穆斯林妇女向卡梅伦首相发推文

AS IT IS 2016-01-27 Muslim Women Tweet to British PM David Cameron 穆斯林妇女向卡梅伦首相发推文

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Last week, British Prime Minister David Cameron announced a plan that would require women immigrants to learn English within 30 months of arriving in Great Britain.

The plan targets Muslim women joining their husbands already in Britain. Cameron said his plan would help Muslim women immigrants who spend most of their time at home. He said the plan would help them feel less socially isolated¹.

A government source told the media that “David knows that the traditional submissiveness of Muslim women is a sensitive issue.” Submissiveness is a willingness to obey, or submit to, someone else. 

Some British Muslim women were offended by the comment. They responded on social media with humor and sarcasm². Sarcasm is the use of words that mean the opposite of what you really want to say.

Mashable.com reported that British author and activist³ Shelina Janmohamed created the hashtag #traditionallysubmissive. She tweeted sarcastic⁴ responses to Prime Minister Cameron.

In one tweet, she wrote: “I bought a sportscar and published a book (in English and 8 other languages.) I must be doing this wrong. #traditionallysubmissive.

Throughout the weekend, more than 30,000 tweets with the hashtag were sent to David Cameron’s Twitter account.

Women tweeted #traditionallysubmissive along with a photo of them holding a sign that listed their accomplishments⁶ and life experiences.

The hashtag highlighted examples of Muslim women’s independence and their lack of submissiveness.

Many of the women listed their university degrees, professional goals, athletic⁷ interests, and a long list of languages they speak fluently -- including English.

Twitter user Mamana Beelah wrote: @David Cameron, I speak 4 languages, how many do you speak? #traditionallysubmissive.”

And Twitter user Asmaam wrote: “My mother was so #traditionallysubmissive she left home to go to med school in 1960s Pakistan. Thanks to her, I’m a journalist and a professor.”

Words in This Story

isolated - adj. separate from others?

submissiveness - n. the willingness to obey someone else; the act of conforming to the authority of others

sensitive - adj. likely to cause people to become upset

sarcasm - n. the use of words that mean the opposite of what you really want to say especially in order to insult someone, to show irritation⁸, or to be funny

accomplishment⁵ - n. something successfully done or achieved

1 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

2 sarcasm   

n.讥讽，讽刺，嘲弄，反话 （adj.sarcastic）

参考例句：

• His sarcasm hurt her feelings.他的讽刺伤害了她的感情。
• She was given to using bitter sarcasm.她惯于用尖酸刻薄语言挖苦人。

3 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

4 sarcastic   

adj.讥讽的，讽刺的，嘲弄的

参考例句：

• I squashed him with a sarcastic remark.我说了一句讽刺的话把他给镇住了。
• She poked fun at people's shortcomings with sarcastic remarks.她冷嘲热讽地拿别人的缺点开玩笑。

5 accomplishment   

n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能

参考例句：

• The series of paintings is quite an accomplishment.这一系列的绘画真是了不起的成就。
• Money will be crucial to the accomplishment of our objectives.要实现我们的目标，钱是至关重要的。

6 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》

7 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

8 irritation   

n.激怒，恼怒，生气

参考例句：

• He could not hide his irritation that he had not been invited.他无法掩饰因未被邀请而生的气恼。
• Barbicane said nothing,but his silence covered serious irritation.巴比康什么也不说，但是他的沉默里潜伏着阴郁的怒火。