Girls and sex
女孩與性
Two steps forward, one back
向前兩步，後退一步
For girls, growing up is a perilous journey對女孩來說，成長是一場艱險的旅行FOR tips on taking a selfie, talk to teenage girls. Many know that your 「good」 side is the one without your parting, and that it is slimming to pose with a hand on hip and legs 「bevelled」 (one straight, the other bent). Not quite pleased with the results? Simply download one of many 「selfie surgery apps」 to edit blemishes, whiten teeth and shrink noses.
想知道自拍的小貼士的就去問那些少女吧。很多人都明白好看的自拍照就是不露出身體的其他部位，或者一隻手放在臀部，兩條腿傾斜（一條伸直，另一條彎曲）。如果你對這個拍攝結果仍不滿意的話，很簡單，在眾多自拍手機軟體中下載一個可以遮瑕祛斑、美白牙齒和挺鼻功能的app即可。
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Adolescents have always been keenly aware of how they are seen by their peers. But social media amplify this self-consciousness. Now that nearly three-quarters of American teens have access to a smartphone, many of them while away their days broadcasting their thoughts, photos and lapses in judgment for immediate praise or scorn from hundreds of 「friends」. Being a teenager was never easy, but this is the first time your charm, looks or popularity have been so readily quantifiable, and your mistakes so easy for others to see. Just how this technological revolution affects young people—and particularly young women—is the subject of two fascinating new American books.
青少年總是能夠很敏銳地意識到他們的同齡人是如何評價自己的。但是社交媒體將這種自我意識放大了。現在近四分之三的美國青少年都在使用智慧型手機。很多人會上傳他們的想法，照片來消磨度日，為了成百的朋友的點讚或嘲笑而陷入別人的評價中。作為青少年並不容易，這是你的魅力、外貌和知名度第一次如此容易量化，同時你的錯誤也很容易被他人看到。技術變革如何影響年輕人，尤其是年輕女性，是美國兩本極具吸引力的新書主題。
For many girls, the constant seeking of 「likes」 and attention on social media can 「feel like being a contestant in a never-ending beauty pageant」, writes Nancy Jo Sales in 「American Girls」, a thoroughly researched if sprawling book. In this image-saturated environment, comments on girls' photos tend to focus disproportionately on looks, bullying is common and anxieties about female rivals are rife. In interviews, girls complain of how hard it is to appear 「hot」 but not 「slutty」, sexually confident but not 「thirsty」 (ie, desperate). That young women often aspire to be titillating should not be surprising given that the most successful female celebrities often present themselves as eye-candy for the male gaze. 「Everybody wants to take a selfie as good as the Kardashians',」 says Maggie, a 13-year-old.
南希在《美國女孩》一書（一本體系龐大研究徹底的書）中寫道，對於很多女孩來說，在社交媒體上持續不斷地追求「點讚」和被關注感覺像是在參加一個永無止境的選美比賽。在這個圖片飽和的時代，對女孩照片的評論過多地集中在長相上，欺凌最常見不過了，女性之間的競爭焦慮盛行。在採訪中，女孩們抱怨要做到看起來火熱而不淫蕩，在兩性方面自信而不顯得饑渴。年輕女性經常渴望成為撩人一方，這不足為奇，因為最成功的的女明星往往會展現自己的魅力，從而讓男性大飽眼福。13歲的瑪吉說每個人都想要像卡戴珊一樣有好看的自拍照。
Such self-objectification comes at a cost. A review of studies from 12 industrialised countries found that adolescent girls around the world are increasingly depressed and anxious about their weight and appearance.
如此的自我人格物化需要付出一定的代價。一項關於12個工業化國家的研究回顧表明，全世界青春期的女生對她們的體重外貌感到越來越沮喪和焦慮。
For Peggy Orenstein, an American journalist, these are symptoms of a larger and more pernicious problem: 「the pressure on young women to reduce their worth to their bodies and to see those bodies as a collection of parts that exist for others' pleasure」. In 「Girls & Sex」, a wise and sharply argued look at how girls are navigating 「the complicated new landscape」 of sex and sexuality, Ms Orenstein notes that unlike past feminists, who often protested against their sexual objectification, many of today's young women claim to find it empowering. 「There are few times that I feel more confident about my body than when I wear a crop top and my boobs are showing and my legs are showing,」 says Holly, a college student. 「I never feel more liberated.」
對於佩吉·沃倫斯坦一個美國記者來說，這些都是更大更具危害性問題的表現—「年輕的女孩兒背負著一定的壓力，她們將自己的價值體現僅限於自己的身體且視自己的身體為滿足別人樂趣的一部分」。《女孩與性》講述了女孩兒如何在性別和性相關「這個複雜的新領域」定位，見解獨到。沃倫斯坦還提到，現在很多年輕女性聲稱性物化給了她們自主權，而不是像過去的女性那樣反對性物化。大學生霍莉說道：「當我穿露臍裝秀胸秀腿的時候我覺得很自信，無拘無束，其他時間很少有這種感覺。」
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This hardly seems like progress, particularly when only certain bodies, those that are sexy to men, are allowed to be a source of pride. (Even Meghan Trainor's body-positive anthem, 「All About That Bass」, celebrates fuller bodies because 「boys, they like a little more booty to hold at night.」) Yet both authors argue that girls are embracing their own sexualisation in part because they are living in a culture that prioritises women being 「hot」. Just listen to Donald Trump, America's Republican presidential front-runner, or try to find a female news presenter wearing a dress with sleeves.
這看起來並不像是進步，尤其是當特定的身材—那些男性覺得性感的身材，可以被當作是自豪感的來源的時候。（即使梅根·特雷納的那首正能量滿滿的身材頌歌「All About That Bass」讚美了更豐滿的身材，理由是「男孩們晚上更喜歡肥碩的屁屁（此處為歌詞）」）然而作家們還是聲稱女孩子們在某種程度上還是喜歡自己的性化，因為她們生活在優待身材「火辣」的女性的文化中。聽聽美國共和黨總統競選人唐納·川普說的吧（川普在競選中攻擊希拉蕊，更是搬出希拉蕊的丈夫、前總統柯林頓來反擊她的「性別歧視」批評。其本人有性別歧視傾向），或者試著找找那些穿長袖裙的新聞女主播吧。
Both books also blame the 「ever-broadening influence of porn」. The internet has made pornography more widely available than ever before. Few view it as realistic, but many consult it as a guide—which makes sense in a country where parents rarely talk candidly about sex with their children, especially their daughters, and few schools fill the gap. Educators commonly advocate abstinence and only 13 states require that sex education even be medically accurate.
兩本書也批評了「色情文學越來越廣的影響力」。網際網路使得色情書籍比以前更容易獲得。在一個父母很少和孩子特別是女孩兒開誠布公地談論性而且很少有學校會有相關教育的國家，很少有人正視網際網路對色情書籍可獲得性的事實，但是又有很多人視網際網路為指南。教育者們一般只是提倡節慾，而且只有13個國家會要求醫學上較為準確的性教育。
The problem is that much of this pornography is not only explicit but also violent, which can influence expectations. A study of Canadian teenagers found a correlation between consuming pornography and believing it is okay to hold a girl down for forced sex. Pornography also tends to present women's sexuality as something that exists primarily for the benefit of men. Ms Orenstein notes that most of the young women she interviewed had removed all of their pubic hair since they were about 14 in order to cater to the fickle, porn-bred tastes of young men. They also tended to prioritise their partners' physical pleasure over their own.
問題是很多色情文學直接，暴力，這些會影響他們的未來。一項關於加拿大青少年的調查研究發現消費色情文學與認為可以擊倒女生並對其施暴這樣的觀點存在著一定的聯繫。而且色情文學傾向於將女性的性慾描述為主要為滿足男性而存在的一種事物。沃倫斯坦提到她採訪的很多年輕女性14歲左右就去除了陰毛以迎合那些浮躁的有著色情口味的年輕男人。他們還傾向於更看重另一半身材帶來的歡愉而非他們自己的。
For anyone raising a daughter, these books do not make for easy reading. Expect plenty of stories about binge drinking, random hookups, oral sex and misjudged sexting. Intellectually, many young women believe they can achieve whatever they set their minds to, but most still struggle to obey a sexual double-standard that gives them little room between being chided as 「sluts」 or 「prudes」. As one teenage girl tells Ms Orenstein, 「Usually the opposite of a negative is a positive, but in this case it's two negatives. So what are you supposed to do?」
對於那些有女兒要撫養的家長來說，這些書籍並不容易閱讀。有很多關於酗酒、隨機配對、口交和亂性的故事。理性地說，很多年輕女性認為對她們想要的東西志在必得，但是大多數人還是會掙扎著遵循性別上的雙重標準——這使得她們被批為「蕩婦」和「故作正經的綠茶婊」，因此她們在這兩者之間受到了很大的限制。就像一個青少年女孩告訴沃倫斯坦的那樣，「消極的反義通常是積極，但是在這個方面是兩個消極。所以你還能怎麼做呢？」
解析：
1.aware of 意識到
例句:We are aware of the potential problems and have taken every precaution.
我們已意識到潛在的問題，並採取了全面的預防措施。
2.feel like 感覺
例句:Sometimes I feel like I'm living with a stranger.
有時我覺得自己和一個陌生人生活在一起。
3.tend to 傾向於
例句:In our culture we tend to be bashful about our talents and skills.
在我們的文化中，我們往往羞於談論自己的才幹和技能。