脉络梳理
【Para. 1-2】 指出社会对于女性身材始终存在严苛标准，往往对女性身体和心理造成伤害
【Para. 3-6】 分析这些标准存在并被强加给女性的复杂原因
【Para. 7】 总结全文，引发读者思考
双语阅读
正文字数：427 Words
Para. 1
What is considered in vogue for women’s bodies has plagued us for generations. Last year, trend forecasters and celebrities seemed to proclaim again, “thin is in.” Most would argue thin never really went out of style — while body positivity and fat inclusion have made strides in recent years with a few plus models being sent down runways, we are still pummeled with the pressure to be thin, or at least have a flat tummy. Even “plus” contorts to a specific type of figure, an hourglass, with a perfect hip-to-waist ratio.
几代人以来，女性的流行身材一直让我们备受煎熬。去年，趋势预测者和名人似乎又一次宣称：“瘦才是潮流。”大多数人会认为，瘦从来没有真正过时——尽管近年来，随着一些大码模特走上T台，“身体自爱”和对脂肪的包容已经取得了长足的进步，但我们仍然迫于压力想要变瘦，或者至少有一个平坦的小腹。即使是“大码身材”也会扭曲成一种特定的身材——拥有完美腰臀比的沙漏形。
Para. 2
The shape of women’s bodies has always been subject to the ebbs and flows of cultural standards. And in nearly all cases, those trends become controls that have deleterious effects on women’s lives: eating disorders, fad diets, dangerous injections and surgeries. Not to mention the psychological effects that come with disliking the body you occupy, the social pressure to comply with rules your body may not be able to adhere to, and the anxiety, depression and self-hatred that come along with all of that.
女性身材总是受制于文化标准的变化。几乎在所有情况下，这些趋势都变成了对女性有害的控制：饮食失调、新潮节食计划、危险的注射和手术。更不用说厌恶自己的身体带来的心理影响，遵守不适用于自己身体的规则带来的社会压力，以及随之而来的焦虑、抑郁和自我仇恨。
Para. 3
But why do these unattainable standards exist, and why is it so easy to foist them upon women? Well, it’s complicated.
但为什么会存在这些无法达到的标准，为什么把它们强加于女性如此轻而易举？这背后的原因很复杂。
Para. 4
More than 30 years ago, Naomi Wolf wrote in “The Beauty Myth”: “A culture fixated on female thinness is not an obsession about female beauty, but an obsession about female obedience.”
30多年前，纳奥米·沃尔夫在《美貌的神话》中写道：“推崇女性苗条的文化，并非对女性美貌有执念，而是对女性顺从有执念。”
Para. 5
Through that lens, it’s not surprising that in a moment when women’s rights have been under attack — with the overturning of Roe vs. Wade in this country and in the fight for women’s autonomy in Iran — we are also seeing a reversion to a thin aesthetic, for women to minimize themselves, literally. In fact, a 2019 study found that the sexist push for women to reach beauty ideals intensifies as they become more successful, especially at work.
从这个角度来看，在女性权利受到冲击的时刻——美国罗伊诉韦德案被推翻（“堕胎权”不再受宪法保护），伊朗争取女性自主权——我们也看到了一种纤瘦审美的回归，促使女性将自己“最小化”（字面意义上的），这毫不奇怪。事实上，2019年的一项研究发现，随着女性变得更加成功，尤其是在工作领域，会出现更强的性别歧视压力促使女性追求美貌典范。
Para. 6
It’s hard to disentangle what is a trend, what is media saturation and what is our own desire. Influencers regularly flaunt their exercise regimen, makeup routine or fashion game, and we avidly follow and envy the results. And the reality is most women both capitulate to and embrace the culture’s body standards. It is impossible to separate what is imposed and what is our truest self-expression. And at some point, it doesn’t matter; the back and forth is the reality.
流行趋势、媒体浸透和我们自己的欲望混作一团，难以理清。有影响力的人经常炫耀他们的锻炼方案、化妆流程或时尚品味，我们热切地追随并羡慕他们的成果。现实情况是，大多数女性都屈服于并接受了文化中的身材标准。我们不可能将什么是强加给我们的，什么是我们最真实的自我表达区分开来。在某些时候，这并不重要；我们受到二者的共同作用就是事实。
Para. 7
The unforgiving standards that are pushed on women — through the media, our social networks, our families, the fashion industry — alienate us from our bodies. Something that should be controlled within oneself is instead controlled by outside forces. Sound familiar?
那些强加在女性身上的无情标准——通过媒体、我们的社交网络、我们的家人、时尚产业——使我们与自己的身体疏远。一些本应由自己控制的事情却被外部力量所控制。这听起来是不是很熟悉？
词汇积累
plague [pleɪɡ] v. 给……造成长时间的痛苦（或麻烦），困扰，折磨，使受煎熬 n. 瘟疫
stride [straɪd] n. 进展，进步，发展；大步 v. 大步走
pummel [ˈpʌml] v. 连续猛击，反复拳打
contort [kənˈtɔːrt] v. 扭曲，走样
deleterious [ˌdeləˈtɪriəs] adj. 有害的，损害的
unattainable [ˌʌnəˈteɪnəbl] adj. 无法得到的，难以达到的
obsession [əbˈseʃn] n. 痴迷，着迷
overturn [ˌoʊvərˈtɜːrn] v. 推翻，撤销（判决等）；倾倒，翻掉
disentangle [ˌdɪsɪnˈtæŋɡl] v. 理顺，分清；使解脱，使摆脱
regimen [ˈredʒɪmən] n. 生活规则，养生之道
avidly [ˈævɪdli] adv. 热切地，贪心地
capitulate [kəˈpɪtʃuleɪt] v. 屈服，屈从；投降
alienate [ˈeɪliəneɪt] v. 使疏远，离间
固定搭配
in vogue 流行
the ebbs and flows 涨落，起伏
adhere to 坚持，遵守，遵循（法律、规章、指示、信念等）
foist sb./sth. on/upon sb. 强迫接受，把……强加于
