向前一步:第34期 往桌前坐(2)

 When I gave a TEDTalk on how women can succeed in the workforce², 几年后，当我在TED¹大会做关于女性如何在职场上取得成功的演讲时，

I told this story to illustrate³ how women hold themselves back, literally⁴ choosing to watch from the sidelines. 我用这个故事来举例说明女性是怎样让自己退缩的，准确地说，她们自己选择了成为旁观者。

And yet as disappointed as I was that these women made that choice, 尽管如此，我仍为女性会做出这样的选择而感到泄气，

I also deeply understood the insecurities that drew them to the side of the room and kept them glued to those chairs. 但我也深深理解她们做出这种选择的深刻原因。

My senior year of college, I was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa honor society. 在大学高年级时，我被选拔进入美国大学优秀生荣誉学会。

At that time, Harvard and Radcliffe had separate chapters, so my ceremony was for women only. 那个时候，哈佛大学和拉德克里夫学院拥有各自的分会，所以我的入会仪式是“女性专属”的。

The keynote speaker, Dr. Peggy McIntosh from the Wellesley Centers for Women, gave a talk called "Feeling Like a Fraud." 其主要发言人、来自威尔斯利女性中心的帕吉·麦金托什博士的演讲题目是“招摇撞骗的感觉”。

She explained that many people, but especially women, feel fraudulent when they are praised for their accomplishments⁵. 她解释道，很多人尤其是女人，当她们所取得的成绩被人称赞时，会感觉那些称赞是骗取来的。

Instead of feeling worthy⁶ of recognition, they feel undeserving and guilty, as if a mistake has been made. 她们常常感到自己不值得被认可，不配受到称赞，并心存负疚，就好像犯了什么错。

Despite being high achievers, even experts in their fields, 即便那些在自己的领域成就斐然，甚至已是专家级别的女性，

women can't seem to shake the sense that it is only a matter of time until they are found out for who they really are—impostors with limited skills or abilities. 她们仍然摆脱不了这样一种感觉：我其实只是个技术水平或能力都很有限的冒牌货，现在的荣誉不过是因为碰巧被大家发现了而已。

I thought it was the best speech I had ever heard. 我想这是我听过的最好的演讲。

I was leaning forward in my chair, nodding vigorously. 我坐在椅子上，身体前倾，使劲地点着头。

Carrie Weber, my brilliant and totally-not-a-fraud roommate, was doing the same. 我发现，我那才气逼人、绝对不是“骗子”的室友卡丽·韦伯竟然也有这种心理。

At last, someone was articulating exactly how I felt. 终于有人明确有力地表达出我的感受了！

 

1 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

2 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。

3 illustrate   

v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图

参考例句：

• The company's bank statements illustrate its success.这家公司的银行报表说明了它的成功。
• This diagram will illustrate what I mean.这个图表可说明我的意思。

4 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

5 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》

6 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。