Unit 7
Unit 7
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Text&Translation
For the Greeks, beauty was a virtue: a kind of excellence. Persons then were assumed to be what we now have to call — lamely, enviously — 'whole persons'. If it did occur to the Greeks to distinguish between a person's "inside" and "outside", they still expected that inner beauty would be matched by beauty of the other kind. The well-born young Athenians who gathered around Socrates found it quite paradoxical that their hero was so intelligent, so brave, so honorable, so seductive — and so ugly. One of Socrates' main pedagogical acts was to be ugly and teach those innocent, no doubt splendid-looking disciples of his how full of paradoxes life really was.
古希腊人视美为德，一种卓越之品格。彼时之人，今人或自愧弗如、或心怀艳羡，称之为“完人”。即便古希腊人偶有区分人之“内在”与“外在”之念，亦深信内在之美必与外在之美交相辉映。苏格拉底门下那些出身高贵的雅典青年才俊，对其师之聪慧、勇敢、高洁、富有魅力，却又其貌不扬，深感不解。苏格拉底主要的教诲之一，便是以自身之丑，去启迪那些无疑仪表堂堂的天真门徒，让他们领悟人生实乃充满吊诡。
They may have resisted Socrates' lesson. We do not. Several thousand years later, we are more wary of the enchantments of beauty. We not only split off — with the greatest facility — the "inside" (character, intellect) from the "outside" (looks); but we are actually surprised when someone who is beautiful is also intelligent, talented, good.
对于苏格拉底的教诲，他们或许曾心生抗拒，我们则不然。数千年后的今天，我们对美丽的诱惑已更为警惕。我们不仅轻而易举地将人的“内在”（品性、才智）与“外在”（容貌）割裂开来；甚至当某人既拥有美丽容颜，又兼具智慧、才华与美德时，我们反而会感到惊讶。
It was principally the influence of Christianity that deprived beauty of the central place it had in classical ideals of human excellence. By limiting excellence (virtus in Latin) to moral virtue only, Christianity set beauty adrift — as an alienated, arbitrary, superficial enchantment. And beauty has continued to lose prestige. For close to two centuries it has become a convention to attribute beauty to only one of the two sexes: the sex which, however Fair, is always Second. Associating beauty with women has put beauty even further on the defensive, morally.
美之所以在古典时代关于人类卓越的理想中失去其中心地位，主要归因于基督教的影响。基督教将卓越（拉丁文作virtus）仅仅局限于道德品行，从而使美漂离了其本源，沦为一种被异化、被随意定义、流于表面的诱惑。自此，美的声望持续衰落。近两个世纪以来，人们习惯于将美仅仅赋予两性中的一方——即那个无论多么“娇美”，却总是“次要”的性别。将美与女性联系起来，使得美在道德上更加处于守势，备受诘难。
A beautiful woman, we say in English. But a handsome man. "Handsome" is the masculine equivalent of — and refusal of — a compliment which has accumulated certain demeaning overtones, by being reserved for women only. That one can call a man "beautiful" in French and in Italian suggests that Catholic countries — unlike those countries shaped by the Protestant version of Christianity — still retain some vestiges of the pagan admiration for beauty. But the difference, if one exists, is of degree only. In every modern country that is Christian or post-Christian, women are the beautiful sex — to the detriment of the notion of beauty as well as of women.
英语中，我们称女子为“beautiful woman”（美丽的女人），男子则为“handsome man”（英俊的男人）。“Handsome”一词，既是男性所对应的赞美，亦是对“beautiful”这一因专用于女性而略带贬损意味的词汇的一种扬弃。法语和意大利语中，男性亦可被称为“beautiful”，这或许说明，天主教国家与深受新教影响的国家不同，尚存些许古时异教徒对美的崇尚遗风。然而，这种差异即便存在，也仅仅是程度上的。在所有信奉基督教或后基督教的现代国家，女性都被视为“美的性别”——这既损害了“美”的内涵本身，也对女性造成了不利影响。
To be called beautiful is thought to name something essential to women's character and concerns. (In contrast to men — whose essence is to be strong, or effective, or competent.) It does not take someone in the throes of advanced feminist awareness to perceive that the way women are taught to be involved with beauty encourages narcissism, reinforces dependence and immaturity. Everybody (women and men) knows that. For it is "everybody," a whole society, that has identified being feminine with caring about how one looks. (In contrast to being masculine — which is identified with caring about what one is and does and only secondarily, if at all, about how one looks.) Given these stereotypes, it is no wonder that beauty enjoys, at best, a rather mixed reputation.
人们普遍认为，被称为“美丽”触及了女性品格与关注点的某些核心要素。（与之相对，男性的核心则在于强大有力、卓有成效或胜任称职）。无需具备多么深厚的女权主义意识，人们便能察觉到，那种教导女性沉浸于自身美丽的方式，实则助长了自恋情结，加剧了依赖心理与不成熟的状态。这一点，其实人尽皆知（无论男女）。因为正是“所有人”，是整个社会，将“女性特质”等同于“在乎容貌”。（相比之下，“男性特质”则等同于“在乎自身品行与作为”，至于容貌，则居于次位，甚至无关紧要。）在这些刻板印象之下，美所享有的声誉，充其量也只是毁誉参半，不足为奇。
It is not, of course, the desire to be beautiful that is wrong but the obligation to be — or to try. What is accepted by most women as a flattering idealization of their sex is a way of making women feel inferior to what they actually are — or normally grow to be. For the ideal of beauty is administered as a form of self-oppression. Women are taught to see their bodies in parts, and to evaluate each part separately. Breasts, feet, hips, waistline, neck, eyes, nose, complexion, hair, and so on — each in turn is submitted to an anxious, fretful, often despairing scrutiny. Even if some pass muster, some will always be found wanting. Nothing less than perfection will do.
当然，渴望美丽本身并无过错，错的是那种“必须”美丽——或者说“必须努力去变美”的强制观念。大多数女性视之为对自己性别的一种奉承式的理想化，实际上却使她们感到自己远逊于真实的自我——或通常成长后所能达到的状态。因为这种对“美”的理想追求，是以一种自我压迫的形式被灌输和实施的。女性被教导要将自己的身体分割成若干部分来审视，并对每个部分分别进行评判。胸部、双脚、臀部、腰围、颈项、眼睛、鼻子、肤色、头发等等——每一处都要轮番经受焦虑不安、吹毛求疵、甚至令人绝望的审视。即便某些部分勉强合格，也总会有些地方不尽如人意。似乎非得完美无瑕才行。
In men, good looks is a whole, something taken in at a glance. It does not need to be confirmed by giving measurements of different regions of the body; nobody encourages a man to dissect his appearance, feature by feature. As for perfection, that is considered trivial — almost unmanly. Indeed, in the ideally good-looking man, a small imperfection or blemish is considered positively desirable. According to one movie critic (a woman) who is a declared Robert Redford fan, it is having that cluster of skin-colored moles on one cheek that saves Redford from being merely a "pretty face." Think of the depreciation of women — as well as of beauty — that is implied in that judgment.
对于男性，仪表堂堂与否，乃是一个整体印象，一眼便可断定。无需通过测量身体不同部位的尺寸来加以确认；也无人会鼓励男性去逐一剖析自己的容貌特征。至于完美无瑕，那反倒被认为是无关紧要——甚至有些不像男子汉。的确，在人们心目中理想的英俊男子身上，些微的瑕疵或斑点反而被视为一种可取的特点。一位公开表示是罗伯特·雷德福影迷的（女性）影评人就曾说，正是雷德福一侧脸颊上的那片肤色痣，才使他免于仅仅是一张“漂亮脸蛋”的评价。不妨思量一下，这种评判背后，究竟暗含了对女性——以及对美本身——多大的贬抑。
"The privileges of beauty are immense," said Cocteau. To be sure, beauty is a form of power. And deservedly so. What is lamentable is that it is the only form of power that most women are encouraged to seek. This power is always conceived in relation to men; it is not the power to do but the power to attract. It is a power that negates itself. For this power is not one that can be chosen freely — at least, not by women — or renounced without social censure.
“美所赋予的特权是巨大的，”让·科克托如是说。的确，美是一种力量，并且理应如此。然而可悲的是，对于大多数女性而言，这却是她们被鼓励去追求的唯一一种力量。这种力量总是在与男性的关系中被定义；它并非行事作为的力量，而是吸引异性的力量。这是一种会自我消解的力量。因为这种力量，至少对女性而言，既非能自由选择——也无法在不受社会非议的情况下轻易放弃。
To preen, for a woman, can never be just a pleasure. It is also a duty. It is her work. If a woman does real work — and even if she has clambered up to a leading position in politics, law, medicine, business, or whatever — she is always under pressure to confess that she still works at being attractive. But in so far as she is keeping up as one of the Fair Sex, she brings under suspicion her very capacity to be objective, professional, authoritative, thoughtful. Damned if they do — women are. And damned if they don't.
对于女性而言，梳妆打扮绝非仅仅是一种乐趣，更是一种责任，是她的份内“工作”。倘若一位女性真正投身事业——即便她在政治、法律、医学、商业或其他任何领域已晋升至领导岗位——她依然时时感受到一种压力，需要承认自己仍在为保持魅力而“努力”。然而，只要她还在努力维持其“美丽性别”的形象，她那种保持客观、展现专业、树立权威、进行深思熟虑的能力本身，便会受到质疑。女性啊，真是左右为难，动辄得咎。
One could hardly ask for more important evidence of the dangers of considering persons as split between what is "inside" and what is "outside" than that interminable half-comic half-tragic tale, the oppression of women. How easy it is to start off by defining women as caretakers of their surfaces, and then to disparage them (or find them adorable) for being "superficial." It is a crude trap, and it has worked for too long. But to get out of the trap requires that women get some critical distance from that excellence and privilege which is beauty, enough distance to see how much beauty itself has been abridged in order to prop up the mythology of the "feminine". There should be a way of saving beauty from women — and for them.
要论证将人的“内在”与“外在”割裂看待的危害，恐怕再没有比女性受压迫这出冗长、半是滑稽半是悲惨的戏剧更具说服力的了。人们轻易地先将女性定义为自身表象的“守护者”，而后又因其“肤浅”而加以贬损（或反觉其“可爱”）。这无疑是一个粗劣的陷阱，却已大行其道太久。然而，要走出这一困境，女性自身需要对“美”这一所谓的卓越与特权保持一种批判性的审视距离，这种距离足以让她们看清：为了支撑所谓“女性特质”的神话，美本身已遭到了何等阉割与贬损。应当找到一种方法，将美从（强加于）女性的枷锁中解放出来，并真正归还给她们。
Summary&Mindmap
English Summary The article contrasts the ancient Greek view of beauty as an integrated virtue with the modern, post-Christian perspective where beauty is devalued, split from inner qualities, and largely associated with women. This association has led to beauty becoming a source of oppression for women, an obligation rather than a choice, and the primary form of power encouraged for them, which is ultimately self-negating. The author argues that this societal split between "inside" and "outside" has trapped women in a cycle of superficiality and calls for a re-evaluation and reclamation of beauty beyond restrictive feminine stereotypes.
中文概括 本文通过对比古希腊将美视为整体美德的观念与现代（尤其是后基督教时代）将美与内在品质割裂、并主要与女性联系的视角，揭示了这种联系如何使美成为对女性的压迫。对女性而言，追求美丽成了一种义务而非选择，是其被鼓励追求的唯一权力形式——一种旨在吸引而非行动的、最终自我否定的权力。作者认为，这种“内在”与“外在”的二分法是女性受困于肤浅评价的根源，并呼吁重新评估和解放美，使其超越狭隘的“女性特质”神话。
Analysis
"Persons then were assumed to be what we now have to call — lamely, enviously — 'whole persons'."
- 中文解释：那时的人们被认为是（或者说，被假定是）我们现在只能带着几分艳羡又有些词不达意地称之为“完整的人”的那种状态。
- "lamely" (蹩脚地，不自然地)：指现代人难以找到一个确切的词来完美表达古希腊人那种内外统一的“完整”状态，只能勉强、笨拙地使用“whole persons”这个说法，暗示了语言在描述这种理想状态时的无力感。
- "enviously" (嫉妒地，羡慕地)：表明现代人对古希腊人拥有的这种“内外统一”的理想状态感到向往，并因自身的失落而产生羡慕之情。
- "'whole persons'" (“完整的人”)：指古希腊观念中，人的内在品质（如智慧、品德）与外在表现（如相貌、体格）是和谐统一、不可分割的整体，而不像现代社会那样常常将两者对立或割裂开来看待。
- 整句意涵：作者用这个句子引出古希腊对人的整体性看法，并巧妙地通过插入语“lamely, enviously”点明了现代人对这种理想状态的复杂情感——既难以准确描述，又心生向往，为后文对比现代社会对美的分裂看法埋下伏笔。
- 中文解释：那时的人们被认为是（或者说，被假定是）我们现在只能带着几分艳羡又有些词不达意地称之为“完整的人”的那种状态。
"One of Socrates' main pedagogical acts was to be ugly and teach those innocent, no doubt splendid-looking disciples of his how full of paradoxes life really was."
- 中文解释：苏格拉底主要的教育行为（或教学方法）之一，就是以他自身的丑陋之貌，去教导他那些天真烂漫、无疑相貌堂堂的弟子们，让他们认识到生活实际上是多么充满矛盾和悖论。
- "pedagogical acts" (教育行为/教学方法)：强调苏格拉底的“丑”并非仅仅是外貌特征，而是一种具有教育意义的行动或姿态。
- "to be ugly and teach..." (以丑陋之貌并教导...)：将苏格拉底的丑陋与其教学行为直接联系起来，表明他的外貌本身就是一种教材。
- "innocent, no doubt splendid-looking disciples" (天真烂漫、无疑相貌堂堂的弟子们)：暗示这些弟子们可能深受传统观念影响，认为美貌与智慧、善良等优秀品质是相辅相成的。苏格拉底的丑陋与他的智慧、品德形成了鲜明对比。
- "how full of paradoxes life really was" (生活究竟充满了多少悖论)：这是苏格拉底希望通过自身形象传递给弟子的核心认知——现实世界并非简单对应，美与丑、善与恶、智慧与外表之间可能存在复杂甚至矛盾的关系。
- 整句意涵：这句话精妙地指出，苏格拉底的丑陋本身就是一种深刻的教育手段。他用自己“丑陋但智慧”的鲜活例子，挑战了弟子们可能持有的“美即是善，丑即是陋”的简单化观念，从而引导他们认识到生活的复杂性和充满悖论的本质。
- 中文解释：苏格拉底主要的教育行为（或教学方法）之一，就是以他自身的丑陋之貌，去教导他那些天真烂漫、无疑相貌堂堂的弟子们，让他们认识到生活实际上是多么充满矛盾和悖论。
"By limiting excellence (virtus in Latin) to moral virtue only, Christianity set beauty adrift — as an alienated, arbitrary, superficial enchantment."
- 中文解释：通过将“卓越”（拉丁文中的virtus，古典时期指整体的优秀，包括才能、勇气和外在美）仅仅局限于道德品行层面，基督教使得“美”失去了其原有的核心地位，仿佛（像一叶小舟一样）漂泊无依，沦为一种被异化的、主观随意的、肤浅表面的诱惑。
- "excellence (virtus in Latin)"：“卓越”，拉丁词“virtus”在古典时期含义广泛，不仅指道德上的善，也包括身体的健美、心智的聪慧、技艺的精湛等全方位的优秀。
- "limiting ... to moral virtue only"：基督教将“virtus”的内涵收窄，主要强调其道德层面。
- "set beauty adrift" (使美漂泊无依)：这是一个生动的隐喻。原本“美”是“卓越”概念中不可或缺的一部分，像船只有坚实的锚一样有其稳固的价值基础。当“卓越”被限定为道德后，“美”就从这个核心价值体系中被剥离出来，失去了根基，变得像在汪洋中漂流的小船，无所归依。
- "as an alienated, arbitrary, superficial enchantment" (作为一种被异化的、主观随意的、肤浅表面的诱惑)：这三个词描述了“美”在与核心价值分离后的状态。“Alienated”（异化的）指美不再是内在本质的体现，而是与人的整体价值疏离开来；“arbitrary”（武断的/随意的）指美的标准变得缺乏客观依据，主观性增强；“superficial”（肤浅的）指美仅仅停留在表面，缺乏深度；“enchantment”（魅力/迷惑）在这里带有一定的负面意味，暗示这种美可能只是一种短暂的、非理性的吸引力。
- 整句意涵：这句话深刻地揭示了基督教神学如何通过重新定义“卓越”的核心概念，从而在思想上剥夺了“美”在古典价值观中的中心地位，使其从一种综合的、内在与外在统一的品质，降格为一种孤立的、外在的、甚至略带负面色彩的特质。
- 中文解释：通过将“卓越”（拉丁文中的virtus，古典时期指整体的优秀，包括才能、勇气和外在美）仅仅局限于道德品行层面，基督教使得“美”失去了其原有的核心地位，仿佛（像一叶小舟一样）漂泊无依，沦为一种被异化的、主观随意的、肤浅表面的诱惑。
"It does not take someone in the throes of advanced feminist awareness to perceive that the way women are taught to be involved with beauty encourages narcissism, reinforces dependence and immaturity."
- 中文解释：一个人无需经历女性主义意识高度觉醒的“阵痛期”（即不需要成为一个思想非常前卫或激进的女权主义者），就能察觉到，社会教导女性关注自身美貌的方式，实际上助长了她们的自恋情结，并强化了她们的依赖性和不成熟。
- "It does not take X to perceive Y"：这是一个常见的表达方式，意为“无需X就能察觉到Y”，用来强调Y的显而易见性。
- "in the throes of advanced feminist awareness"：“in the throes of”意为“在…的痛苦挣扎中”或“在…的剧烈活动中”。这里指一个人正积极深入地思考和体验女性主义思想，并因此可能经历思想上的冲击或转变的“阵痛期”或高度投入状态。“Advanced feminist awareness”指对女性主义有深刻理解和高度敏感的意识状态。
- "the way women are taught to be involved with beauty" (女性被教导去关注自身美貌的方式)：指社会通过各种途径向女性灌输的关于外貌重要性的观念和行为规范。
- "encourages narcissism, reinforces dependence and immaturity" (助长自恋，强化依赖性和不成熟)：指这种社会教化对女性心理和行为造成的负面影响。
- 整句意涵：这句话通过一种“反向强调”的修辞手法，指出社会对女性外貌的过度关注及其带来的负面后果（自恋、依赖、不成熟）是一个非常普遍且容易察觉的现象，其普遍性甚至不需要一个人具备特别深刻或激进的女性主义视角就能认识到，这几乎成了一种社会共识。
- 中文解释：一个人无需经历女性主义意识高度觉醒的“阵痛期”（即不需要成为一个思想非常前卫或激进的女权主义者），就能察觉到，社会教导女性关注自身美貌的方式，实际上助长了她们的自恋情结，并强化了她们的依赖性和不成熟。
"But in so far as she is keeping up as one of the Fair Sex, she brings under suspicion her very capacity to be objective, professional, authoritative, thoughtful."
- 中文解释：然而，只要一位女性努力维持着作为“美丽性别”（即社会传统观念中以外貌为主要特征的女性）的一员的形象，她就使得自己那种保持客观、专业、权威和深思熟虑的能力本身受到了质疑。
- "in so far as" (在…的程度上；只要)：引导条件或程度状语从句。
- "keeping up as one of the Fair Sex"：“The Fair Sex”是历史上对女性带有性别刻板印象的称呼，强调其美丽、娇柔等特质。“Keeping up as”指努力在外表、行为上符合社会对“美丽性别”的期望和标准。
- "she brings under suspicion" (她使…受到怀疑/质疑)：主句谓语部分。
- "her very capacity to be objective, professional, authoritative, thoughtful" (她那种保持客观、专业、权威和深思熟虑的能力本身)：“very”在此处起强调作用，指的不仅仅是她的表现，更是她拥有这些专业素养的“能力本身”。
- 整句意涵：这句话揭示了职业女性在社会期望中所面临的一种深刻矛盾和困境。社会一方面默认甚至鼓励女性注重外表（符合“Fair Sex”的期待），但当她们这样做的时候，另一方面又会因此怀疑她们在智识、专业和领导能力上的严肃性和可靠性。这种刻板印象将女性的外在美与内在的专业能力对立起来，使她们无论怎样做都可能受到负面评价。
- 中文解释：然而，只要一位女性努力维持着作为“美丽性别”（即社会传统观念中以外貌为主要特征的女性）的一员的形象，她就使得自己那种保持客观、专业、权威和深思熟虑的能力本身受到了质疑。
"There should be a way of saving beauty from women — and for them."
- 中文解释：应当有一种方法，既能将“美”从当前仅仅与女性片面挂钩（并因此被矮化和曲解）的境地中拯救出来，同时这种拯救又是为了女性自身（使她们能以更健康、更自主的方式真正拥有和享受美）。
- "saving beauty from women" (将美从女性那里拯救出来)：这是一种非常精炼且富有张力的表达。它并非指要从女性手中夺走美，而是指要将“美”这个概念从当前这种与“女性特质”过度捆绑，并因此导致“美”的内涵被狭隘化、肤浅化、甚至工具化（如仅为取悦男性）的境地中“解放”或“拯救”出来。这种捆绑既损害了“美”本身的丰富性，也对女性造成了压迫。
- "and for them" (并且是为了她们)：这个补充说明至关重要，点明了这种“拯救”的最终目的。它不是要剥夺女性追求美的权利，恰恰相反，是要将一个更广阔、更真实、更少压迫性、更具赋权意义的“美”归还给她们，让她们能够以一种更自由、更健康、更完整的方式来体验和表达美，而不是被局限于刻板印象中。
- 整句意涵：这句话以一种高度凝练和辩证的方式提出了解决方案的愿景。作者认为，需要打破“美”仅仅是女性的、且往往是肤浅的代名词这一社会迷思。通过将“美”从这种狭隘的定义中解放出来，恢复其更普世、更深刻的价值，最终也是为了让女性能够摆脱这种“美丽枷锁”，真正自主地、不受压迫地去理解和拥抱“美”。它暗示当前的“美”对于女性而言，既像是一种特权，也像是一个囚笼。
- 中文解释：应当有一种方法，既能将“美”从当前仅仅与女性片面挂钩（并因此被矮化和曲解）的境地中拯救出来，同时这种拯救又是为了女性自身（使她们能以更健康、更自主的方式真正拥有和享受美）。