向前一步:第215期 让我们开始讨论吧(21)

 They will further defend their position by arguing that it cannot be gender¹ related, because 他们会进一步争辩说，这不可能和性别有关，因为

aha! — both men and women have problems with that particular female executive. 不论男女，大家对那个女执行官都有同样的看法。

But the success and likeability penalty is imposed by both men and women. 但是，“成功必然要牺牲受欢迎度”这种局面是由男性和女性共同造成的，

Women perpetuate² this bias³ as well. 女性其实也在维护这样的成见。

Of course, not every woman deserves to be well liked. 当然，并非每个女性都会受到人们的喜欢。

Some women are disliked for behaviors that they would do well to change. 有些不招人喜欢的行为是可以改变的。

In a perfect world, they would receive constructive⁴ feedback and the opportunity to make those changes. 在一个完美的世界里，这些女性可以接受有建设性的反馈意见，有机会去改变自我。

Still, calling attention to this bias forces people to think about whether there is a real problem or a perception problem. 然而，如果人们注意到这种偏见，就会被迫去思考，究竟是真的存在某些问题，还是他们自己的感觉出了问题。

The goal is to give women something men tend to receive automatically — the benefit of the doubt. 这么做的目的是让女性也能像男性那样能够明白，学会质疑是有好处的。

In turn, women might also want to give their bosses the benefit of the doubt. 反过来说，女性或许也希望自己的老板能因质疑而受益。

Cynthia Hogan served as chief counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee under then-senator Joe Biden before leaving in 1996 after her first child was born. 1996年，辛西娅·霍根在生完第一个孩子准备离职之前，是时任议员乔·拜登主持的参议院司法委员会的首席顾问。

Her plan was to return to the workforce⁵ a few years later. 她计划几年后重新工作。

But when her second child was born prematurely⁶, those plans changed. 但当她第二个孩子早产时，这些计划都不得不随之改变了。

A full twelve years later, Vice⁷ PresidentElect Biden called Cynthia to ask her to join his staff as chief legal counsel in the White House. 整整12年过去后，已当选为副总统的拜登打电话给辛西娅，问她是否愿意作为首席法律顾问加入他在白宫的团队。

"My first reaction was that I no longer owned any clothes other than yoga pants!" Cynthia said. “我的第一个反应是，我现在除了瑜伽裤都没有件像样儿的衣服穿！”她说。

 

1 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

2 perpetuate   

v.使永存，使永记不忘

参考例句：

• This monument was built to perpetuate the memory of the national hero.这个纪念碑建造的意义在于纪念民族英雄永垂不朽。
• We must perpetuate the system.我们必须将此制度永久保持。

3 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

4 constructive   

adj.建设的，建设性的

参考例句：

• We welcome constructive criticism.我们乐意接受有建设性的批评。
• He is beginning to deal with his anger in a constructive way.他开始用建设性的方法处理自己的怒气。

5 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

6 prematurely   

adv.过早地，贸然地

参考例句：

• She was born prematurely with poorly developed lungs. 她早产，肺部未发育健全。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His hair was prematurely white, but his busy eyebrows were still jet-black. 他的头发已经白了，不过两道浓眉还是乌黑乌黑的。 来自辞典例句

7 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。