:2017年艺术与文化:女性的位置

2017 in Arts and Culture: A Woman's Place

One theme dominated the year in arts and culture: women.

Tens of millions of women around the world started the year with protest marches on January 21. The demonstrators called for equal rights and demanded action to end sexism and violence against women. Many of them, especially in the United States, also marched to protest Donald Trump¹, who had been sworn in as president one day earlier.

The demonstrations² took place on every continent on Earth, in hundreds of cities and towns: Paris, France, Belgrade, Serbia; Kolkata, India; Bangkok, Thailand; Lima, Peru and Irbil, Iraq, to name just a few.

#Metoo

Later in the year, the #metoo movement exploded on social media. First started by activist³ Tarana Burke 10 years ago, and reignited by actor Alyssa Milano in October, #metoo was a call for women to post about their experiences with sexual harassment⁴, abuse and assault on Twitter, Facebook and other sites.

The movement followed accusations⁵ of sexual wrongdoing against Hollywood movie producer Harvey Weinstein. He was dismissed from the company he founded as a result.

Accusations against other many other powerful men in entertainment, music, news media, politics and business followed. So did job dismissals and other punishment. The continuing actions are popularly referred to as “The Reckoning.”

Earlier this month, Time magazine honored the women of the #metoo movement. It named the so-called “Silence Breakers” the Time Person of the Year.

Time praised the women for giving “voice to open secrets, for moving whisper networks onto social media, for pushing us all to stop accepting the unacceptable.”

Women star in film and television

Women and women’s stories moved to the front of film and television, too.

In June, the movie Wonder Woman was released. Parents were eager to take their little girls and boys to see a female action hero in a big-budget movie, one that was also directed by a woman.

Director Patty Jenkins delivered: Wonder Woman made more than $400 million in ticket sales in the United States. In fact, it was the third-biggest money-maker among the year’s movies.

Jenkins was one of many female directors of 2017. Women were in charge of more than 60 films, including Before I Fall, Lady Bird, and Battle of the Sexes.

There was also a flood of women on television.

In April, the streaming service Hulu offered The Handmaid’s Tale. The television series is based on the novel by Canadian writer and feminist⁶ Margaret Atwood. The book describes a dystopian future in which women are forced into single, narrow roles, such as childbearers, wives or cooks. The female rage represented in the show seemed well timed amid the real-world cultural climate women were facing.

The HBO show Big Little Lies is a mystery focusing on the lives and interactions of five women in Monterey, California. She’s Gotta Have It, on Netflix, centers on Nola Darling, a sexually free artist living in Brooklyn. Female characters are also leads in HBO’s The Deuce, the CW’s Supergirl and Amazon’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

Word of the Year

Every December, the Merriam-Webster online dictionary names a word of the year, based on the highest number of searches. Merriam-Webster’s 2017 Word of the Year is "feminism.”

Online searches for “feminism” increased 70 percent from 2016 to 2017. There were large increases in searches following the Women’s March, during the broadcast of The Handmaid’s Tale and after the release of Wonder Woman. Searches also rose with reports of sex abuse in Hollywood and elsewhere.

Merriam-Webster defines feminism as the “theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes” and “organized activities on behalf of women’s rights and interests.”

I’m Ashley Thompson.

And I'm Caty Weaver⁷.

Words in This Story

theme – n. a particular subject or issue that is discussed often or repeatedly?

dominate – v. to be the most important part of (something)?; to have control of or power over?

harassment – n. the act of of annoying or bothering (someone) in a constant or repeated way?

assault – n. the crime of hurting someone physically⁸?

reignite - v. to give new life or energy to (someone or something)

reckoning - n. the time when your actions are judged as good or bad and you are rewarded or punished?

whisper networks – n. a space where unofficial discussion or report of wrongdoing can take place

dystopian – adj. referring to an imaginary place where people are unhappy and usually afraid because they are not treated fairly?

childbearer – n. one who carries and gives birth to a baby

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

3 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

4 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

5 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

6 feminist   

adj.主张男女平等的，女权主义的

参考例句：

• She followed the feminist movement.她支持女权运动。
• From then on,feminist studies on literature boomed.从那时起，男女平等受教育的现象开始迅速兴起。

7 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

8 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。