【经济学人精读】脱掉高跟鞋：日本女性抗议职场着装潜规则|dress|heels|例句|高跟鞋

原文译文

Heels at high water

高跟鞋

Japanese women rebel against painful dress codes

日本女性反抗痛苦的着装规范

Some employers care more about how they look than how they feel

有些雇主更关心他们的外表而不是他们的感觉

*注：本期精读原文发表于4月8日《经济学人》。

1. ISHIKAWA YUMI worked eight-hour shifts as an usher in a funeral parlour , always in heels. Her employer insisted. Her toes bled. “Why do we have to hurt our feet at work, when men can wear flat shoes?” she complained on Twitter. The tweet exploded .

石川由美在一家殡仪馆当招待员，每天都要穿着高跟鞋工作8小时。这是老板坚决要求的。她的脚趾总是会流血。她在推特上抱怨道，“男人工作就可以穿平底鞋，我们为什么要在工作时穿高跟鞋弄伤脚呢？”她的这条推特火了。

2. Encouraged, she gathered 18,800 signatures on a petition calling for a ban on employers requiring women to wear high heels, which she submitted to the government last June. Ms Ishikawa became the face of the #KuToo campaign—a pun on Japanese words for shoes (kutsu) and pain (kutsuu), with a nod to the #MeToo movement.

受此鼓舞，去年6月，她向政府提交了一份1.88万人签名的请愿书，呼吁雇主解除要求女性穿高跟鞋的规定。石川女士因此成为#Kutoo运动的代言人，Kutoo一词取自日语鞋子（靴くつ，kutsu）和疼痛（苦痛くつう，kutsuu），一语双关。#kutoo运动是对#Metoo运动的回应。

3. More than 60% of Japanese women with jobs have been forced to squeeze their feet into heels at work or have witnessed colleagues having to, according to a survey. Female staff at Takashimaya, a department store, must parade around the shop in 5cm heels. The former defence minister, Inada Tomomi, felt obliged to totter about in heels even on the deck of a visiting American aircraft carrier.

据调查显示，超过60%的日本职场女性在工作中被迫将脚塞进高跟鞋里，或目睹过同事这样做。高岛屋百货公司的女员工必须穿着5厘米高的高跟鞋在店内来回走动。日本前防卫大臣稻田朋美(Inada Tomomi)甚至在一艘到访的美国航空母舰的甲板上也不得不穿着高跟鞋蹒跚而行。

4. Dress codes at many Japanese firms are rigid. Some ban glasses for women (but not men), on the grounds that they are unflattering . This is especially unreasonable for those who find contact lenses uncomfortable. “Women have always been told to follow the dress code, even if it causes pain,” says Ms Ishikawa. Japanese bosses, who tend to be older men, often expect their female underlings to gaman ( endure it).

许多日本公司的着装要求都很严格。一些公司禁止女性(但不包括男性)戴眼镜，理由是戴眼镜不好看。这对于那些觉得隐形眼镜不舒服的人来说尤其不合理。石川女士说:“女性总是被要求遵守着装规定，即使这会引起疼痛。”日本的老板一般都是年长的男性，他们通常希望自己的女性下属“我慢”（我慢がまん，gaman，在日语中意为“忍耐”）这样的着装规定。

5. The government has dug in its heels . A former labour minister, who received Ms Ishikawa’s petition last year, insists that wearing high heels at work is “necessary and appropriate”. The petition itself has received no official response to date . Japan ranks the second lowest out of the 29 rich countries in The Economist’s glass-ceiling index , which measures equality for women in the workplace.

而这样的着装规定在政府单位也是根深蒂固。一位去年收到石川女士请愿书的前劳工部长坚持认为，在工作中穿高跟鞋是“必要和适当的”。到目前为止，请愿书还没有收到任何官方回应。在《经济学人》衡量职场女性平等程度的“玻璃天花板指数”(glass-ceiling index)中，日本在29个富裕国家中排名倒数第二。

6. But corporate Japan is slowly responding to #KuToo. In late March Japan Airlines announced that its female flight attendants can kick off their heels and swap skirts for trousers if they choose. All three big mobile-phone operators have relaxed their rules on heels. Ms Ishikawa is collaborating with a shoe company to produce chic heel-less shoes. “Society is changing,” says Ms Ishikawa. “We can’t be ignored.” Pointless rules about footwear may soon be given the boot .

但日本企业界正慢慢对“KuToo”做出反应。3月下旬，日本航空公司宣布，只要愿意，女乘务员可以脱掉高跟鞋，穿裤子。三大移动电话运营商都紧随其后放松了着装规定。石川女士正与一家鞋业公司合作，生产精致吃的无跟鞋。“社会正在改变，”石川女士说。“我们不能被忽视。”有关穿鞋的那些毫无意义的着装规定可能很快就会被废除。

精读解析

篇章结构

P1—P2： 的例子引入，日本企业着装规则：女性必须穿高跟鞋上班，这引起女性的抗议。

P3—P5： 日本职场对女性的着装要求很严格，政府也是如此。

P6： 日本企业正在作出改变，放松了着装规定。

重点单词

high water 高潮，高水位；水位达到最高点的

【例句】

The time of the 5 good emperors was indeed the high water mark of the ancient world's greatest empire.

五贤帝时期的确是这个古代世界最伟大帝国的高峰标志。

rebel against 反抗

dress code 着装守则

usher /'/ n. 引座员, 招待员, 迎宾员；门房, 传达员；助理教员, 助教vt. 引, 领, 陪同

【例句】

The ushers wore blue.

领位员身着蓝色制服。

funeral parlour殡仪馆

explode /k'spld/ v. 使爆炸；爆炸；推翻

【短语】

explode into

爆发出…

explode with

爆发，突发…

explode with laughter

哄堂大笑；暴笑

【例句】

The children exploded three firecrackers.

孩子们燃放了三个爆竹。

become the face of… 成为…的门面；成为…的代表

pun /pn/ n. 双关语;俏皮话vi. 说双关语;说俏皮话

【例句】

The slogan is a pun on the name of the product.

那广告用语与其产品名称一语双关。

with a nod to 回应…，向…点头

【例句】

With a nod to his habit of asking permission for his parodies, he thanked all the recording artists that were nice enough to let me screw around with their music.

他习惯在进行戏仿之前先征得许可，于是在领奖时，他感谢了所有慷慨地允许我糟践他们的音乐的录音乐手们。

call for 要求；需要；提倡；邀请；为…叫喊

【例句】

It's a situation that calls for a blend of delicacy and force.

应付这种局面需要刚柔并济。

squeeze /skwiz/ vt. & vi. 挤, 榨, 捏n. 挤, 榨, 捏；亲切的拥抱或握手；拥挤, 积压；缺乏钱或时间等所引致的困难或困苦, 拮据, 短缺

【短语】

credit squeezen. 贷款紧缩

squeeze in挤进

squeeze into挤入, 塞进

squeeze offv. 扳枪机射击

squeeze out

榨出；挤出；排出

squeeze up

挤紧一些

main squeeze

主要压力；重要人，头头

【例句】

He squeezed his way through the crowd.

他从人群中挤过去。

witness /'wtns/ n. 目击者; 证人；证词; 证据vt. 亲眼看见, 目击；作证, 证明；表示, 说明

【短语】

bear witness

证明，作证

bear witness to

证明

character witness

品德信誉见证人；在法庭中对涉讼之一方人格名誉作证的见证人

expert witness

鉴定证人

in witness of

作为…的证据

interfere with a witness

干扰证人

【例句】

The gang fabricated evidence and threatened witnesses.

那一伙歹徒伪造证据并威胁目击者。

parade /p'red/ n. 游行；阅兵；行进；炫耀；阅兵场v. 炫耀；游行；列队行进

【例句】

The parade gathered a large crowd.

游行引来许多群众。

totter about 蹒跚; 踉跄; 跌跌撞撞; 摇摇欲坠; 摇摇晃晃

【例句】

When he was able to totter about the house, he turned his hands to weaving baskets of split oak and mending the furniture ruined by the yankees.

待到他能够在屋里到处走动了，他便着手编制橡树皮篮子，修补被北方佬损坏的家具。

unflattering /n'flt()r/ adj. 不讨好人的,不奉承人的

【例句】

Vivien purposely made herself look older and unflattering for the film using heavy makeup, wige and drastic lighting which would hide her still beautiful features.

在电影中费雯·丽为了真实，有意使自己显得衰老些。使用浓妆、假发和强烈的灯光来掩盖她仍然美丽的容貌。

contact lens 隐形眼镜

underling /'ndl/ n. <贬>下属,走卒

【例句】

I know one investment banking boss who penalises underlings for lobbying crassly.

我认识的一位投行老板就会惩罚那些过分游说的下级。

dig in 掘土以掺进；掘土把…埋起来；开始认真工作；掘壕固守

has dug in its heels 站稳脚跟

【例句】

Russia has dug itself in, basically, into Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

俄罗斯基本上已经在阿布·哈兹和南奥赛梯站住了脚。

Russia has also dug in its heels at the UN Security Council, so as to limit sanctions on Iran.