixture in coming-of-age movies of yore.

一些人將其視為對(duì)傳統(tǒng)男子氣觀(guān)念的威脅，而一些教育人士和家長(zhǎng)想要扭轉(zhuǎn)這一趨勢(shì)，或者至少延緩這一趨勢(shì)。他們把男孩子們送往新兵訓(xùn)練營(yíng)，錘煉身體和意志。我不知道他們是否會(huì)懷念下課后打架的場(chǎng)境——這在很久以前的青春片中是一個(gè)固定的橋段。

The young male image in popular culture is largely shaped by entertainment imported from South Korea and Japan rather than from Hollywood. It is probably the racial affinity that has made male icons from China's eastern neighbors easier to identify with for Chinese youth. Action heroes from across the Pacific Ocean are welcomed as they are deemed to be in a different league, one that elicits more shock and awe than reliability.

大眾文化中的年輕男性形象很大程度上是由從韓國(guó)和日本引進(jìn)的娛樂(lè)節(jié)目所塑造的，而不是好萊塢。這或許是種族姻親關(guān)系，中國(guó)東邊的鄰國(guó)制造的男子偶像更容易為中國(guó)青年一代所認(rèn)同。而從大西洋彼岸漂洋過(guò)海而來(lái)的動(dòng)作明星只是受到歡迎，但由于認(rèn)為他們與我們不屬于同一陣營(yíng)，帶來(lái)更多的是震懾和敬畏而不是可依賴(lài)性。

Lament all you want, but I feel the sociological underpinnings for the current pendulum swing toward less masculinity are peace and prosperity, allowing young men to spend time on grooming and styling. In times of war and poverty, physical prowess would count more than delicate skin or facial features. The archetypal worker or peasant as depicted in propaganda is the buffed-up body shown in old-time posters and billboards. Nowadays an urban male frequents a gym to tone his body not so he can look like a manual laborer, but rather like a white-collar worker with an enviable physique. He wouldn't be able to plow a field with the help of an ox or strike an anvil with a hammer for a day. Therein lies the difference between pragmatism and aesthetics.

為你想要的一切默哀吧，但我認(rèn)為，造成當(dāng)下男性氣概缺失的社會(huì)根源是和平與繁榮，在這樣的環(huán)境下，年輕男性才有時(shí)間花在服裝造型美容美發(fā)上。在戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)與貧窮之際，體能比嬌嫩的皮膚和姣好的面容更重要。宣傳中描繪的工人或農(nóng)民的原型來(lái)自舊時(shí)海報(bào)或廣告牌，他們都有一副精壯的身體。如今，城市的年輕人頻繁出入健身房來(lái)鍛煉身體，不然會(huì)讓人看起來(lái)像一個(gè)體力勞動(dòng)者，而不是一個(gè)擁有令人艷羨的體格和身材的白領(lǐng)。就算有頭牛的幫助，他也沒(méi)辦法在地里干活，或者用錘子來(lái)釘鐵砧。這其中就存在著實(shí)用主義和美學(xué)主義的區(qū)別。

Of course there are many other reasons people cite for the decrease in masculinity. But Lin's mention of household travail is quite unprecedented as far as I know. It is obviously built on the assumption that cleaning dishes, doing the laundry and vacuuming the apartment are the exclusive realm of women. Well, they used to be for sure when women were denied education and could work only as nannies and maids. But things have changed in the past century and in most Chinese households there is no fixed rule about who should take care of the daily chores. Usually the arrangement depends on the specific skills and schedules of the husband and the wife, or the father and the mother. Honestly, with the ubiquitous use of home appliances, cleaning up no longer means scrubbing your laundry on a washboard for hours a day. Still, every member of the family should chip in even if one is wealthy enough to hire a maid or other form of help.

當(dāng)然，人們?yōu)槟行詺飧诺娜笔д伊嗽S多其他原因。但是據(jù)我所知林教授提及的家務(wù)瑣事還屬史無(wú)前例。這顯然是建立在這樣的一個(gè)假設(shè)之上：即刷盤(pán)子，洗衣服，給公寓吸塵都是女性的專(zhuān)屬工作。好吧，當(dāng)然，在女性被剝奪教育權(quán)利并且只能從事保姆和仆人工作的時(shí)候確實(shí)是這樣的一個(gè)情況。但是，在上個(gè)世紀(jì)，情況發(fā)生了變化，在大多數(shù)的中國(guó)家庭中并沒(méi)有固定的規(guī)則對(duì)誰(shuí)承擔(dān)日常家務(wù)作出約定。通常情況下，這種安排取決于丈夫和妻子或父親和母親的職業(yè)技能及時(shí)間表。坦率而言，隨著家用電器的普及，清理工作便不再意味著一天花上好幾個(gè)小時(shí)去洗衣服。然而，即使有足夠有錢(qián)雇傭人或是支付其他形式的幫助，家庭當(dāng)中的每一個(gè)成員都要為家務(wù)出一份力。

Had Lin's remarks been a totally isolated incident, they could simply have been brushed aside. Unfortunately, he may represent the vestiges of history, the part of Chinese tradition that had better be left in the archive of undesirable cultural legacy. When the government called for a revival of traditional culture a few years ago, public interest in Confucian classics was rekindled. Amid the renewed fascination with old customs are worrying signs of simmering ashes of feudalism and bigotry. There arose private schools devoted to the teaching of "female virtues", including the principle that women must obey their husbands unconditionally even when the latter are wrong. The local government shut down the class after the media reported on it.

如果林教授的言論完全只是一個(gè)偶發(fā)事件的話(huà)，很快就會(huì)被人遺忘。不幸的是，他所代表的可能是歷史的殘余，即中國(guó)傳統(tǒng)中那一部分最好被封印起來(lái)，不為人所歡迎的文化因素。幾年前，中國(guó)政府號(hào)召振興傳統(tǒng)文化知識(shí)，公眾對(duì)孔子的研究興趣又被點(diǎn)燃。除了對(duì)重新拾起舊傳統(tǒng)研究的著魔，人們也會(huì)對(duì)封建主義和頑固主義的殘余會(huì)不會(huì)也因此死灰復(fù)燃有所擔(dān)心。最近興起的一些私人學(xué)校致力于教導(dǎo)“婦德”，包括無(wú)條件服從丈夫，即使他們是錯(cuò)的。當(dāng)?shù)卣诿襟w報(bào)道后關(guān)閉了這類(lèi)培訓(xùn)班。

China has come to the stage that, when a couple fights, one should not assume the woman is naturally the sympathetic party. The dynamics of each family is unique. But the suggestion that a man taking up housework is not manly is so ludicrous it can only be treated as a joke. And I say this with total acknowledgment of gender differences in professions. For example, as a general rule, women tend to excel in the positions of kindergarten teachers or hospital nurses. But that does not mean a man cannot be as good as his female peers if he is so disposed. Conversely, there are very few female truck drivers, but if a woman takes to it, there is no reason why she cannot be just as good.

中國(guó)現(xiàn)在所處的階段是，如果一對(duì)夫婦吵架了，人們不應(yīng)自然而言地認(rèn)為妻子是值得同情的一方。每個(gè)家庭的情況都是獨(dú)一無(wú)二的。不過(guò)，認(rèn)為做家務(wù)的男性沒(méi)有男子氣概的建議很是荒唐，只能當(dāng)做玩笑話(huà)來(lái)聽(tīng)。從專(zhuān)業(yè)領(lǐng)域的性別差異而言，我對(duì)此表示完全認(rèn)同。例如，作為一般性規(guī)律，女性往往更能勝任幼兒園教師和醫(yī)院護(hù)士這樣的崗位，但這并不意味著男性無(wú)法做得像他的女性同事們一樣好。相反，卡車(chē)司機(jī)中鮮少有女性，但是如果有女性從事這一工作，她完全可以像男司機(jī)一樣好。

There will no doubt be some who strongly oppose my argument. I'm not of the opinion that a country's truck drivers or kindergarten teachers have to reflect the gender ratio of the whole country so that men and women can be proven equal. But I believe there should be no barriers for either sex to enter into professions they are qualified for on the basis of merit. Sure, toiling away with home routine is not a profession - unless it is for someone else's household.

毫無(wú)疑問(wèn)，會(huì)有一些人對(duì)我的觀(guān)點(diǎn)表示強(qiáng)烈反對(duì)。我的觀(guān)點(diǎn)并不是說(shuō)為了證明男女平等，全國(guó)的卡車(chē)司機(jī)或是幼兒園老師的數(shù)量必須反映了全國(guó)的性別比率。但我相信男性也好，女性也罷，在進(jìn)入一個(gè)以實(shí)力說(shuō)話(huà)的專(zhuān)業(yè)領(lǐng)域時(shí)不應(yīng)該受到羈絆。當(dāng)然，長(zhǎng)年累月做家務(wù)不是一種職業(yè)——除非你是為別人家做家務(wù)。

Lin can say he is free from the drudgery because he can afford outside help or he has a wife or other family members who do not treat it as drudgery. He can even argue from an economic point of view that his time can yield a better financial payoff than whoever is responsible for the grunt work. But to hint that he is above it because of his gender is simply condescending. To extrapolate from his logic, someone sweating in a truck or on a construction site can laugh at him, a man sitting at a desk all day long, for being a sissy.

林教授可以說(shuō)，他可以免于這種苦差事，因?yàn)樗苤Ц兜谜?qǐng)外人的費(fèi)用，或是他的妻子或是其他家庭成員并不認(rèn)為這是一個(gè)苦差事。他甚至可以從經(jīng)濟(jì)角度提出，相比于從事繁重體力勞動(dòng)的工作者，他的時(shí)間創(chuàng)造出的金錢(qián)財(cái)富更多。如果說(shuō)因?yàn)樽约旱男詣e而使得自己凌駕于這樣的工作之上，這就顯得有點(diǎn)居高臨下的意味了。從他的邏輯推斷，那些在卡車(chē)?yán)锘蚴墙ㄖさ厣蠐]汗如雨的人也可以嘲笑他，因?yàn)樗且粋€(gè)整天坐在辦公桌旁的“娘炮”。

（譯者：Jessielanting 編輯：丹妮）