英語世界文摘:What Do Women Leaders Have in Common?

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What Do Women Leaders Have in Common?

女性領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者的共同點(diǎn)

Besides being women and leaders, that is

除了都是女性和領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人，還有……

By Sharmilla Ganesan

文/沙爾米拉·加尼森

On the surface, one would be hardpressed[1] to find many similarities between German chancellor Angela Merkel, Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina, and Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf – except for the fact that they are all female leaders of nations. Merkel, for example, spent more than a decade as a chemist before going into politics, while Hasina, the daughter of Bangladesh’s first president, attended college at the same time that she served as her father’s political liaison[2], and Johnson Sirleaf was Liberia’s minister of finance and worked at multiple financial institutions outside her country before running for vice president in 1985.

表面上看，很難找出德國總理安格拉· 默克爾、孟加拉國總理謝赫·哈西娜和利比里亞總統(tǒng)埃倫·約翰遜·瑟利夫三人之間的共同之處——除了她們都是女性國家領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人這一點(diǎn)。比如說，默克爾從政前曾從事化學(xué)研究十余年，孟加拉國開國總統(tǒng)之女哈西娜大學(xué)期間就擔(dān)任其父的政治聯(lián)絡(luò)員，而約翰遜·瑟利夫在1985年競選副總統(tǒng)之前還任過利比里亞的財(cái)政部長，并在多家海外金融機(jī)構(gòu)有任職經(jīng)歷。

[1] hard-pressed 很難（做某事）。

[2] liaison 聯(lián)絡(luò)員；聯(lián)系人。

But despite the vastly different cultural and political contexts that these women arose in – and the roughly 20 other female heads-of-state around the world – is there something deeper that they share? Answering that question could reveal how women in leadership are perceived around the world, and perhaps more importantly, the obstacles women continue to face in their quest for equal representation.

然而，盡管幾位女性成長的文化與政治背景有著千差萬別，她們之間，也包括全球另外約20位女性國家元首在內(nèi)，是否有著更深層面的共同之處呢？這一問題的答案能夠揭示世人是如何看待巾幗領(lǐng)袖的，更重要的也許是，它能讓我們看清女性在追求平等代表權(quán)的道路上仍舊面臨的障礙。

The researcher Susan R. Madsen of Utah Valley University says that while many studies have been done on leadership in different cultures, very few have focused on female leadership specifically. From 2009 to 2010 Madsen interviewed women in China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)[3] about their paths to leadership. She said she was surprised by the similarities among the women when they spoke about how they became leaders and advocates[4].

猶他谷州立大學(xué)研究員蘇珊·R. 馬德森稱，雖然對不同文化中領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者的研究不在少數(shù)，但其中專門針對女性領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的研究卻寥寥無幾。2009到2010年，馬德森采訪了中國和阿拉伯聯(lián)合酋長國（阿聯(lián)酋）的一些女性領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人，一探她們的領(lǐng)袖之路。她說，聽著她們講述自己成為領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者、倡議者的歷程，她感嘆于這些女性之間的相似之處。

[3] 阿拉伯聯(lián)合酋長國，簡稱阿聯(lián)酋。

[4] advocate 擁護(hù)者；支持者；提倡者。

“Every single one of them talked about finding their voices and their confidence at dinner-table conversations with their families. Their parents talked about politics, about what was happening in the community, and when the women had something to say, their parents didn’t hush them,” Madsen said. In the UAE, where men and women were often separated, women that Madsen interviewed pointed to the role of their fathers in encouraging them to speak up. “Every woman I spoke to said her father would bring home books for her to read when he traveled, which most other people didn’t have.”

“她們無一例外地說到了和家人在餐桌上的交流讓她們敢于說話，樹立自信。父母會談?wù)務(wù)?，聊聊社區(qū)的新鮮事，而當(dāng)她們想發(fā)言時(shí)，父母從不阻止?！瘪R德森如是說。在阿聯(lián)酋，性別隔離是個(gè)普遍現(xiàn)象，而馬德森采訪的幾位女性都提到了父親對她們抒發(fā)己見的鼓勵(lì)?！拔也稍L的每位女性都說，父親出遠(yuǎn)門時(shí)總會給她們帶書回來，這是大多數(shù)人沒有的待遇。”

As part of a series of interviews on women and leadership, I spoke to three women from different countries who have each become leaders in their respective fields: Agnes Igoye of Uganda, who works with her government to counter human trafficking[5]; Ikram Ben Said, the founder of Tunisian women’s-rights organization Aswat Nissa[6]; and Sairee Chahal of India, who started SHEROES[7], a digital platform that helps women get back into the workforce. In these conversations I saw Madsen’s observation borne out[8].

作為女性與領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力系列訪談的一部分，我采訪了三位來自不同國度并在各自領(lǐng)域都成為領(lǐng)軍人物的女性。一位是和政府共同致力于打擊人口販賣的烏干達(dá)女性艾格尼絲·伊戈耶，一位是突尼斯女性權(quán)利組織“女性的聲音”的創(chuàng)始人伊克拉姆·本·賽義德，另一位是印度的賽麗·查哈爾，她創(chuàng)立了SHEROES數(shù)字平臺，助力女性重回職場。在和她們的對話中，我發(fā)現(xiàn)馬德森的論斷得以證實(shí)。

[5] human trafficking 人口販賣。

[6] = Voices of Women 突尼斯的一個(gè)非政府組織，意為“女性的聲音”，致力于為女性爭取平權(quán)。

[7] 印度一家?guī)椭郧舐毜脑诰€平臺。

[8] bear out 證實(shí)；為……作證。

All three of my interviewees pointed to the family environment they had been raised in – particularly a father figure who taught and empowered[9] the women in the family to learn, ask questions, and form their own opinions – as a key factor in their own growth. This, coupled with mothers or other older women who broke convention by displaying leadership within the family, was common source of early lessons on leadership.

三位受訪者都將其成長的家庭環(huán)境——特別是一個(gè)懂得教導(dǎo)并賦權(quán)女性家庭成員去求知、提問、樹己見的父親形象——視為影響自身發(fā)展的重要因素。此外，母親等女性長輩敢于打破傳統(tǒng)，在家庭事務(wù)中一展權(quán)威。她們自幼便在父母熏陶下接受了領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力的啟蒙教育。

[9] empower 增加（某人的）自主權(quán)。

Igoye, for example, credited her father with[10] having the foresight to send his daughters to school despite opposition from others in their village. Her mother went back to school as an adult to improve her career as a teacher, which Igoye described as being a big influence on her. Similarly, Ben Said talked about how her father encouraged political debate among the family when she was growing up, even when her opinions contradicted his. Meanwhile, Chahal said that even in her younger days, her parents went against the general convention of expecting their daughters to aspire only to a good matrimonial match[11].

比如伊戈耶就認(rèn)為，父親不顧同村人的反對，將女兒們都送進(jìn)學(xué)校，乃是遠(yuǎn)見之舉。母親為發(fā)展其教師事業(yè)，成年后仍然重返校園，她說這對她影響很深。本·賽義德也說，在她成長的過程中，父親鼓勵(lì)家人之間進(jìn)行政治辯論，即便她與父親意見相左時(shí)也依然如此。查哈爾則說，從她年幼之時(shí)起，父母就逆常道而行，不希望找個(gè)如意郎君成為女兒們唯一的志向。

[10] credit with 認(rèn)為……有（良好的品質(zhì)或特點(diǎn)）。

[11] a good matrimonial match 文中指一個(gè)好妻子。

Another conclusion from Madsen’s work is that women’s leadership development doesn’t look like men’s. “Men are more strategic and [tend to follow] a more linear path to becoming a leader. Women’s paths are much more emergent[12]. They tend to not necessarily look ahead and think, ‘I want to be on top.’ Women would point to a number of experiences – motherhood, or working with a non-profit, or sitting on[13] a board, as shaping their path to becoming leaders,” she said. Madsen likens this to a “patchwork quilt[14]” of experiences – an aggregate that is more clear and cohesive together than as distinct parts.

馬德森的另一研究結(jié)論顯示，女性領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者的成長歷程有別于男性。她說：“男性更有全局觀，在通往領(lǐng)導(dǎo)崗位的過程中（往往走）一條更直線式的發(fā)展路徑。而女性則要隨遇而安得多。她們通常未必會目視前路、心中暗想：‘我要出人頭地?！酝J(rèn)為，是種種閱歷共同鋪就了她們的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)之路——比如身為人母，比如在非營利機(jī)構(gòu)工作，又比如在董事會任職?！瘪R德森把這比作一條由各種經(jīng)歷拼湊而成的“百衲被”——將這個(gè)集合視為一體比拆分開看更明了也更緊密。

[12] emergent 自然而然發(fā)生的。

[13] sit on sth 在……中任職。

[14] patchwork quilt 百衲被，指用多種不同色澤不同形狀的布塊拼縫而成的一種薄被。

Which is why women are more likely to take a grassroots route to politics, says Farida Jalalzai of Oklahoma State University, “Women are more likely to first get into public life through activism[15]; sometimes it is through their identities as mothers to work on a particular problem,” she explained.

俄克拉荷馬州立大學(xué)的法麗達(dá)·賈拉勒扎伊說，這也就是為何女性的從政之路更易始于基層。她解釋說：“女性更有可能通過積極行動初次步入公眾視野；有時(shí)是因?yàn)槟赣H的身份讓她們想在某些方面盡一份力?！?

[15] activism 行動主義，主張通過實(shí)際行動表達(dá)訴求。

Another reason that women leaders may have some similarities is that they tend to be held to higher standards than their male counterparts, perhaps even more so in countries where there is dramatic gender inequality. Jalalzai has found this in her research. “We have to acknowledge that men are not faced with the suspicion that they can’t be good leaders simply because they are men,” she explained. “Tomorrow someone might say President Barack Obama was a complete failure, but no one is going to conclude from that that all men are bad leaders. So there’s a certain type of privilege that your success or failure is not going to reflect on your entire sex.”

女性領(lǐng)導(dǎo)也許有其共性的另一原因在于，她們常常面臨著比男性更高的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，在性別嚴(yán)重不平等的國家或許尤其如此。賈拉勒扎伊在研究中發(fā)現(xiàn)了這一點(diǎn)。“我們必須承認(rèn)，男人僅僅因?yàn)槭悄腥?，就不會遭到別人對他們領(lǐng)導(dǎo)能力的懷疑?！彼忉尩?，“可能明天就有人說貝拉克·奧巴馬總統(tǒng)是個(gè)徹底的失敗者，但沒有人會因此下定論說男人當(dāng)不了好領(lǐng)導(dǎo)。所以有一種特權(quán)是，你個(gè)人的成敗不會牽連到你所屬的性別整體。”

In Tunisia, for instance, Ben Said said the public is just beginning to accept and trust women in government. “The pressure is on them to perform, to deliver[16] results, so that people will be more encouraged to have more women in positions of leadership,” she told me. And Igoye has felt this in Uganda as well. “Women who take up leadership positions in my country have to be tough, it’s not easy at all,” she said. “You are always aware that you are representing all women. You have to work extra hard to deliver, to perform, because if you do something wrong, they will say, ‘Ah you see, women!’ ”

譬如，本·賽義德就說，在突尼斯，公眾對女性執(zhí)政者的接納和信任才剛剛開始。她告訴我：“她們要謀其政、成其事，為的是公眾能夠更加擁戴更多女性走上領(lǐng)導(dǎo)崗位?！币粮暌跒醺蛇_(dá)也有同感?！霸谖覀儑遥I(lǐng)導(dǎo)必須得強(qiáng)勢，實(shí)為不易?！彼f，“你時(shí)刻都忘不了你代表的是所有女性。你得格外努力，拿出成績，拿出行動，因?yàn)槟阋坏┬胁钐ゅe(cuò)，就會有人說：‘哈看吧，女人！’”

[16] deliver 履行諾言；兌現(xiàn)。本段中出現(xiàn)的另一個(gè)deliver亦為此意。

It’s for this reason that merely having women leaders can change the opportunities available for generations of women in a country. As Madsen put it, “Bottom line, what leadership looks like in their country, how much of a voice the women leaders are having, influences what leadership is and what it means to its women. For example, in the Middle East, the top leaders are kings or sheikhs[17], and there is a big separation between the leaders and society. Oftentimes, the women of those cultures just don’t see themselves in those positions, so their understanding of leadership is more male.” And that, perhaps more than anything else, is what Ben Said, Chahal, Igoye, and other women like them around the world stand to change.

正因如此，擁有女性領(lǐng)導(dǎo)本身就能改變一個(gè)國家?guī)状韵碛械臋C(jī)遇。如馬德森所言：“最基本的一點(diǎn)，一個(gè)國家的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)層是以何面目示人的，女性領(lǐng)導(dǎo)擁有多少發(fā)言權(quán)，影響著該國領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力的本質(zhì)及其對該國女性的意義。比如在中東地區(qū)，高層領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人都是國王或謝赫，領(lǐng)導(dǎo)階層和民眾之間相隔甚遠(yuǎn)。通常，這些文化中的女性根本無法想象自己也能身居高位，所以她們的觀念里領(lǐng)導(dǎo)還是以男性為主?！倍@一點(diǎn)，也許相比其他任何事情來說，正是本·賽義德、查哈爾、伊戈耶以及世界各地和她們一樣的女性將要改變的。

[17] sheikh 音譯為謝赫，文中指阿拉伯的親王、酋長等。

（譯者單位：天津鐵道職業(yè)技術(shù)學(xué)院）