TED演讲:来自阿拉伯女商人的成功经验(3)
In my previous job, well before my current firm,
在进入我现在这间公司之前，在我的工作中，
I was working with a man, we will call John.
我与一个男人共事，我们称他约翰好了。
I had teamed up with John and was working hard,
我跟约翰组成一组，很努力地工作，
hoping he would notice how great I was
希望他能注意到我很能干。
and that he would come to support my case to make partner at the firm.
而他能够帮助我的业务并成为我的公司伙伴。
I was, in addition to delivering on my consulting projects,
此外，我正集中完成我的咨询项目，
writing passionately on the topic of women economic empowerment.
情绪激昂地着手写着关于女性经济自主的主题。
One day, I got to present my research to a roomful of MBA students.
有一天，我给满屋子的工商管理学的硕士生呈现我的研究成果。
John was part of the audience listening for the first time to the details of my study.
约翰是第一次聆听我的研究细节其中的一名听众。
As I proceeded with my presentation, I could see John in the corner of my eye.
当我在进行陈述时，我眼角可以看到约翰。
He had turned a dark shade of pink and had slid under his chair in apparent shame.
他的脸变成暗粉红色，因为明显的羞愧而滑下他的椅子。
I finished my presentation to an applauding audience
我在充满掌声的观众中完成了演讲，
and we rushed out and jumped into the car. There he exploded.
而我们快速离开并跳上车子。在那里他大发雷霆。
“What you did up there was unacceptable! You are a consultant, not an activist!”
“你做的事情是不可接受的！你是个顾问，不是个激进主义分子！”
I said, “John, I don’t understand.
我说“约翰，我不明白。
I presented a couple of gender parity indices, and some conclusions about the Arab world.
我展示了数个性别待遇平等指数，和一些关于阿拉伯世界的结论。
Yes, we do happen to be today at the bottom of the index,
是的，我们现在碰巧地是在这指数的底部，
but what is it that I said or presented that was not factual?”
但是有什么我说的是不符合事实的地方吗？”
To which he replied, “The whole premise of your study is wrong.
他回答，“你研究的所有前提都是错的。
What you are doing is dangerous and will break the social fabric of our society.”
你正在做的事情很危险而且将会破坏我们的社会结构。”
He paused, then added,”When women have children, their place is in the home.”
他停了下来，又补充道，“当女人有小孩，她们归属就是在家里面。”
在阿拉伯这个男权社会，女性往往被忽视甚至不平等对待。但即便在这种情况下，演讲者还是闯出了自己的一片天地，并和大家分享关于她的成功经验。