TED十佳演讲之什么是爱:性与感性的故事(2)
日期:2015-05-29 14:07

(单词翻译:单击)

演讲文本
And so women and their relatives
所以女人们和她们的亲戚
will go to great lengths to preserve this tiny piece of anatomy --
会竭尽全力保存这小小一个身体部分——
from female genital mutilation,
从女性生殖器官,
to virginity testing, to hymen repair surgery.
到童贞测试,到处女膜修复手术。
Faiza chose a different route:
法伊扎选择了一条不同的路径:
non-vaginal sex.
非阴道性交。
Only she became pregnant all the same.
但是她和别人一样怀孕了。
But Faiza didn't actually realize this,
但法伊扎并没有意识到这一点,
because there's so little sexuality education in schools,
因为学校里几乎没有关于性教育的课,
and so little communication in the family.
家里也没有告诉她这方面的事。
When her condition became hard to hide,
当她的情况变得难以掩饰,
Faiza's mother helped her flee her father and brothers.
法伊扎的母亲帮助她从父亲和兄长那里逃离。
This is because honor killings are a real threat
这是因为阿拉伯地区的无数女性
for untold numbers of women in the Arab region.
受到为了荣誉被谋杀的威胁。
And so when Faiza eventually fetched up at a hospital in Casablanca,
当法伊扎因临盆送进卡萨布兰卡的医院时,
the man who offered to help her,
那个提出帮助她的男子,
instead tried to rape her.
竟试图强暴她。
Sadly, Faiza is not alone.
可悲的是,法扎伊并不是特例。
In Egypt, where my research is focused,
在埃及,也是我主要集中研究的地方,
I have seen plenty of trouble in and out of the citadel.
我曾目睹堡垒内外许许多多的问题。
There are legions of young men
有大批年轻男子,
who can't afford to get married,
他们没钱结婚,
because marriage has become a very expensive proposition.
因为婚姻变成了一个异常昂贵的主张。
They are expected to bear the burden of costs in married life,
他们得负担婚后生活的费用,
but they can't find jobs.
但是他们找不到工作。
This is one of the major drivers of the recent uprisings,
这是最近暴动的主导因素之一,
and it is one of the reasons for the rising age of marriage
也是在大部分阿拉伯地区
in much of the Arab region.
晚婚的原因之一。
There are career women who want to get married,
有想结婚的职业女性,
but can't find a husband,
却找不到丈夫,
because they defy gender expectations,
因为她们不符合人们对女性的期望,
or as one young female doctor in Tunisia put it to me,
换而言之,就像一个年轻的突尼斯女医生给我说的:
"The women, they are becoming more and more open.
“女人变得愈加开放。
But the man, he is still at the prehistoric stage."
而男人,他还停留在史前阶段!“
And then there are men and women who cross the heterosexual line,
然后就有跨越了异性恋界限的男人和女人,
who have sex with their own sex,
也就是与同性做爱,
or who have a different gender identity.
或是有不同的性别认同。
They are on the receiving end of laws which punish their activities,
因为他们的行为,甚至是外表
even their appearance.
就被迫接受法律的制裁。
And they face a daily struggle with social stigma,
并且他们每天都会面对成为社会污点的煎熬,
with family despair,
伴随着家里对他们的绝望
and with religious fire and brimstone.
和信仰的谴责。
Now, it's not as if it's all rosy in the marital bed either.
然而婚后性生活也不一定都幸福美满。
Couples who are looking for greater happiness,
那些寻求生活美满的夫妻,
greater sexual happiness in their married lives,
期待婚后性生活美满的夫妻,
but are at a loss of how to achieve it,
往往找不到要领,
especially wives, who are afraid of being seen as bad women
尤其是那些一在床上表现积极
if they show some spark in the bedroom.
就怕被看作是坏女人的妻子。
And then there are those whose marriages
有些婚姻的真面目
are actually a veil for prostitution.
其实就是卖淫。
They have been sold by their families,
女人们被家里卖掉
often to wealthy Arab tourists.
通常被卖给富有的阿拉伯游客。
This is just one face of a booming sex trade across the Arab region.
这只是在阿拉伯地区日益猖獗的性交易的冰山一角。
Now raise your hand if any of this is sounding familiar to you,
现在,如果这些在你家乡发生过的,
from your part of the world.
请举手。
Yeah. It's not as if the Arab world has a monopoly on sexual hangups.
是的,并不是只有阿拉伯有性禁锢。
And although we don't yet have an Arab Kinsey Report
虽然我们还没有阿拉伯金赛报告
to tell us exactly what's happening inside bedrooms across the Arab region,
来告诉我们在阿拉伯地区的卧房里到底发生了些什么。
It's pretty clear that something is not right.
显而易见,有些事情不对劲。
Double standards for men and women,
对男人女人有双重标准,
sex as a source of shame,
性事被当作羞耻之源,
family control limiting individual choices,
家族限制了个人的选择,
and a vast gulf between appearance and reality:
表象与事实天差地别:
what people are doing
人们做的事,
and what they're willing to admit to,
和他们愿意承认的所作所为,
and a general reluctance to move beyond private whispers
还有宁愿窃窃私语
to a serious and sustained public discussion.
也不愿长期、严肃的公开讨论。
As one doctor in Cairo summed it up for me,
正如一位在开罗的医生对我所说的,
"Here, sex is the opposite of sport.
“在这里,性是运动的反义词。
Football, everybody talks about it,
所有人谈论足球,
but hardly anyone plays.
但很少有人踢。
But sex, everybody is doing it,
至于性,所有人都做过,
but nobody wants to talk about it."
然而人人难以启齿。”
视频及简介

演讲简介

“如果你想要了解一个民族,得先看看他们的卧室”,曾在中东巡讲五年性爱知识的谢瑞恩·厄·菲姬这样说道。通过交谈,她发现当地严格的教条与深程度的约束,性保守主义在阿拉伯世界是相对较新的现象。她想知道:性爱重新成为公众话题能否带来更美满安全的性生活?


重点讲解

重点讲解:
1.go to great lengths 竭尽全力;不遗余力
例句:In the U.S., the authorities go to great lengths to safeguard similar data.
在美国,政府会竭尽全力来防止统计数据泄密。

2.fetch up 到达;拿出
例句:Wait for me AT the bridge, and I'll fetch up with you
在桥头等我,我会赶上你的。

3.put it to me 对我说
例句:"I love children, " as he put it to me one night, smiling almost dreamily.
“我喜欢孩子,”一天晚上他对我说,脸上漾起梦幻般的神情。

4.struggle with 与…斗争;与…作斗争
例句:They preferred death to surrender in their struggle with the enemy.
在对敌斗争中,他们宁愿死也不愿投降。

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