一位母亲写给女儿的信：美丽的事实和真相

 　　dear girls,

　　我亲爱的孩子们，

　　you're so young right now, but i hope these letters will be helpful to you one day when you're older. there is so much i wish i could ask my mother now that i am a grown woman. there is so much we never got to talk about. i'm planning on being around for you well into your lives and adulthood¹, but even so, i think having these letters will be useful in some way. who knows how things might change down the road, and at least you'll have your 34-year-old mother's thoughts down on paper.

　　你们现在如此稚嫩，但我希望将来某一天等你们长大了，这封信将会对你们有帮助。作为一个成年女人，我也有很多想问我妈妈的问题，有很多我和她从未谈及过的事情。在你们的成长中，我会在你们身边帮你们过好生活长大成人，但即使这样，我认为这封信也能通过其他方式使你们获益。谁也不知道将来会发生什么，但至少你们会有我这个34岁的母亲把想法写下来供你们参考。

　　anyway, i want this letter to be about beauty and my relationship to it. i feel this enormous responsibility, as a mother of two little girls, to lead you down a path that is relatively² healthy when it comes to beauty and self image. in a lot of women's eyes i've probably already failed in that respect due to the amount of pink-princess-barbie mess cluttering³ up vera's room right now.

　　不管怎么样，我希望谈谈关于美以及我对美的看法。作为一个有两个女儿的母亲，在谈到美和自身形象的问题，我有重要的责任为你们引导相对健康的认识之路。虽然在许多女人眼里，我这方面做得并不值得称赞，因为现在在vera的房间里还乱糟糟地塞满了卡哇伊的芭比娃娃。

　　but i will say this about barbie (and all the rest of that princess garbage): i played with that stuff for a solid decade when i was growing up and here i am now at a healthy weight with a healthy outlook about my body and image. i have a masters degree and have a successful career and a published book. if barbie were really so damaging to my femininity and self-image i highly doubt i could list all of the latter as accomplishments⁴.

　　但对于芭比娃娃(以及系列相关的公主垃圾玩具)我想说的是，我小时候玩了整整十年的洋娃娃，现在我是一个拥有体重标准、保持健康外貌的女性，我获得了硕士学位，我事业成功还出版了一本书。如果芭比娃娃真的对我的女性特质和个人形象有破坏性的影响，那么我真是非常怀疑我列出的那些成就是怎么来的。

　　but i get it too. it's hard for women to maintain a healthy self-image. it's hard not to obsess⁵ over our weight and to wish we could afford more stylish⁶ clothes. it's hard not to covet⁷ someone else's hair or hips⁸ or eyelashes, and to spend inordinate⁹ amounts of time trying to achieve looks that we were never suited for in the first place.

　　但是我也懂，对女人来讲保持健康的形象很不容易。想要不被体重困扰，不奢求自己能有经济能力购买更时尚的衣服，这真的很难;不觊觎别的女生的发型、翘臀和睫毛，不在自己身上无节制的花时间试图让自己驾驭那些完全不适合的造型，这些也都太难了。

　　i have girlfriends around whom i have to brace¹⁰ myself to see, because even though i love them, just being around them makes me self-conscious. i look at old pictures of my mother and wonder why i've never been able to be as skinny as she was. and then i have friends who are thinner than their mothers ever were. we women go round and round in circles, holding hands and trying to be one another sometimes.

　　我身边有一群女性朋友，虽然我很爱她们，但每次跟她们接触我都需要打起精神，只是和她们待在一起我都会觉得不自然。看着我妈妈的老照片，我总是纳闷为什么自己永远不能像她那么骨感，然后我发现身边有朋友比她妈妈年轻时还要瘦。我们女人总在转圈圈，有时还牵着彼此的手试着扮演对方的角色。

1 adulthood   

n.成年，成人期

参考例句：

• Some infantile actions survive into adulthood.某些婴儿期的行为一直保持到成年期。
• Few people nowadays are able to maintain friendships into adulthood.如今很少有人能将友谊维持到成年。

2 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

3 cluttering   

v.杂物，零乱的东西零乱vt.( clutter的现在分词 )；乱糟糟地堆满，把…弄得很乱；（以…） 塞满…

参考例句：

• I'm sick of all these books cluttering up my office. 我讨厌办公室里乱糟糟地堆放着这些书。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some goals will need to be daily-say, drinking water, or exercise, or perhaps de cluttering. 对这些目标，需要把他们变成我们日常事务的一部分。 来自互联网

4 accomplishments   

n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就

参考例句：

• It was one of the President's greatest accomplishments. 那是总统最伟大的成就之一。
• Among her accomplishments were sewing,cooking,playing the piano and dancing. 她的才能包括缝纫、烹调、弹钢琴和跳舞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 obsess   

vt.使着迷，使心神不定，（恶魔）困扰

参考例句：

• I must admit that maps obsess me.我得承认我对地图十分着迷。
• A string of scandals is obsessing America.美国正被一系列丑闻所困扰。

6 stylish   

adj.流行的，时髦的；漂亮的，气派的

参考例句：

• He's a stylish dresser.他是个穿着很有格调的人。
• What stylish women are wearing in Paris will be worn by women all over the world.巴黎女性时装往往会引导世界时装潮流。

7 covet   

vt.垂涎；贪图(尤指属于他人的东西)

参考例句：

• We do not covet anything from any nation.我们不觊觎任何国家的任何东西。
• Many large companies covet these low-cost acquisition of troubled small companies.许多大公司都觊觎低价收购这些陷入困境的小公司。

8 hips   

abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的

参考例句：

• She stood with her hands on her hips. 她双手叉腰站着。
• They wiggled their hips to the sound of pop music. 他们随着流行音乐的声音摇晃着臀部。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 inordinate   

adj.无节制的；过度的

参考例句：

• The idea of this gave me inordinate pleasure.我想到这一点感到非常高兴。
• James hints that his heroine's demands on life are inordinate.詹姆斯暗示他的女主人公对于人生过于苛求。

10 brace   

n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备

参考例句：

• My daughter has to wear a brace on her teeth. 我的女儿得戴牙套以矫正牙齿。
• You had better brace yourself for some bad news. 有些坏消息,你最好做好准备。