向前一步:第207期 让我们开始讨论吧(13)

 I know it isn't easy. 我知道这并不容易。

Women, especially those at junior levels, 职场女性，尤其是那些资历尚浅的女性，

worry that raising gender¹ issues makes them appear unprofessional or as if they are blaming others. 都担心提出男女平等的问题会让自己看起来很不专业，或是在谴责别人。

I have listened to women vent² frustration³ over being undervalued and even demeaned on a daily basis at work. 我见过有女性沮丧地抱怨自己在工作中不受重视或被轻视。

When I ask if they have aired any of these complaints to their superiors, they've responded, "Oh no! I couldn't." 当我问她们是否跟上司聊过这些问题时，她们几乎都会说：“没有！我做不到！”

There is so much fear that speaking up will make the situation worse or even result in being penalized⁴ or fired. 她们太恐惧，害怕一旦说出来会让情况变得更糟，导致被处罚甚至被解雇。

It seems safer to bear the injustice⁵. 相比之下，忍受不公平似乎更安全。

For men, raising this subject can be even harder. 要让男人主动提起这个问题则会更难。

A male friend who runs a large organization once confided⁶ in me, 一位男性企业高管曾私下告诉我：

"It's easier to talk about your sex life in public than to talk about gender." “公开地讨论性生活比提及性别问题要容易。”

The fact that he wouldn't go on record with this quote shows he meant it. 他没有公开讲过这个观点，但他的确是这么想的。

Vittorio Colao, CEO of Vodafone, told me that he showed my TEDTalk to his senior management team 沃达丰电讯公司的首席执行官维托里奥·科劳告诉我，他把我的TED演讲视频拿给他的高管团队看了。

because he shares my belief that women sometimes hold themselves back. 他相信，有时候女性是自己选择往后退的；

He also believed this message was easier to hear from a woman than a man. 他也相信，让女性自己说出来比等着男性提出来更容易。

His point is valid⁷. 他是有道理的。

If a man had delivered the same message or even gently pointed⁸ out that women might be taking actions that limited their options, he would have been pilloried⁹. 如果由一位男性来说这个问题，甚至只是善意地说：“女性或许是自己在限制自己的选择”，那他完全是自找罪受。

Shutting down discussion is self-defeating and impedes¹⁰ progress. 闭口不谈这个问题肯定会适得其反，阻碍自我发展。

We need to talk and listen and debate and refute and instruct and learn and evolve. 我们需要交谈、倾听、争论、反驳、指导、学习和进步。

 

1 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

2 vent   

n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄

参考例句：

• He gave vent to his anger by swearing loudly.他高声咒骂以发泄他的愤怒。
• When the vent became plugged,the engine would stop.当通风口被堵塞时，发动机就会停转。

3 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

4 penalized   

对…予以惩罚( penalize的过去式和过去分词 )； 使处于不利地位

参考例句：

• You will be penalized for poor spelling. 你拼写不好将会受到处罚。
• Team members will be penalized for lateness. 队员迟到要受处罚。

5 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

6 confided   

v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等）

参考例句：

• She confided all her secrets to her best friend. 她向她最要好的朋友倾吐了自己所有的秘密。
• He confided to me that he had spent five years in prison. 他私下向我透露，他蹲过五年监狱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 valid   

adj.有确实根据的；有效的；正当的，合法的

参考例句：

• His claim to own the house is valid.他主张对此屋的所有权有效。
• Do you have valid reasons for your absence?你的缺席有正当理由吗？

8 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

9 pilloried   

v.使受公众嘲笑( pillory的过去式和过去分词 )；将…示众；给…上颈手枷；处…以枷刑

参考例句：

• He was regularly pilloried by the press for his radical ideas. 他因观点极端而经常受到新闻界的抨击。
• He was pilloried, but she escaped without blemish. 他受到公众的批评，她却名声未损地得以逃脱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 impedes   

阻碍，妨碍，阻止( impede的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• High packing density greatly impedes the cooling of the array. 高存贮密度很不利于阵列的散热。
• The inflexibility of the country's labor market seriously impedes its economic recovery. 该国劳工市场缺乏灵活性，这严重阻碍了它的经济恢复。