PBS高端访谈:让我们来谈谈微侵犯

JUDY WOODRUFF: Finally tonight: The term micro-aggression can be a hot button. It describes indirect or subtle discrimination. And if you're on the receiving end, it can be as hurtful as anything overt¹. If you have been accused of delivering a micro-aggression, you might wonder why, having no idea what is was you said that was so offensive. Well, tonight, noted² satirist³ David Sedaris shares his Humble⁴ Opinion on what he sees as an overly-sensitive world.

DAVID SEDARIS, Humorist: I'm the sort of author who travels a lot, 100 or so cities a year. I read out loud, and then I sign books for three, four, five hours a night. So I meet a lot of people. Most of them, I forget, but, every so often, someone will stick. Maybe it's their name or their size. With one guy, it's a thumbtack tattooed⁵ on his forehead. We have met before, I say. It makes people feel good to be remembered. I know it pleases me when the shoe is on the other foot. "David," my boyfriend of 26 years, might say, and I will just float for the rest of the day. I like to make people feel good, so, often, while signing books, I will look up asking, "Haven't we met?" I get a lot of repeat business, so half the time, the person on the other side of the signing table will say, "Wow, you have a good memory. It was last fall in Boston." Of course, I'm wrong just as often as I'm right. A young Korean American woman came through the line a few years ago. "We have met before, haven't we?" I asked. And she said, "Right, because all us Asians look alike." If I could do it all over again, I would say, "Wait, aren't you Akira Kurosawa? And you were in those Margaret Cho comedy specials, and that Amy Tan movie you starred in and wrote, because you're somehow Ming-Na Wen and Amy Tan." I am actually very capable of distinguishing one Asian person from another, except for my friends Matt and John Yuan, who are identical twins, and have matching haircuts and eyeglasses and weigh the same. They dress alike, live together and honestly don't care if anyone can tell them apart. So I'm not going to feel bad about them. That young woman at the book signing, though, give me a break. Similarly, I was recently with a friend of mine who is a bit fragile. We were on a dark terrace looking at the stars when a young woman approached to say she liked my books. "How nice of you to tell me that," I said. She was a college student, and reminded me that I had once met her sister, who had since gone back to India to visit their grandparents. My friend, who was standing⁶ awkwardly beside me, then entered the conversation, saying, "I think I waited on you once at the UPS store I work at." The young woman's voice turned stony⁷. "No," she said, "I'm afraid that was some other brown person." Or some other rude person, I thought, cringing⁸ on behalf of my friend, because not everything is a micro-aggression. Sometimes, people make mistakes, and the big thing to do, especially when they're obviously fragile, is to say, I get drunk and do a lot of blackout shipping⁹, so maybe that was me, or something, just to get through it. My boyfriend and I live in England, and whenever we walk into an antique store together, the owner will ask, without fail, "So, are you two dealers¹⁰?" "No," I say, "just homosexuals." They must think, just like I did when I was chided by the young Asian-American woman, and my friend had her head taken off on the dark terrace, geez, can't a person say anything anymore? So I have made up my mind to retire my snide little "just homosexuals" response, and say instead, "I can't believe you don't know who I am."

JUDY WOODRUFF: Online, David Sedaris shares a few of his favorite things. You can find his recommendations for what to read, listen to and watch on our Web site, PBS.org/NewsHour.

朱蒂·伍德拉夫：今晚最后：微侵犯这个词可以成为热点。它对间接或微妙的歧视进行了描述。如果有人对你进行了微侵犯，可能你会像受到任何显而易见的伤害一样心痛。如果有人说你对他们进行了微侵犯，你可能会不明原由，不知道自己说了什么，才会如此令人反感。今晚，著名讽刺作家戴维·塞达里斯在《管见所及》栏目分享他的观点，关于他在这个过于敏感的世界里看到了什么。

戴维·塞达里斯，幽默作家：我是那种热爱旅行的作家，一年能游历100多个城市。我大声朗读，然后一晚上我能做三个小时，四个小时，五个小时的签售。所以我会遇到很多人。其中大多数人，渐渐淡出了我的记忆，但是，偶尔也会有人长存我的脑海。也许是他们的名字，也许是他们的身高体态。有一个人，额头上纹有一个图钉。我说，我们以前见过面。有人记住自己，让人感觉很好。我知道，如果反过来，我也会很高兴。“戴维，”我26岁的男朋友，可能会说，那一天中剩下的时间，我就会感到飘飘然了。我喜欢给人们带来良好的感受，所以，在签售时，我常会抬头问：“我们见过面吧？”我有很多回头客，有时签售台另一边的人会说，“哇，你记性真好。就是去年秋天，在波士顿。”当然，我也经常弄错，和我弄对的几率也差不多。几年前，我想起了一名年轻的韩裔美国女子。“我们以前见过吧？”我问。她说，“是的，因为我们亚洲人看起来彼此都很相像。”如果能重新来过，我会说，“等等，你不是黑泽明吗？你曾在玛格丽特·曹的喜剧特别节目中出过镜，你还曾为谭恩美的电影做过编剧，也担任过主角，因为你有点像温明娜和谭恩美。”我实际上基本不会把不同的亚洲人认错，除了我的朋友马特和约翰·袁，他们俩是同卵双胞胎，并且留着相同的发型，带着相同的眼镜，就连体重也一样。他们穿着相似，住在一起，完全不在乎别人会不会把他俩认错。所以我不会为他们感到难过。签售会现场的年轻女子给我留了点情面。同样，我最近和我一个朋友在一起，他有点脆弱。当时我们在一个昏暗的露台上看星星，这时一位年轻女子走近我们，说她喜欢我的书。 “你说你喜欢我的书，我真高兴，”我说。她是一名大学生，并告诉我，我曾经见过她的姐姐，而她的姐姐后来回到印度，看望她们的祖父母去了。我的朋友尴尬地站在我旁边，然后插话说：“我想我曾经在我工作的UPS商店等过你一次。”那个年轻女子的声音瞬间石化。“不，”她说，“恐怕你等的是别人，另一个棕皮肤的人。”或者我想，其他一些粗鲁的人，他们卑躬屈膝，代表我的朋友，因为并非一切都是微侵犯。有时，人们会犯错误，而且最重要的事情，特别是当他们显然很脆弱时，就是说，我喝醉了，不省人事，所以也许这就是我，或者其他什么，只为了挺过去。我和我的男朋友住在英国，每当我们一起走进一家古董店时，店主都会问，“你们两个是经销商吗？”“不，”我说，“只是同性恋者。”他们必须思考，就像我被年轻的亚裔美国女人呛时所做的那样，而我的朋友在黑暗的露台上说的那话，难道被呛的那个人就无言以对了吗？于是，我决定不再自嘲地回答说我是“同性恋者”，取而代之，我说，“我相信你不知道我是谁。”

朱蒂·伍德瑞夫：在线上，戴维·塞达里斯还分享了其他一些他感兴趣的事情。你可以在我们的网站PBS.org/NewsHour上获取到他的阅读推荐、收听推荐以及视频观看建议。

1 overt   

adj.公开的，明显的，公然的

参考例句：

• His opponent's intention is quite overt.他的对手的意图很明显。
• We should learn to fight with enemy in an overt and covert way.我们应学会同敌人做公开和隐蔽的斗争。

2 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

3 satirist   

n.讽刺诗作者，讽刺家，爱挖苦别人的人

参考例句：

• Voltaire was a famous French satirist.伏尔泰是法国一位著名的讽刺作家。
• Perhaps the first to chronicle this dream was the Greek satirist Lucian.也许第一个记述这一梦想的要算是希腊的讽刺作家露西安了。

4 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

5 tattooed   

v.刺青，文身( tattoo的过去式和过去分词 )；连续有节奏地敲击；作连续有节奏的敲击

参考例句：

• He had tattooed his wife's name on his upper arm. 他把妻子的名字刺在上臂上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sailor had a heart tattooed on his arm. 那水兵在手臂上刺上一颗心。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

7 stony   

adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的

参考例句：

• The ground is too dry and stony.这块地太干，而且布满了石头。
• He listened to her story with a stony expression.他带着冷漠的表情听她讲经历。

8 cringing   

adj.谄媚，奉承

参考例句：

• He had a cringing manner but a very harsh voice.他有卑屈谄媚的神情，但是声音却十分粗沙。
• She stepped towards him with a movement that was horribly cringing.她冲他走了一步，做出一个低三下四，令人作呕的动作。

9 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

10 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。