美国国家公共电台 NPR Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Reflects On The #MeToo Movement: 'It's About Time'

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The Sundance Film Festival has in some ways become a forum¹ for more than film. This year, Supreme² Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was there promoting a documentary that she's appearing in. But when she spoke³ to NPR's Nina Totenberg on a stage at Sundance, the conversation broadened.

NINA TOTENBERG, BYLINE⁴: The occasion for Ginsburg being here is the premiere of a CNN documentary film about her life and her role as a young lawyer who became the architect of the legal fight for women's rights. The phrase sexual harassment⁵ was unknown in those days, so I asked Ginsburg if she had ever experienced inappropriate sexual conduct. Oh, yes, she answered, lots of times.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

RUTH BADER GINSBURG: The attitude to sexual harassment was simply get past it. Boys will be boys.

TOTENBERG: As a personal example, she cited her experience with a chemistry professor when she was an undergraduate student at Cornell and was worried about what she called her abilities as a chemistry student. And her professor offered to give her a practice exam.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

GINSBURG: So he gave me a practice exam. The next day on the test, the test is the practice exam, and I knew exactly what he wanted in return.

TOTENBERG: What did you do about the professor? Did you just stay clear of him? What did you do?

GINSBURG: I went to his office, and I said, how dare you? How dare you do this?

(APPLAUSE)

GINSBURG: And that was the end of that.

(LAUGHTER)

TOTENBERG: I assume you did quite well on that exam.

(LAUGHTER)

GINSBURG: And I deliberately⁶ made two mistakes.

(LAUGHTER)

TOTENBERG: I ask Ginsburg what her thoughts are about the #MeToo movement.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

GINSBURG: Well, I think it's about time. And...

(APPLAUSE)

GINSBURG: ...For so long, women were silent, thinking there was nothing you could do about it. But now, the law is on the side of women or men who encounter harassment.

TOTENBERG: And does she worry about a backlash?

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

GINSBURG: When I see women appearing every place in numbers, I'm less worried about backlash than I might have been 20 years ago.

TOTENBERG: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the Sundance Film Festival.

Nina Totenberg, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF JEFRE CANTU-LEDESMA'S "THE STREETS ARE FILLED WITH RAIN")

1 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

2 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

6 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。