A Swedish union has set up a hotline for workers to report instances of “mansplaining” as part of a weeklong effort to raise awareness of a certain kind of condescending elocution that men use to explain to women things they already understand.
一個(gè)瑞典工會(huì)為職場(chǎng)人士設(shè)立了一條熱線,用于舉報(bào)“男式說(shuō)教”(mansplaining)。這是一項(xiàng)為期一周的努力的一部分,旨在引起人們對(duì)某種居高臨下的講話方式的注意。男人會(huì)用這種方式向女人解釋她們已經(jīng)明白的東西。
Well, actually, it’s not all men who do it, of course, but a certain kind of man. You know him: He is probably getting ready to mansplain this article to you.
嗯,當(dāng)然不是所有男人都會(huì)這么做,而是某類男人。你知道他:他可能正準(zhǔn)備用男式說(shuō)教的方式給你說(shuō)起這篇文章。
The hotline, which is temporary and open to men and women, was set up by Unionen, a trade union that represents about 600,000 private-sector employees in Sweden and describes itself as the largest white-collar union in the world.
這條同時(shí)向男性和女性開放的臨時(shí)熱線由Unionen設(shè)立,它代表著瑞典約60萬(wàn)私營(yíng)企業(yè)員工的利益,自稱是世界上最大的白領(lǐng)工會(huì)。
“Our objective is to contribute to awareness and start a discussion which we hope will be the first step in changing the way we treat each other and talk about each other in the workplace,” Jennie Zetterström, a union spokeswoman, said in an email on Wednesday.
“我們的目標(biāo)是提高人們的意識(shí),引發(fā)討論,希望這會(huì)是改變我們?cè)诼殘?chǎng)對(duì)待和談?wù)摫舜朔绞降牡谝徊剑?rdquo;工會(huì)發(fā)言人珍妮·塞特斯特倫(Jennie Zetterström)在周三發(fā)來(lái)的郵件中表示。
“It’s important to create awareness about how seemingly small things that we do or say add up to a larger issue.”
“讓人們意識(shí)到我們說(shuō)和做的一些似乎微不足道的事,會(huì)如何累積成更大的問(wèn)題,這是很重要的。”
Between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. every day this week, members are being encouraged to phone the hotline to talk about mansplaining in their working lives. The calls will be answered by 20 men and women, who are gender experts, authors, academics and others.
工會(huì)鼓勵(lì)其成員在本周每天上午10點(diǎn)至下午4點(diǎn)之間撥打熱線,談?wù)撍麄児ぷ髦性庥龅?ldquo;男式說(shuō)教”。這些電話將由20名性別問(wèn)題方面的專家、作者、學(xué)者和其他人員接聽(tīng),其中有男有女。
“The most important thing when we consulted these people is that they have knowledge and interest in the issue,” Ms. Zetterström said. “Both women and men carrying valuable experience for such a type of activity.”
“我們向他們咨詢的時(shí)候,最重要的是他們對(duì)這個(gè)問(wèn)題有了解、有興趣,”塞特斯特倫說(shuō)。“不管是男是女,他們都對(duì)這種行為有寶貴的經(jīng)驗(yàn)。”
So far, Ms. Zetterström said, callers have asked for advice on speaking up when they feel run over by male colleagues, and on how to help female colleagues who are being ignored by men in their working groups.
塞特斯特倫表示,截至目前,打電話進(jìn)來(lái)的人多是尋求建議,比如在感覺(jué)被男同事坑害時(shí)如何大聲說(shuō)出來(lái),如何幫助工作組里被男性無(wú)視的女同事。
Others have asked how to address clients or colleagues who address only the male employees — even when a woman is in charge — and how to address men who get credit for a woman’s work.
也有人詢問(wèn)如何應(yīng)對(duì)只跟男同事打交道的客戶或同事——哪怕那里是由一名女性擔(dān)任主管,還有如何對(duì)付搶占女性職員功勞的男同事。
The term mansplaining — a portmanteau of “explain” and “man” — entered popular usage after the author and historian Rebecca Solnit published a 2008 essay titled “Men Explain Things to Me.” She described attending a party at which a man insisted on explaining to her a “very important book” he had heard about and did not immediately seem to absorb that she had written the book.
男式說(shuō)教這個(gè)詞是由“說(shuō)教”(explain)和“男人”(man)兩個(gè)詞組合而成。在作家、歷史學(xué)家麗貝卡·索爾尼(Rebecca Solnit)于2008年發(fā)表《愛(ài)說(shuō)教的男人》(Men Explain Things to Me)一文后,它開始被普遍使用。麗貝卡在文中講述了有一次參加派對(duì)時(shí),一名男子堅(jiān)持要給她介紹一本他聽(tīng)說(shuō)過(guò)的“非常重要的書”,似乎沒(méi)有立即明白那本書其實(shí)是她寫的。
With a knowing roll of the eyes and a deep sigh, women — and some men — recognized the experience Ms. Solnit relayed, and a new word was born.
女人們——也包括一些男性——心照不宣地翻著白眼,深深嘆息著對(duì)索爾尼描述的那種經(jīng)歷表示認(rèn)同,一個(gè)新詞由此誕生了。
Just this year, a man wrote to the advice columnist Amy Dickinson to complain that she had misused the term in her response to an earlier letter. She replied that his letter contained “an almost magical dynamic”: “Others complained that I had misused the word ‘mansplaining,’ but you are the only person to mansplain while doing it.”
就在今年,一名男子給答問(wèn)專欄作者埃米·迪金森(Amy Dickinson)寫信,抱怨她在回復(fù)早前一封信件時(shí)濫用了這個(gè)詞。她答復(fù)道,他的信里包含“一種近乎神奇的邏輯”:“也有其他人抱怨我濫用‘男式說(shuō)教’這個(gè)詞,但你是唯一一個(gè)在抱怨這個(gè)問(wèn)題的同時(shí)又在進(jìn)行男式說(shuō)教的人。”
And last month, the word was featured as an answer on “Jeopardy” (the correct response was given by a male contestant, for $600).
上個(gè)月,這個(gè)詞作為一個(gè)問(wèn)題的答案出現(xiàn)在電視智力競(jìng)賽節(jié)目《危險(xiǎn)邊緣》(Jeopardy)上(一位男性參賽者提供了正確的答案,拿走了600美元獎(jiǎng)金)。
Predictably, the hotline in Sweden has prompted a strong reaction. The Independent newspaper reported that Unionen’s Facebook page had been inundated with negative comments, “particularly from men.”
不出所料,瑞典設(shè)立的這條熱線引發(fā)了強(qiáng)烈的反應(yīng)。據(jù)《獨(dú)立報(bào)》(Independent)報(bào)道,Unionen的Facebook主頁(yè)已被負(fù)面評(píng)論淹沒(méi),“尤其是來(lái)自男性的。”
“Our intention has never been to point fingers or blame all men, our intention has simply been to spark an interest and start a debate at our work places and in society,” Ms. Zetterström said. She added that the debate had been “lively,” and said, “Of course it’s regretful if someone feels offended.”
“我們的目的從來(lái)都不是譴責(zé)或怪罪所有男性,我們只是想在我們的工作場(chǎng)所和社會(huì)上激發(fā)興趣,引發(fā)討論,”塞特斯特倫表示。她還提到,這場(chǎng)辯論“非常熱烈”,“當(dāng)然如果有人感覺(jué)受到冒犯,我們深表遺憾。”
But the union says it hopes the hotline raises awareness of gender discrimination in the workplace and, in doing so, perhaps helps to alleviate it.
不過(guò),該工會(huì)也表示,它希望熱線能引發(fā)人們對(duì)職場(chǎng)性別歧視的注意,或許能由此幫助減輕這一問(wèn)題。
“Obviously not all men subject all women to mansplaining all of the time,” wrote Peter Tai Christensen, one of the gender experts who will be manning the phone lines. “That would be an absurd assertion and not based in reality.
“顯然,不是所有男人都時(shí)時(shí)刻刻對(duì)女性進(jìn)行男式說(shuō)教,”將負(fù)責(zé)接聽(tīng)熱線電話的性別專家之一彼得·泰·克里斯滕森(Peter Tai Christensen)寫道。“那會(huì)是十分荒唐的論斷,沒(méi)有現(xiàn)實(shí)基礎(chǔ)。”
“But enough women are subjected to it by enough men for it to be a problem that warrants being addressed, discussed and resolved.”
“但是目前有不少女性遭遇不少男性的說(shuō)教,這足以讓它成為一個(gè)應(yīng)該被提出、談?wù)摵徒鉀Q的問(wèn)題。”