Japan Has a Cute Problem

Sophie Knight

2014年初，日本美女科学家小保方晴子发表了一篇关于干细胞的论文，轰动了整个学术界。而媒体更感兴趣的并不是她的学术研究成果，而是她的衣着——象征着日本家庭主妇的围裙。日本社会偏爱“卡哇伊”女性——卖萌装傻，一副“天真无邪”的样子。她们臣服于男性，不敢挑战男权社会。这种“卡哇伊”的现象恰恰说明了日本当今社会女性地位的低下，日本社会对于女性的期望就是“安心做好一个家庭主妇”。因此，当小保方晴子的研究最终失败之后，人们却也觉得情有可原：漂亮的女孩子就不应该插手科学……

When Japanese scientist Haruko Obokata published a groundbreaking research paper on stem cells earlier in 2014, the media were thrilled1—but not because of her work.They were more interested in the traditional Japanese housewife’s apron2. apron： 围裙。that she wore, instead of the lab coat you might have expected.

Obokata’s dress choice was savvy3. savvy： 聪明的。. The apron, a symbol of domesticity, made her obvious intelligence more palatable in Japan, where being “cute”, or kawaii is the only social currency women have.4

1. Haruko Obokata： 小保方晴子，日本理化学研究所发育与再生医学综合研究中心的学术带头人，于2014年1月宣称发现类似干细胞的多能细胞（“万能细胞”，STAP细胞），之后被认定论文造假，实验报告宣告失败，小保方晴子的博士学位亦被取消；groundbreaking： 创新的，具有突破性的；stem cell： 干细胞；thrill：v. 使非常激动，使震颤。

4. 围裙作为家庭生活的象征，使得智慧超群的她在日本更受欢迎，在这个国家，“可爱”或者卡哇伊是女性唯一拥有的社会通行证。domesticity： 家庭生活，家务；palatable： 合意的，受欢迎的。

Japan’s reverence for kawaii, and its close association with femininity, demands that women speak in a high,singsong voice,5. reverence： 尊敬，崇敬；femininity： 女性气质（尤指温柔、娇小、美丽等）；singsong：节奏单调的。that they use childlike gestures and expressions, and that they never, ever challenge a man.Those who go against the grain by exhibiting ambition,brains or strong opinions are disparaged for being too“aggressive.”6. go against the grain： 违背（人们的）意愿；disparage： 诋毁；aggressive： 好挑衅的，咄咄逼人的。

So, Obokata’s apron de flected attention from her scienti fic prowess, and thanks to the media’s efforts,became a woman who just happened to be a scientist: a Barbie with a pipette.7. deflect： 把（批评、注意力或责任）转向，转移；prowess： 杰出才能，本领；pipette： （尤指化学实验用的）吸量管，移液管。

To be kawaii is to be vulnerable8. vulnerable：（身体或精神）脆弱的，易受伤的。, weak and powerless.“Cute” is the opposite of capable. Sure, it’s easy to like—seeing cute things ignite our protective instincts and trigger the release of endorphins, which is why we spend so many hours watching furry baby animals rolling around helplessly on YouTube.9. ignite： 引发，激起；instinct： 本能；trigger：引起，触发；endorphin： 内啡肽（体内产生的一种有镇痛作用的荷尔蒙，可以让人产生愉悦感）；furry： 毛茸茸的。But cute is hard to respect.

As a result, Japan treats its women abysmally10. abysmally： 极坏地，糟透地。. Ranked 105 out of 136 countries for gender equality by the World Economic Forum, the country is constantly reminded by economists and foreign commentators like the IMF’s Christine Lagarde that the low proportion of women in the workforce, speci fically executive positions, has contributed to its two-decade economic malaise.11. 世界经济论坛公布的全球性别平等排名显示，日本在136个国家中位列第105名。一些经济学家和外国评论员（如国际货币基金组织总裁克里斯蒂娜·拉加德）经常提醒日本，日本职业女性，尤其是女性管理者的比例较低，造成了二十多年来日本经济的不景气。commentator： 评论员；IMF： 全称为International Monetary Fund，国际货币基金组织；proportion： 比例；executive：（尤指公司或商业机构）管理的，决策的；contribute to： 促成；malaise：（社会或组织的）运作不良，问题。

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is optimistic that his “Womenomics” project will spur more women to join the workforce and rise to more senior positions.12. Shinzo Abe： 安倍晋三，日本现任首相；spur sb. (on)to (do) sth.： 激励/鼓励某人做某事；senior：（级别或地位）高的，高级的。But merely building more nurseries and forcing companies to report on their number of female directors won’t unravel the deeply sexist attitudes about how women should act and what social roles they are capable of playing.13. 但仅仅是建立更多的托儿所或是强制公司上报他们女性主管的数量并不能改变日本人对于女性的根深蒂固的性别歧视态度，其中涉及到日本女性该如何作为以及她们能够胜任何种社会角色。unravel：解决。

As the strongest wave of feminism in decades sweeps through the West, Japan is well overdue14. overdue： 早该做的。a movement of its own. But worryingly, many Japanese women don’t seem to want to be empowered15. empower： 给予（某人）权力。. Like Obokata, many embrace kawaii, playing dumb, clumsy and clueless to gain approval.16. play dumb： 装傻；clumsy： 笨拙的；clueless： 愚笨的，一无所知的。A third of women aspire to17. aspire to： 渴求，渴望。be housewives. Over 70 percent quit their jobs when they have children.

Who can blame them, when they’re only trusted with making tea or answering the phone? In corporate Japan most women are treated like decorative robots. No wonder their ambitions atrophy18. atrophy： 萎缩，退化。.

Obokata hung up her apron in April: It turned out her research was disproven, and her papers were retracted19. retract： 撤回。. Her supervisor even, tragically, committed suicide to “take responsibility.” But while her fall from grace caused outrage and sadness in the wider scientific world, in Japan, it was easy to comprehend: Pretty girls shouldn’t mess with science.20. fall from grace： 失宠；outrage： 愤怒；comprehend：理解；mess with： 干涉。