英语阅读——Theconfusingpursuitofbeauty
这篇⽂章是《新视野⼤学英语》第四册的第⼆单元的⽂章，很好的⼀篇议论⽂，读起来也很有意思。
1 If you're a man, at some point a woman will ask you how she looks.
如果你是⼀位男⼠，肯定在某个时候会有⼥⼠问你她看起来怎么样。博客为什么没人用了
2 You must be careful how you answer this question. The best technique is to form an honest yet sensitive response, then promptly excuse yourself for some kind of emergency. Trust me, this is the easiest way out. No amount of rehearsal will help you come up with（想出） the right answer.
对于如何应对这个问题，你⼀定得⼩⼼。最好的对策就是给⼀个诚实但⼜谨慎的回答，然后借⼝有急事马上脱⾝。相信我，这是最简单的⽅法。对于她的这⼀问题，⽆论你事先练习多少次，都不会到正确答案。
3 The problem is that men do not think of their looks in the same way women do. Most men for man opinion of themselves in seventh grade and stick to it for the rest of their lives. Some men think they're irresistibly（⽆法抵抗地） desirable, and they refuse to change this opinion even when they grow bald and their faces visibly wrinkle as they age.
其原因是，男性和⼥性对外表的看法截然不同。⼤多数男性对⾃⼰外表的评价在七年级时就形成了，⽽且终⽣不变。有些男性认为⾃⼰有不可抗拒的魅⼒，即使随着年龄的增长，他们头发掉光了，脸上布满皱纹，他们仍然拒绝改变这种看法。
4 Most men, I believe, are not arrogant about their looks. If the transient（短暂的） thought passes through their minds at all, they like to think of themselves as average-looking. Being average doesn't bother them; average is fine. They don't affix much value to their looks, or think of them in terms of aesthetics. Their primary form of beauty care is to shave themselves, which is essentially the same care they give to their lawns. If, at the end of his four-minute allotment of time for grooming, a man has managed to wipe most of the shaving cream out of the strands of his hair and isn't bleeding too badly, he feels he's done all he can.
我相信，⼤多数男性都不会对⾃⼰的相貌感到过分⾃傲。如果他们偶尔想到⾃⼰外表的话，他们愿意认为⾃⼰样貌中等。长相普通不会使他们有任何烦恼，因为普通就已经是很好了。男性不是特别注重⾃⼰的外貌，也不会从美学的⾓度去审视⾃⼰。他们的打扮⽅式主要就是刮刮胡⼦，就像打理⾃家草坪⼀样。对于⼀位男性来说，如果能花四分钟刮刮胡⼦，结束之后再把粘到头发上的剃须膏擦净，⼜没有出⾎太厉害，他就觉得⾃⼰已经尽⼼尽⼒了。
5 Women do not look at themselves this way. If I had to guess what most women think about their appearance, it would be:"Not good enough." No matter how attractive a woman maybe, her perception（认知能⼒） of herself is eclipsed by the beauty industry. She has trouble thinking I’m beautiful, She magnifies the smallest imperfections in her body and imagines them as glaring flaws the whole world will notice and ridicule.
⼥性可不是这样看待⾃⼰的。如果⾮要我猜测⼤多数⼥性对⾃⼰的相貌是如何评价的话，那肯定是：“还不够好。”⼀位⼥⼠，⽆论她看起来多么吸引⼈，她对⾃⼰的看法总是由于受美容业的影响⽽蒙着⼀层阴影。要她认为“我很漂亮”是⼀件难事。她把⾝体上的极⼩的不完美之处加以放⼤，并且幻想这些缺点⼗分明显，以⾄于全世界的⼈都会注意到并且嘲笑她。
6 Why do women consider their looks so deficient? This chronic insecurity isn't inborn, but created through the interaction of many complex psychological and societal factors, beginning with the dolls we give them as children. Girls grow up playing with dolls proportioned so that, if they were human, they would be seven feet tall and weigh 61pounds, with tiny thighs and a large upper body. This is an absurd standard to live up to, especially when you consider the size of the doll's waist, a relative measurement physically impossible for a living human to achieve. Contrast this absurd standard with that presented to little boys with their "action figures". Most of the toys that young boys have played wit
h were weird looking, like the one called Buzz-Off that was part human, part flying insect. This guy was not a looker, but he was still extremely self-confident. You could not imagine him saying to the others, "Is this accessory the right shade of violet for this outfit?"
为什么⼥性会把⾃⼰的外貌想得这么差呢？这种长期的不安全感并不是与⽣倶来的，⽽是由许多复杂的⼼理和社会因素的相互作⽤造成的，从⼩时候⼤⼈们给她们买洋娃娃时就开始了。⼥孩成长过程中摆弄的洋娃娃，如果按照⾝材⽐例还原为真⼈⼤⼩的话，就会是 7 英尺⾼，61英磅重，⼤腿纤细，上⾝丰满。要达到这样的标准是很荒唐的，尤其是当我们想想那种洋娃娃的腰围尺⼨，就知道其相对尺⼨对任何⼀个活⼈来说都是不可企及的。与⼥孩玩具的这种荒唐标准相⽐，⼩男孩们得到的“动作玩偶”却是完全不同的模样。⼤多数男孩的玩具都样貌古怪，例如那个叫作“蜜蜂侠”的玩偶，⼀半像⼈，⼀半像会飞的昆⾍。这个玩偶尽管样⼦不好看，但仍然⾮常⾃信。你肯定⽆法想象他会问别⼈说：“这个配饰的紫罗兰⾊和这件外套配不配呢？”
7 But women grow up thinking they need to look like Barbie dolls or girls on magazine covers, which for most women is impossible. Nonetheless, the multibillion-dollar beauty industry, complete with its own aisle in the grocery store, is devoted to constant warfare on female self-esteem, convincing women that they must buy all the newest moisturizing creams, bronzing powders and appliances that promise to "stimulate and restore" their skin. I once saw an Oprah Show in which supermodel Cindy Cr
awford dispensed makeup tips to the studio audience. Cindy had all these middle-aged women apply clay masks and other "wrinkle-removing" products to their faces; she stressed how important it was to adhere（坚持，依附） to the guidelines, like applying products via the tips of their fingers to protect elasticity. All the women dutifully did this, even though it was obvious to any rational observer that, no matter how carefully they applied these products, they would never have Cindy Crawford's face or complexion（肤⾊）.
然⽽，⼥性在成长过程中却认为⾃⼰应该长得像芭⽐娃娃或杂志的封⾯⼥郎那样，这对⼤多数⼥性来说是不可能的。尽管如此，产值达⼏⼗亿美元的美容业，在超市化妆品销售专区的配合下，总是在不停地攻击着⼥性的⾃尊，使其相信⾃⼰只有购买最新的保湿⾯霜、古铜散粉，
以及各种美容器具，才能“激发和恢复”肌肤活⼒。我曾经看过⼀期《奥普拉脱⼝秀》，在节⽬中，超级名模⾟迪•克劳馥和演播室⾥的观众分享了⾃⼰的化妆秘诀。⾟迪要求这些中年妇⼥在脸上敷上黏⼟⾯膜和其他去皱产品；她还强调⼀定要遵守这些⽅法，例如：往脸上涂抹这些产品时，要⽤指尖，这样可以保护⽪肤的弹性。所有这些妇⼥都⾮常忠实地按照⾟迪说的做了。可是对任何⼀个理智的旁观者来说，⽆论她们如何认真地使⽤这些产品，她们都不可能拥有⾟迪那样的⾯容或肤⾊。
8 I'm not saying that men are superior. I'm just saying that you're not going to get a group of middle-ag
ed men to plaster cosmetics to themselves under the instruction of Brad Pitt in hopes of looking more like him. Men don't face the same societal focus purely on physical beauty, and they’re encouraged to reach out to other characteristics to promote their self-esteem. They might say to Brad: "Oh yeah? Well, what do you know about lawn care, pretty boy?"
我并不是说男性优于⼥性。我的意思是你不可能让⼀中年男⼦在布拉德•⽪特的指导下把化妆品敷到⾃⼰脸上，期望⾃⼰能看起来更像布拉德。与⼥性不同，男性的外貌美不是社会所关注的唯⼀焦点。⼈们会⿎励男性借助其他特征来提升⾃尊。他们也许会对布拉德说：“是吗？那么帅哥，你对草坪维护⼜知道多少？”
9 Of course women argue that they become obsessed with appearance as a reaction to pressure from men. The truth is that most men think beauty is more than just lipstick and perfume and take no notice of these extra details. I have never once, in more than 40 years of listening to men talk about women, heard a man say, “She had gorgeous fingernails!" To most men, little things like fingernails are all homogeneous（同类的，均匀的） anyway, and one woman's flawless pink polish is exactly as invisible as another's bare nails。
当然，⼥性会争辩说她们对外表的热衷追求是出于对来⾃男性的压⼒的⼀种反应。⽽事实是，⼤多数男
性认为美丽不仅仅来⾃于⼝红和⾹⽔，⽽且他们也不会去注意这些额外的细节。四⼗多年来，我在听男性谈论⼥性时，从来没有⼀次听到过哪位男性这样说：“她的指甲真漂亮啊！”对⼤多数男性来说，像指甲这样⼩的东西看起来都⼀样，⽆论⼀个⼥⼠的指甲是⽤粉⾊指甲油涂得完美⽆瑕，还是光光的毫⽆修饰，男性都⼀概视⽽不见
10 By participating in this system of extreme conformity（遵守，符合，⼀致）, women are actually opening themselves up to the scrutiny of other women, the only ones qualified to judge their efforts. What is the real benefit of working this hard to appease men who don't notice when it only exposes women to prosecution from other women?
⼥性参与这种极端的从众⾏为，实际上是把⾃⼰置于其他⼥性的审视之下，因为只有那些⼥性才有资格评价她们所付出的努⼒。但是，如此费⼒地去取悦男性⽽他们却根本不会注意，同时⼜只是招致其他⼥性的指责，这样做究竟有什么好处呢？
11 Anyway, to get back to my original point: If you're a man, and a woman asks you how she looks, you can't say she looks bad without receiving immediate and well-deserved outrage. But you also can't shower her with empty compliments about how her shoes complement her dress nicely because she'll know you're lying. She has spent countless hours worrying about the differences between her looks an
d Cindy Crawford's. Also, she suspects that you're not qualified to voice a subjective opinion on anybody's appearance. This may be because you have shaving cream in your hair and inside the folds of your ears.
不管怎样，⾔归正传：如果你是⼀位男性，当有⼥⼠问你她看起来怎么样时，你千万不能说她看起来很糟糕，那样肯定会使她⽴刻迁怒于你，这也是你咎由⾃取。但是，你也不能慷慨地⼤放空洞之词，赞美她的鞋⼦和裙⼦是多么相配，因为她知道你是在说谎。她已经花费了⽆数个⼩时发愁⾃⼰的容貌不能和⾟迪•克劳馥的⼀样。⽽且，也许因为你的头发和⽿廓上粘着剃须膏，她会怀疑你根本没有资格对任何⼈的外表给出主观评价。

版权声明：本站内容均来自互联网，仅供演示用，请勿用于商业和其他非法用途。如果侵犯了您的权益请与我们联系QQ:729038198，我们将在24小时内删除。