Ladys First

For a long period before the 1960s, women were considered to be the weaker sex,just as Shakespeare said inHamlet:“Frailty, thy name is women.”In contrast, men were regarded the stronger and the dominant sex.In this light man should undertake the duty to adopt a protective attitude toward the so-called weaker sex.This implied that men should help women on and off with their coats, light their cigarettes,open the doors for them to get on and off the wagon, train, bus, etc. Or to enter the houses.

Have you ever seen the movie “Titanic”? Well, when the ship was sinking,it was the women who had the right to get on the lifeboats first,just because men had the responsibility for taking care of and protectingwomen!This could lead to the conclusion that the custom “Lady First” was developed out of respect in appearance,but in fact it was kind of looking down upon women in nature.

In the 1960s, women began to challenge this tradition. Just as one lady put it,“Historically, men should walk on the outside of the pavement so as to prevent the lady’s dress from being spoilt by mud splashed by a carriage. Today a man is supposed to walk on the outside side.A man should walk where he wants to. So should a woman.If out of love and respect, he actually wants to take the blows,he should walk on the inside, because that’s where muggers are hiding these days.”This shows that to treat a woman as inferior justbecause she is a female is not only insulting but also out of step with contemporary American culture.Women may go to the restaurants Dutch treat.They may refuse such words as chairman, businessmen, policeman.Instead they prefer chairperson, businessperson, police or cop just to show that they are equal in every respect with males!

女士优先

20世纪60年代之前的很长时间里，人们把女性看成是弱者，就像莎士比亚在哈姆雷特中所说：“女性是弱者。”相反，人们把男性看成是强势的一方。从这一点看，男性应该肩负起保护弱者的责任。这就意味着男性应该帮助女性穿外套、脱外套、帮她们点烟、上下车时为她们开车门，或是进入房间时。

你看过泰坦尼克号这部电影吗？当船在下沉时，都是女性先登山的救生艇，就是因为男性有保护，照顾女性的责任。所以人们认为“女士优先”这一习俗是出自礼貌，但是事实上这是歧视女性的表现。

20世纪60年代，女性开始挑战这一传统。就像一位女性所说的，“从历史上来讲，男性应该走在人行道的外面，这样可以防止女性的裙子遭到汽车溅出的泥点。当今，男性也应该走在外侧。男性想在哪走就能够在哪里走。女性也一样。如果是出于爱和尊敬，那么他是想挨揍了，他应该走里面，因为抢劫犯最近几天正一直躲在里面。”人们总是看低女性，这不仅很侮辱人，还因为这与现代美国文化不一致。女性在餐馆就餐应该实行AA制。人们不会再说主席先生、商人、警察先生，人们会说主席、商人、警察，目的就是要做到平等。

译文属可可英语原创，未经允许，不得转载。