Japan Has a Cute Problem

Sophie Knight

2014年初，日本美女科學(xué)家小保方晴子發(fā)表了一篇關(guān)于干細(xì)胞的論文，轟動(dòng)了整個(gè)學(xué)術(shù)界。而媒體更感興趣的并不是她的學(xué)術(shù)研究成果，而是她的衣著——象征著日本家庭主婦的圍裙。日本社會(huì)偏愛“卡哇伊”女性——賣萌裝傻，一副“天真無邪”的樣子。她們臣服于男性，不敢挑戰(zhàn)男權(quán)社會(huì)。這種“卡哇伊”的現(xiàn)象恰恰說明了日本當(dāng)今社會(huì)女性地位的低下，日本社會(huì)對(duì)于女性的期望就是“安心做好一個(gè)家庭主婦”。因此，當(dāng)小保方晴子的研究最終失敗之后，人們卻也覺得情有可原：漂亮的女孩子就不應(yīng)該插手科學(xué)……

When Japanese scientist Haruko Obokata published a groundbreaking research paper on stem cells earlier in 2014, the media were thrilled1—but not because of her work.They were more interested in the traditional Japanese housewife’s apron2. apron： 圍裙。that she wore, instead of the lab coat you might have expected.

Obokata’s dress choice was savvy3. savvy： 聰明的。. The apron, a symbol of domesticity, made her obvious intelligence more palatable in Japan, where being “cute”, or kawaii is the only social currency women have.4

1. Haruko Obokata： 小保方晴子，日本理化學(xué)研究所發(fā)育與再生醫(yī)學(xué)綜合研究中心的學(xué)術(shù)帶頭人，于2014年1月宣稱發(fā)現(xiàn)類似干細(xì)胞的多能細(xì)胞（“萬能細(xì)胞”，STAP細(xì)胞），之后被認(rèn)定論文造假，實(shí)驗(yàn)報(bào)告宣告失敗，小保方晴子的博士學(xué)位亦被取消；groundbreaking： 創(chuàng)新的，具有突破性的；stem cell： 干細(xì)胞；thrill：v. 使非常激動(dòng)，使震顫。

4. 圍裙作為家庭生活的象征，使得智慧超群的她在日本更受歡迎，在這個(gè)國(guó)家，“可愛”或者卡哇伊是女性唯一擁有的社會(huì)通行證。domesticity： 家庭生活，家務(wù)；palatable： 合意的，受歡迎的。

Japan’s reverence for kawaii, and its close association with femininity, demands that women speak in a high,singsong voice,5. reverence： 尊敬，崇敬；femininity： 女性氣質(zhì)（尤指溫柔、嬌小、美麗等）；singsong：節(jié)奏單調(diào)的。that they use childlike gestures and expressions, and that they never, ever challenge a man.Those who go against the grain by exhibiting ambition,brains or strong opinions are disparaged for being too“aggressive.”6. go against the grain： 違背（人們的）意愿；disparage： 詆毀；aggressive： 好挑釁的，咄咄逼人的。

So, Obokata’s apron de flected attention from her scienti fic prowess, and thanks to the media’s efforts,became a woman who just happened to be a scientist: a Barbie with a pipette.7. deflect： 把（批評(píng)、注意力或責(zé)任）轉(zhuǎn)向，轉(zhuǎn)移；prowess： 杰出才能，本領(lǐng)；pipette： （尤指化學(xué)實(shí)驗(yàn)用的）吸量管，移液管。

To be kawaii is to be vulnerable8. vulnerable：（身體或精神）脆弱的，易受傷的。, weak and powerless.“Cute” is the opposite of capable. Sure, it’s easy to like—seeing cute things ignite our protective instincts and trigger the release of endorphins, which is why we spend so many hours watching furry baby animals rolling around helplessly on YouTube.9. ignite： 引發(fā)，激起；instinct： 本能；trigger：引起，觸發(fā)；endorphin： 內(nèi)啡肽（體內(nèi)產(chǎn)生的一種有鎮(zhèn)痛作用的荷爾蒙，可以讓人產(chǎn)生愉悅感）；furry： 毛茸茸的。But cute is hard to respect.

As a result, Japan treats its women abysmally10. abysmally： 極壞地，糟透地。. Ranked 105 out of 136 countries for gender equality by the World Economic Forum, the country is constantly reminded by economists and foreign commentators like the IMF’s Christine Lagarde that the low proportion of women in the workforce, speci fically executive positions, has contributed to its two-decade economic malaise.11. 世界經(jīng)濟(jì)論壇公布的全球性別平等排名顯示，日本在136個(gè)國(guó)家中位列第105名。一些經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家和外國(guó)評(píng)論員（如國(guó)際貨幣基金組織總裁克里斯蒂娜·拉加德）經(jīng)常提醒日本，日本職業(yè)女性，尤其是女性管理者的比例較低，造成了二十多年來日本經(jīng)濟(jì)的不景氣。commentator： 評(píng)論員；IMF： 全稱為International Monetary Fund，國(guó)際貨幣基金組織；proportion： 比例；executive：（尤指公司或商業(yè)機(jī)構(gòu)）管理的，決策的；contribute to： 促成；malaise：（社會(huì)或組織的）運(yùn)作不良，問題。

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is optimistic that his “Womenomics” project will spur more women to join the workforce and rise to more senior positions.12. Shinzo Abe： 安倍晉三，日本現(xiàn)任首相；spur sb. (on)to (do) sth.： 激勵(lì)/鼓勵(lì)某人做某事；senior：（級(jí)別或地位）高的，高級(jí)的。But merely building more nurseries and forcing companies to report on their number of female directors won’t unravel the deeply sexist attitudes about how women should act and what social roles they are capable of playing.13. 但僅僅是建立更多的托兒所或是強(qiáng)制公司上報(bào)他們女性主管的數(shù)量并不能改變?nèi)毡救藢?duì)于女性的根深蒂固的性別歧視態(tài)度，其中涉及到日本女性該如何作為以及她們能夠勝任何種社會(huì)角色。unravel：解決。

As the strongest wave of feminism in decades sweeps through the West, Japan is well overdue14. overdue： 早該做的。a movement of its own. But worryingly, many Japanese women don’t seem to want to be empowered15. empower： 給予（某人）權(quán)力。. Like Obokata, many embrace kawaii, playing dumb, clumsy and clueless to gain approval.16. play dumb： 裝傻；clumsy： 笨拙的；clueless： 愚笨的，一無所知的。A third of women aspire to17. aspire to： 渴求，渴望。be housewives. Over 70 percent quit their jobs when they have children.

Who can blame them, when they’re only trusted with making tea or answering the phone? In corporate Japan most women are treated like decorative robots. No wonder their ambitions atrophy18. atrophy： 萎縮，退化。.

Obokata hung up her apron in April: It turned out her research was disproven, and her papers were retracted19. retract： 撤回。. Her supervisor even, tragically, committed suicide to “take responsibility.” But while her fall from grace caused outrage and sadness in the wider scientific world, in Japan, it was easy to comprehend: Pretty girls shouldn’t mess with science.20. fall from grace： 失寵；outrage： 憤怒；comprehend：理解；mess with： 干涉。