英文演讲录 戴安娜王妃：女性必须是“超人”才合格吗？(1)

Where do we begin?

我们从哪里开始呢？

From those I have spoken to through my work with Turning Point, the beginning seems to be that women in our society are seen as the carers — the ones who can cope.

从我在Turning Point的工作中与之交谈过的那些人来看，似乎一开始我们社会中的女性就被视为照顾别人的人——那些能够应付一切的人。

Whatever life throws at them — they will always cope.

无论生活向她们抛来什么，她们都能应付。

On call twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, whether their children are sick, their husbands are out of work or their parents are old and frail¹ and need attending — they will cope.

每周7天，每天24小时随叫随到，不管她们的孩子生病了，丈夫失业了，或者她们的父母年老体弱需要照顾，她们都能应付。

They will cook and clean, go out to work, attend to the needs of those around them — and they will cope.

她们会做饭、打扫卫生，外出工作，照顾周围人的需要——她们都能应付自如。

They may be suffering themselves, from post-natal depression, violence in the home or struggling in a daze² of exhaustion³ and stress to make ends meet — but they will cope.

她们可能正在遭受产后抑郁、家庭暴力或在疲惫和压力中挣扎以维持生计——但她们能应付。

Strangely, it is women themselves as well as men who believe this to be true.

奇怪的是，女性本身和男性都相信这个事实。

So deep seated is this belief that it can take enormous courage for women to admit they cannot cope, that they may need help.

这种信念如此根深蒂固，以至于女性需要巨大的勇气才能承认自己无法应对，可能需要帮助。

Either from family and friends or the support systems put in place by you the professionals.

来自家人和朋友，或者来自专业人士的支持。

Frequently they will attempt to survive it alone, falling help-lessly into a deeper and darker depression as they feel more and more trapped by the life they are leading.

她们常常试图独自生存，当她们越来越感到被自己的生活所困时，就会无助地陷入更深、更黑暗的抑郁之中。

As their world closes in on them, their self-esteem evaporates into a haze⁴ of loneliness and desperation as they retreat further and further from those who could help them.

当她们的世界将她们包围，她们的自尊蒸发成孤独和绝望的迷雾，她们离那些能帮助她们的人越来越远。

Many women and men turn to alcohol to numb⁵ the pain of their despair.

许多女人和男人求助于酒精来麻木她们绝望的痛苦。

But because it is seen in women as less acceptable to admit to a dependence⁶ on alcohol, it often goes unnoticed.

但由于女性承认对酒精的依赖被认为是不太容易接受的，这一点往往被忽视。

They are merely perceived as having a 'rather nervous disposition⁷'.

她们只是被认为具有“相当紧张的性格”。

The suffering behind their anxious eyes so often goes unseen.

她们焦虑的眼神背后的痛苦常常被忽视。

Sadly, for others the strain becomes too much and their decision to take their own life seems to them the only way of ending their pain.

可悲的是，对于一些人来说，压力变得太大了，她们决定结束自己的生命似乎是结束他们痛苦的唯一方法。

Perhaps they didn't believe they deserved the same support they had given to others?

也许她们不相信自己应该得到别人给予的同样的支持？

1 frail   

adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的

参考例句：

• Mrs. Warner is already 96 and too frail to live by herself.华纳太太已经九十六岁了，身体虚弱，不便独居。
• She lay in bed looking particularly frail.她躺在床上，看上去特别虚弱。

2 daze   

v.(使)茫然，(使)发昏

参考例句：

• The blow on the head dazed him for a moment.他头上受了一击后就昏眩了片刻。
• I like dazing to sit in the cafe by myself on Sunday.星期日爱独坐人少的咖啡室发呆。

3 exhaustion   

n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述

参考例句：

• She slept the sleep of exhaustion.她因疲劳而酣睡。
• His exhaustion was obvious when he fell asleep standing.他站着睡着了，显然是太累了。

4 haze   

n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊

参考例句：

• I couldn't see her through the haze of smoke.在烟雾弥漫中，我看不见她。
• He often lives in a haze of whisky.他常常是在威士忌的懵懂醉意中度过的。

5 numb   

adj.麻木的，失去感觉的；v.使麻木

参考例句：

• His fingers were numb with cold.他的手冻得发麻。
• Numb with cold,we urged the weary horses forward.我们冻得发僵，催着疲惫的马继续往前走。

6 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

7 disposition   

n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署

参考例句：

• He has made a good disposition of his property.他已对财产作了妥善处理。
• He has a cheerful disposition.他性情开朗。