经济学人284:种族歧视 着装要求

 　　Religious discrimination

　　种族歧视

　　Dress codes

　　着装要求

　　Can a Muslim woman be denied a job because of her headscarf?

　　穆斯林妇女就该因为头巾而遭遇求职被拒吗？

　　SAMANTHA ELAUF, a young Muslim woman, did well in her interview for a job at a children's branch of Abercrombie & Fitch, a casual-clothing store, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. But when the interviewer told a manager about Ms Elauf's black headscarf, she was instructed to lower the applicant¹'s “appearance” score and deny her the job. According to the company's “look policy”, employees must align² their dress with the “preppy look of the Ivy³ League” and must not wear “caps” or black clothing. In fact Abercrombie is best-known for the half-naked (but preppy) hunks that adorn⁴ its shopping bags.

　　萨曼莎·埃劳夫是一名穆斯林少女，曾在Abercrombie & Fitch休闲服装公司（位于奥克拉何马州吐桑市）的童装分公司面试中表现不错。然而，当面试者和经理谈起埃劳夫小姐的黑色头巾时，埃劳夫小姐的“形象分”便大打折扣，而且她的求职也被拒绝了。根据该公司的“外貌政策（look policy）”，雇员着装要求必须符合“常青藤学院派风格”，不能戴“帽子”，不能穿黑色衣服。事实上，A&F公司却是因印刷在购物袋上半裸（但具学院风）的大块头而闻名于世。

　　种族歧视.jpg

　　Ms Elauf turned to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which sued the store on her behalf. A federal district court in Oklahoma ruled that in refusing to hire Ms Elauf because of her religious practice, Abercrombie had violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. On appeal, the Tenth Circuit Court held for the company. If Ms Elauf wanted a religious accommodation, the appeals court said, she should have asked for it.

　　埃劳夫小姐向公平就业机会委员会（EEOC）求助，该委员会代表她起诉了A&F。奥克拉荷马州的联邦地区法院裁决，A&F公司因宗教习俗而拒绝雇佣埃劳夫小姐，违反了1964年《民权法案》第七章条例。经过上诉，第十巡回法院适用该公司。如果埃劳夫小姐想要一个宗教住房，上诉法庭表示她应该申请一个的。

　　On February 25th the Supreme⁵ Court heard arguments in the case. The chief justice, John Roberts, worried that the EEOC's view would lead an interviewer to grill⁶ a bearded applicant with a “Middle Eastern appearance” about possible “religious reasons” for his facial hair while asking no other applicants⁷ about grooming⁸. “It seems that your solution causes more problems,” he told the government's lawyer.

　　2月25日，最高法院主张对案件开辩论庭。公平就业机会委员会（EEOC）的观点会促使面试者对有着“中东外貌”、长满胡子的求职者进行“严刑拷问”，内容包括与他的脸部毛发相关的“宗教原因”，相比之下此类美容问题不会问及其他求职者；首席大法官约翰·罗伯茨对此表示担忧。“看起来，你的解决之道招致更多麻烦，”他对政府律师说道。

　　The toughest question for the other side came from Justice Samuel Alito, author of a decision earlier this term protecting the right of a Muslim inmate⁹ to grow a beard. Imagine that “a Sikh man wearing a turban”, “a Hasidic man wearing a hat”, “a Muslim woman wearing a hijab” and “a Catholic nun¹⁰ in a habit” come in for an interview. In order to be accommodated, would these individuals have to say, “I'm dressed this way for a religious reason”? Abercrombie's lawyer admitted that some “religious outfits” are “more obvious than others”. But the significance of Ms Elauf's headscarf, he said, was “ambiguous”.

　　另一派的“烫手山芋”源于塞缪尔·阿里托法官，曾主张维护一名穆斯林囚犯蓄胡子的权利。假想一下：一名锡克教男子戴着头巾，抑或哈希德派人戴帽子，抑或一名穆斯林妇女戴着希贾布（头巾），又或修行的天主教修女，走进来面试。这些人为了适应大环境可能会说“我穿成这样是处于宗教信仰”吗？A&F公司的律师承认，“一些宗教服饰”比“其他人的更加明显招摇”。但是他补充道，埃劳夫小姐头巾的意义是“不明确的”。

　　Putting the onus¹¹ on employers without “actual knowledge” of applicants' religious scruples¹² would be “unadministrable”, the store's lawyer argued, and would lead to stereotyping¹³. The government's lawyer disagreed: the interviewer just needed to explain the “look policy”, and ask applicants if they had trouble complying with it. Most of the justices seemed to sympathise with Ms Elauf. A decision is expected by the end of June.

　　律师继续说道，雇主对求职者的“宗教顾忌”“不知情”却要一切承担罪责，这么做是“处理不当”的，而且还会引发陈腔滥调。政府律师反驳道：固执只需要解释“外貌政策（look policy）”，并且询问求职者是否有困难遵守条例。大部分法官似乎同情埃劳夫小姐，将于六月底做出决议。

　　1.because of 因为，由于；基于

　　He was not a particularly good shot because of his eyesight.

　　他视力不好，算不上是一个出色的射手。

　　The man was known to the police because of previous convictions.

　　因为有犯罪前科，警察们都认识这个人。

　　2.refuse to 拒绝

　　The District Council made a weekly collection of refuse.

　　区政务委员会每周收取一次垃圾。

　　James, I should refuse that consultancy with Shapiro, if I were you.

　　詹姆斯，如果我是你，我就会拒绝向夏皮罗咨询。

　　3.ask for 请求…；要求

　　That was Nicholas's cue to ask for another chocolate chip cookie.

　　那表示尼古拉斯还想要一块巧克力曲奇。

　　I decided¹⁴ to go to the next house and ask for food.

　　我决定去隔壁那家要点吃的。

1 applicant   

n.申请人，求职者，请求者

参考例句：

• He was the hundredth applicant for the job. 他是第100个申请这项工作的人。
• In my estimation, the applicant is well qualified for this job. 据我看, 这位应征者完全具备这项工作的条件。

2 align   

vt.使成一线，结盟，调节；vi.成一线，结盟

参考例句：

• Align the ruler and the middle of the paper.使尺子与纸张的中部成一条直线。
• There are signs that the prime minister is aligning himself with the liberals.有迹象表明首相正在与自由党人结盟。

3 ivy   

n.常青藤，常春藤

参考例句：

• Her wedding bouquet consisted of roses and ivy.她的婚礼花篮包括玫瑰和长春藤。
• The wall is covered all over with ivy.墙上爬满了常春藤。

4 adorn   

vt.使美化，装饰

参考例句：

• She loved to adorn herself with finery.她喜欢穿戴华丽的服饰。
• His watercolour designs adorn a wide range of books.他的水彩设计使许多图书大为生色。

5 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

6 grill   

n.烤架，铁格子，烤肉；v.烧，烤，严加盘问

参考例句：

• Put it under the grill for a minute to brown the top.放在烤架下烤一分钟把上面烤成金黄色。
• I'll grill you some mutton.我来给你烤一些羊肉吃。

7 applicants   

申请人，求职人( applicant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were over 500 applicants for the job. 有500多人申请这份工作。
• He was impressed by the high calibre of applicants for the job. 求职人员出色的能力给他留下了深刻印象。

8 grooming   

n. 修饰, 美容，（动物）梳理毛发

参考例句：

• You should always pay attention to personal grooming. 你应随时注意个人仪容。
• We watched two apes grooming each other. 我们看两只猩猩在互相理毛。

9 inmate   

n.被收容者；(房屋等的)居住人；住院人

参考例句：

• I am an inmate of that hospital.我住在那家医院。
• The prisoner is his inmate.那个囚犯和他同住一起。

10 nun   

n.修女，尼姑

参考例句：

• I can't believe that the famous singer has become a nun.我无法相信那个著名的歌星已做了修女。
• She shaved her head and became a nun.她削发为尼。

11 onus   

n.负担；责任

参考例句：

• The onus is on government departments to show cause why information cannot bedisclosed.政府部门有责任说明不能把信息公开的理由。
• The onus of proof lies with you.你有责任提供证据。

12 scruples   

n.良心上的不安( scruple的名词复数 )；顾虑，顾忌v.感到于心不安，有顾忌( scruple的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• I overcame my moral scruples. 我抛开了道德方面的顾虑。
• I'm not ashamed of my scruples about your family. They were natural. 我并未因为对你家人的顾虑而感到羞耻。这种感觉是自然而然的。 来自疯狂英语突破英语语调

13 stereotyping   

v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I realize that I'm stereotyping. 我认识到我搞的是老一套。 来自辞典例句
• There is none of the gender stereotyping usually evident in school uniforms. 有没有人的性别刻板印象通常是显而易见的。 来自互联网

14 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。