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KhadijaGbla_2014X-_我母亲对女性自主的奇怪理解_
Today I'm going to share my personal journey with female genital mutilation , FGM. 今天我想通过自己的亲身经历, 分享一下我对女性割礼（FGM）的看法。
personal:adj.个人的;身体的;亲自的;n.人事消息栏;人称代名词; journey:n.旅行;行程;vi.旅行; female:adj.女性的;雌性的;柔弱的,柔和的;n.女人;[动]雌性动物; genital:adj.生殖的;生殖器的;n.生殖器;外阴部; mutilation:n.毁损;残缺;切断;
Feel free to cry, laugh, cross your legs, or do anything your body feels like doing. 请放心大胆地大哭,大笑不要拘束,想盘腿就盘腿, 舒服就好,
I'm not going to name the things your body does. 你们做什么我都不会有意见。
I was born in Sierra Leone . 我生于塞拉利昂。
Sierra:n.(尤指西班牙和美洲的)锯齿状山脉; Leone:n.利昂(塞拉利昂货币单位);
Did anybody watch "Blood Diamond"? 有人看过《血腥钻石》这部电影吗？
If you have any thoughts -- 如果你有什么打算的话——
I don't have any diamonds on me, by the way . 我身上一颗钻石都没有,顺便说一下。
by the way:顺便说一下;
If you have heard of Ebola , well, that's in Sierra Leone as well. 如果你听说过埃博拉病毒,塞拉利昂境内也有埃博拉感染案例。
Ebola:n.埃博拉病毒;
I don't have Ebola. You're all safe. 我不是埃博拉病毒携带者。你们都很安全。
Don't rush to the door. 不要冲向那扇门。
Be seated. You're fine. I was checked before I got here. 坐着就好。我来这演讲前体检过了。
My grandfather had three wives. 我的祖父有三个妻子。
Don't ask me why a man needs more than one wife. 不要问我为什么一个男人需要很多妻子。
Men, do you need more than one wife? 男人啊,一个妻子真的不够吗？
I don't think so. There you go. 我不这么认为。随他去吧,
He was looking for a heart attack , that's what I say. 他自找心脏病,我就是这么觉得的。
heart attack:n.[医]心肌梗塞
Oh yeah, he was. 哦,好吧,他真的得心脏病了。
When I was three, war broke out in Sierra Leone in 1991. 1991年我三岁时,塞拉利昂爆发了一场战争。
I remember literally going to bed one night, everything was good. 我清晰地记得,某天晚上当我躺下入睡时,什么都还没发生。
literally:adv.按字面:字面上:确实地:
The next day, I woke up, bombs were dropping everywhere, and people were trying to kill me and my family. 第二天,当我醒来时, 已是硝烟四起, 我和我的家人都受到了生命威胁。
We escaped the war and ended up in Gambia, in West Africa.
Ebola is there as well. Stay away from it. 那儿也有埃博拉病毒,不要去那。
While we were there as refugees , we didn't know what was going to become of us. 身为难民, 我们不知道前方等待我们的是什么。
refugees:n.避难者;逃亡者;难民;(refugee的复数)
My mom applied for refugee status . 我妈妈申请了我们的难民身份。
applied:adj.应用的;实用的;v.应用;使用;申请,请求;(apply的过去分词和过去式) status:n.地位;状态;情形;重要身份;
She's a wonderful, smart woman, that one, and we were lucky. 她是一个不可思议母亲,也很聪明。 我们很幸运,
Australia said, we will take you in. 澳大利亚接纳了我们。
Good job, Aussies . 多亏你们了,澳大利亚人。
Aussies:n.澳洲人;澳大利亚人;adj.澳洲的;
Before we were meant to travel, my mom came home one day, and said, "We're going on a little holiday, a little trip." 在我们远走他乡之前, 有一天我妈回家后跟我说, 「我带你去旅游一下,很近的。」
She put us in a car, and we drove for hours and ended up in a bush in a remote area in Gambia. 她带我上车, 几个小时之后,我们到达冈比亚境内 一个偏远的灌木林地带。
bush:n.灌木; v.以灌木装饰; adj.如灌木般长得低矮的; remote:adj.偏远的;偏僻的;遥远的;久远的;
In this bush, we found two huts . 丛林中有两个小棚屋。
huts:n.小屋;临时营房;vt.使住在小屋中;驻扎;vi.住在小屋中;驻扎;
An old lady came towards us. 一个老女人向我们走来,
She was ethnic-looking, very old. 她像一个原始部落人,非常老。
She had a chat with my mom, and went back. 她跟我妈谈了一会就回来了,
Then she came back and walked away from us into a second hut. 后来不久又离开我们到另一个棚屋里。
I'm standing there thinking, "This is very confusing . I don't know what's going on." 我站在那儿,不禁想, 「真奇怪,到底要做什么。」
confusing:adj.令人困惑; v.使糊涂; (confuse的现在分词)
The next thing I knew, my mom took me into this hut. 然后, 我妈带我走进了那个棚屋。
She took my clothes off, and then she pinned me down on the floor. 她脱下我的衣服, 然后把我放倒在地上。
pinned:v.固定;使不能动弹;按住;钳住;(pin的过去分词和过去式)
I struggled and tried to get her off me, but I couldn't. 我拼命挣扎,想要把她推开,但无济于事。
struggled:v.奋斗;努力;争取;艰难地行进;抗争;(struggle的过去式和过去分词)
Then the old lady came towards me with a rusty-looking knife, one of the sharp knives, orange-looking, has never seen water or sunlight before. 然后那个老女人走上前来,手拿一把生了锈的刀子, 那种锋利的, 锈成褐色却依旧锋利的刀子。
sharp:锋利的,尖的 sunlight:n.日光;
I thought she was going to slaughter me, but she didn't. 我以为她要杀了我, 但她没有。
slaughter:vt.屠宰,屠杀;杀戮;使惨败;n.屠宰,屠杀;杀戮;消灭;
She slowly slid down my body and ended up where my vagina is. 她的手缓慢地滑过我的身子, 停在了阴道处。
vagina:n.[解剖]阴道;叶鞘;鞘;
She took hold of what I now know to be my clitoris , she took that rusty knife, and started cutting away, inch by inch. 她捏住我的下体,后来我才知道那是阴蒂, 然后用生锈的刀子一点一点地割下它。
clitoris:n.[解剖]阴蒂;阴核;
I screamed, I cried, and asked my mom to get off me so this pain will stop, but all she did was say, "Be quiet." 我歇斯底里地哭叫, 让我妈杀了我以了却这番痛苦, 但她只是在那说,「不要出声。」
This old lady sawed away at my flesh for what felt like forever, and then when she was done, she threw that piece of flesh across the floor as if it was the most disgusting thing she's ever touched. 这个老女人割下来我的肉,好似永生难忘的痛, 完事后, 她把我的那块肉丢在了房间另一侧, 好像那是她碰过的最恶心的东西一般。
flesh:n.肉;肉体;v.喂肉给…;发胖; disgusting:adj.令人不快的;令人厌恶的;v.使作呕;使厌恶;使反感;(disgust的现在分词)
They both got off me, and left me there bleeding , crying, and confused as to what just happened. 她俩从我身上下来,留我一个人在那流血, 哭泣,却茫然不知所措。
bleeding:n.出血;渗色;adj.流血的;同情的;v.出血;渗出;(bleed的现在分词) confused:adj.困惑的; v.使糊涂; (confuse的过去分词和过去式)
We never talked about this again. 后来我跟我妈没谈起过这件事。
Very soon, we found that we were coming to Australia, and this is when you had the Sydney Olympics at the time, and people said we were going to the end of the world, there was nowhere else to go after Australia. 不久,我们就要动身前往澳大利亚了, 那时正举行悉尼奥运会, 有人说现在去对我们而言是世界末日, 除了澳大利亚,我们别无选择。
nowhere:v.无处; n.无处; adj.不存在的;
Yeah, that comforted us a bit. 好吧,这的确让我们感到些许宽慰。
It took us three days to get here. 我们花了三天才来到这。
We went to Senegal, then France, and then Singapore. 我们途经塞内加尔,法国,然后到新加坡。
We went to the bathroom to wash our hands. 我们去洗手间洗手,
We spent 15 minutes opening the tap like this. 花了十五分钟也没让这个水龙头流出水来。
Then somebody came in, slid their hand under and water came out, and we thought, is this what we're in for? 一个人走了进来, 把手放到了下面,水就出来了, 我们当时想,这真的我们即将生活的地方吗？
Like, seriously. 真的,不可思议。
We got to Adelaide, small place, where literally they dumped us in Adelaide, that's what I would say. 我们到达了阿德莱德,一个小地方, 事实上是他们把我们丢在了阿德莱德,我不得不这么说。
dumped:v.丢弃,扔掉;丢下;抛弃;倾销,抛售;(dump的过去分词和过去式)
They dumped us there. 他们把我们丢在了那儿。
We were very grateful. 我们心中感激万分,
We settled and we liked it. 在那儿安定下来,喜欢上新的家园。
settled:adj.稳定的; v.结束; (settle的过去分词和过去式)
We were like, "We're home, we're here." 我们心里所想的是,「我们到家了,这就是家。」
Then somebody took us to Rundle Mall. 某一天有人带我们去Rundle购物中心。
Rundle:n.梯级;灯笼齿轮的齿;绞盘头;
Adelaide has only one mall. 阿德莱德只有一个购物中心,
It's this small place. 毕竟这是个小地方。
And we saw a lot of Asian people. 我们在那儿看到了许多亚洲人。
My mom said all of a sudden , panicking , "You brought us to the wrong place. You must take us back to Australia." 突然我妈妈惊慌了,说, 「你带错路了,必须带我们回澳大利亚。」
all of a sudden:突然地,出乎意料地; panicking:v.(使)惊慌,惊慌失措;(panic的现在分词)
Yeah. It had to be explained to her that there were a lot of Asians in Australia and we were in the right place. 好吧,我们好不容易说服她有很多亚洲人住在澳大利亚, 我们没离开澳大利亚,
Asians:adj.亚洲的;亚洲人的;n.亚洲人;
So fine, it's all good. 我们很安全。
My mom then had this brilliant idea that I should go to a girls school because they were less racist . 后来我妈想出了一个「绝妙」的点子, 说我应该去女子学校,那儿的歧视会相对弱一些。
racist:n.种族主义者;种族主义的;
I don't know where she read that publication . (Laughter) 我不知道她哪来的消息。（笑声）
publication:n.出版物;发表;公布;发行;
Never found evidence of it to this day . 到今天也没有证据来证实她这句话。
evidence:n.证据,证明;迹象;明显;v.证明; to this day:至今;
Six hundred white kids, and I was the only black child there. 六百个白人孩子,我是唯一的黑人孩子。
No, I was the only person with a bit of a color on me. 不,我是唯一的一个有一丁点白色以外皮肤的孩子。
Let me say that. Chocolate color. 或者说,是巧克力色。
There were no Asians, no indigenous . 学校里没有亚洲人,没有土着人。
indigenous:adj.本土的;土著的;国产的;固有的;
All we had was some tan girls, girls who felt the need to be under the sun . 唯一的白色以外的颜色就是晒黑的, 那些喜欢晒太阳的女孩子。
tan:n.(日晒后皮肤的)黝黑色; vt.鞣(革); vi.晒成棕褐色; adj.黄褐色的; under the sun:天下;究竟;
It wasn't the same as my chocolate, though. Not the same. 但这跟我的巧克力色不同。不一样的。
Settling in Australia was quite hard, but it became harder when I started volunteering for an organization called Women's Health Statewide , and I joined their female genital mutilation program 在澳大利亚生活真的不容易, 但自从我为一个名为全国女性健康的组织做志愿者开始, 生活就更不容易了, 我加入了这个组织的女性割礼项目,
Settling:n.安置;固定;沉淀物;移居;v.解决;安居;(settle的现在分词) volunteering:v.自愿做;义务做;无偿做;当志愿兵(volunteer的现在分词) organization:n.组织;机构;体制;团体; Statewide:adj.遍及全州的;遍及全州地;
without any awareness of what this program was actually about, or that it related to me in any way. 当时我对这个项目的内容一无所知, 也不知道它跟我有什么关系。
awareness:n.意识,认识;明白,知道;
I spent months educating nurses and doctors about what female genital mutilation was and where it was practiced: 后面的几个月时间里,我为护士和医生们讲述 女性割礼的概念, 以及割礼盛行的区域:
Africa, the Middle East , Asia, and now, Australia and London and America, because, as we all know, we live in a multicultural society, and people who come from those backgrounds come with their culture, 非洲,中东,亚洲,如今,还有澳大利亚,伦敦和美国, 因为,我们都知道,我们住在一个多元化的社会, 世界各地的人将其自身文化带到新的地方,
Middle East:n.中东(包括亚洲西南部和非洲东北部); multicultural:adj.多种文化的;融合或具有多种文化的;
and sometimes they have cultural practices that we may not agree with, but they continue to practice them. 他们的文化或许不被我们认同, 但他们一直秉持着原有文化习俗。
One day, I was looking at the chart of the different types of female genital mutilation, 有一天,我在看不同类型 女性割礼的图解说明,
FGM, I will just say FGM for short. 后面我就将女性割礼简称为FGM吧。
Type I is when they cut off the hood. 类型一是切除阴蒂;
Type II is when they cut off the whole clitoris and some of your labia majora, or your outer lips, and Type III is when they cut off the whole clitoris and then they sew you up so you only have a little hole to pee and have your period. 类型二是切除整个阴蒂 和一部分大阴唇,或外阴唇; 类型三是切除整个阴蒂后 将下体缝合, 只留一个小洞作为排尿和经血之用。
labia:n.阴唇;唇; outer:adj.外面的,外部的;远离中心的;n.环外命中; sew:v.缝;缝制;缝补;做针线活; pee:n.小便;撒尿;v.撒尿;
My eyes went onto Type II. 我的目光盯在了第二类上。
Before all of this, I pretty much had amnesia . 在那一天前,我确信我有一段缺失的记忆,
amnesia:n.健忘症,[内科]记忆缺失;
I was in so much shock and traumatized by what had happened, 那件事给我带来撕心裂肺的苦楚和难以名状的震惊,
traumatized:adj.心理受到创伤的;v.使受创伤(traumatize的过去式和过去分词);
I didn't remember any of it. 我却忘得一干二净。
Yes, I was aware something bad happened to me, but I had no recollection of what had happened. 没错,我知道痛苦曾降临到我身上, 但具体是什么我却想不起来。
recollection:n.回忆;回忆起的事物;
I knew I had a scar down there, but I thought everybody had a scar down there. 我知道我身上有一道伤疤, 但我一直以为人人都如此,
This had happened to everybody else. 这应该是人人都要经历的。
But when I looked at Type II, it all came back to me. 但那天当我看到类型二时,所有的记忆都回来了。
I remembered what was done to me. 我想起来了我遭受的一切,
I remembered being in that hut with that old lady and my mom holding me down. 我想起了在小棚屋里 我被我妈和那个老女人压在地上。
Words cannot express the pain I felt, the confusion that I felt, because now I realized that what was done to me was a terrible thing that in this society was called barbaric , it was called mutilation. 我的伤痛和疑惑 无法用言语表达, 因为那时我终于意识到发生在我身上的是 一件被这里的人认为是可怕的、野蛮的事情, 它被称作残害。
express:v.表达; adj.特快的; n.特快列车; v.使用快速服务; confusion:n.困惑;混淆;混同;困窘; barbaric:adj.野蛮的,粗野的;原始的;
My mother had said it was called circumcision , but here it was mutilation. 我妈说这叫割礼, 但这里的人们称之为残害。
circumcision:n.割礼;净心;[外科]包皮环割术;
I was thinking, I'm mutilated ? I'm a mutilated person. 我当时就想,我是残缺的吗？我是一个残缺的人,
mutilated:adj.残缺的;破坏的;v.切断;使残废(mutilate的过去分词);
Oh my God. 天啊。
And then the anger came. 我心中的怒火无法抑制。
I was a black angry woman. (Laughter) 我是一个愤怒的黑人女子。（笑声）
Oh yeah. 没错,
A little one, but angry nevertheless . 我虽然年纪尚轻,但确实很愤怒。
nevertheless:adv.然而,不过;虽然如此;conj.然而,不过;
I went home and said to my mom, "You did something." 我回到家中,对我妈说, 「你做了什么！」
This is not the African thing to do, pointing at your mother, but hey, I was ready for any consequences . 非洲国家的人很少会这样对着母亲说话, 但是,我已经顾不得了。
consequences:n.后果,结果;影响(consequence的复数);
'"You did something to me." 「你对我做了什么！」
She's like, "What are you talking about, Khadija?" 她说,「你在说什么呢,Khadija？」
She's used to me mouthing off. 她已经习惯我顶嘴了。
I'm like, "Those years ago, You circumcised me. 我说,「许多年前,你对我实施了割礼,
circumcised:v.对(男子)行割礼;割除(女子的)阴蒂;(circumcise的过去分词和过去式)
You cut away something that belonged to me." 你割掉了我身体的一部分。」
She said, "Yes, I did. 她说,「没错,
I did it for your own good. 我是为你好,
It was in your best interest. 都是为你着想。
Your grandmother did it to me, and I did it to you. 你的祖母对我这样做,我也对你做啊。
It's made you a woman." 这样才能让你成为女人。」
I'm like, "How?" 我说,「怎么就成女人了？」
She said, "You're empowered , Khadija. 她说,「这样你才会变强,Khadija,
empowered:v.授权;给(某人)…的权力;(empower的过去分词和过去式)
Do you get itchy down there?" 下面有没有痒过？」
itchy:adj.发痒的;渴望的;
I'm like, "No, why would I get itchy down there?" 我说,「没有,为什么下面会痒？」
She said, "Well, if you were not circumcised, you would get itchy down there. 她说,「如果没把你下体割去, 你那里就会觉得痒,
Women who are not circumcised get itchy all the time. 那些没受过割礼的女人会一直觉得痒,
Then they sleep around with everybody. 她们就会四处鬼混,随便跟人睡觉,
You are not going to sleep around with anybody." 你不会随便跟人上床的。」
And I thought, her definition of empowerment was very strange. (Laughter) 我当时就想, 她对「变强」的理解真的好奇怪。（笑声）
definition:n.定义;清晰度;(尤指词典里的词或短语的)释义;解释; empowerment:n.许可,授权;
That was the end of our first conversation. 那次谈话就这么结束了。
I went back to school. 我后来回到了学校。
These were the days when we had Dolly and Girlfriend magazines. 那个年代《Dolly and Girlfriend》杂志正红,
Dolly:n.洋娃娃;手推车;移动式摄影车;洗衣搅棒;v.用移动车移动;移动摄影车;
There was always the sealed section. Anybody remember those sealed sections? 每期都有「少儿不宜」的部分,还有人记得吗？
The naughty bits, you know? 蠢蠢欲动的孩子,
naughty:adj.顽皮的;淘气的;不听话的;
Oh yeah, I love those. (Laughter) 哦耶,我爱不释手。（笑声）
Anyway, there was always an article about pleasure and relationships and, of course, sex. 总之,这本杂志每一期都会刊登男女关系的文章, 当然,性话题免不了。
But it always assumed that you had a clitoris, though, and I thought, this doesn't fit me. 只有有阴蒂的女性才会有文章中描绘的那些感受, 我想,这都跟我无关。
assumed:adj.假定的;假设的;v.假定;假设;认为;承担;(assume的过去分词和过去式)
This doesn't talk about people like me. 文章中写到的那些女性肯定不是我这样的。
I don't have a clitoris. 我没有阴蒂。
I watched TV and those women would moan like, "Oh! Oh!" 我看到过电视里有的女人总会低吟,「哦！哦！」
moan:v.呻吟;抱怨;呼啸;n.呻吟声;抱怨;呼啸声;
I was like, these people and their damned clitoris. 我想,靠,这些女人也有阴蒂。
damned:adj.该死的; v.该死,混账; (damn的过去分词和过去式)
(Laughter) （笑声）
What is a woman without a clitoris supposed to do with her life? 没有阴蒂的女人这一辈子要怎么过？
supposed:adj.误信的;所谓的;v.认为;假设;设想;(suppose的过去分词和过去式)
That's what I want to know. 我很想知道,
I want to do that too -- "Oh! Oh!" and all of that. 我也很想像那些女人一样低吟「哦！哦！」
Didn't happen. 这注定不会发生了。
So I came home once again and said to my mom, "Dolly and Girlfriend said I deserve pleasure, that I should be having orgasms , and that white men should figure out how to find the clitoris." 又一天回到家后,我对我妈说, 「《Dolly and Girlfriend》说我理应享有快感, 我也应该有高潮, 白人男人应该研究如何找到女人的阴蒂。」
deserve:vi.应受,应得; orgasms:n.[生理]性高潮;极度兴奋;v.达到性高潮;(orgasm的第三人称单数和复数)
Apparently , white men have a problem finding the clitoris. 很明显,白人男人找阴蒂总是很困难。
Apparently:adv.显然地;似乎,表面上;
(Laughter) （笑声）
Just saying, it wasn't me. It was Dolly that said that. 我只是告诉我妈,这不是我说的,是Dolly说的。
And I thought to myself, I had an inner joke in my head that said, "I will marry a white man. 当时我脑子里想,我脑子里蹦出一个笑话, 「我要嫁给一个白人,
inner:n.内部;射中接近靶心部分的一发;adj.里面的;向内的;内部的;接近中心的;
He won't have that problem with me." (Laughter) 他就不会有困难了。」（笑声）
So I said to my mom, "Dolly and Girlfriend said I deserve pleasure, and do you know what you have taken away from me, what you have denied me? 我对我妈说, 「《Dolly and Girlfriend》说我应有快感,你知道吗, 你剥夺了它,你让我体验不到！
denied:v.否认;拒绝;否定;不承认;(deny的过去分词和过去式)
You have invaded me in the most sacred way. 你用最残酷的方式糟蹋了我。
invaded:v.入侵;拥入;遍布(invade的过去分词);adj.被侵入的;
I want pleasure. 我要快感,
I want to get horny , dammit , as well." 我也要淫荡,靠！」
horny:adj.角的;角状的;淫荡的; dammit:int.该死,真他妈的;
And she said to me, "Who is Dolly and Girlfriend?
Are they your new friends, Khadija?" 是你新结交的朋友吗,Khadija？」
I was like, "No, they're not. That's a magazine, mom, a magazine." 我说,「不,不是的,这是一本杂志,妈,是杂志。」
She didn't get it. 她明白不了我的呐喊。
We came from two different worlds. 我们来自两个不同的世界。
When she was growing up, not having a clitoris was the norm . 在她成长的那个年代,切除阴蒂的习俗是社会默许的文化,
norm:n.规范;标准;定额;常态;v.规范;规定;
It was celebrated. 是被称许鼓励的。
I was an African Australian girl. 我是一个非洲裔澳大利亚女孩,
I lived in a society that was very clitoris-centric. 我成长的社会却是「阴蒂中心」的。
It was all about the damn clitoris! 一切都围着阴蒂转！
And I didn't have one! 我却没有！
That pissed me off. 这惹毛了我。
pissed:adj.烂醉的;怒冲冲的;v.撒尿;(piss的过去分词和过去式)
So once I went through this strange phase of anger and pain and confusion, 自这引发了我莫名的气愤、痛楚 和疑惑的事件之后,
phase:n.阶段;时期;月相;(月亮的)盈亏;v.分阶段进行;逐步做;
I remember booking an appointment with my therapist . 我跟我的心理医生预约了一次诊疗。
appointment:n.任命;约定;任命的职位; therapist:n.临床医学家;治疗学家;
Yes, I'm an African who has a therapist. There you go. 没错,我是个有心理医生的非洲女孩。随你们想吧。
And I said to her, "I was 13. I was a child. 我对她说, 「我十三岁了,还是个孩子,
I was settling in a new country, 在新的国度安了家,
I was dealing with racism and discrimination , 面对种族主义和歧视,
racism:n.种族主义,种族歧视;人种偏见; discrimination:n.歧视;区别,辨别;识别力;
English is my third language, and then there it was." 英语是我的第三语言,基本上这样。」
I said to her, "I feel like I'm not a woman because of what was done to me. 我对她说,「因为发生过不幸的事情, 我感觉我不是一个女人。
I feel incomplete . 我感觉我不完整,
incomplete:n.未完成;adj.不完整的;不完全的;不完善的;
Am I going to be asexual ?" 我此生都不会有性生活吗？」
asexual:adj.[生物]无性的;无性生殖的;
Because from what I knew about FGM, the whole aim of it was to control the sexuality of women. 我这么问是因为就我所知, FGM的目的就是控制女性的性欲,
sexuality:n.[胚]性别;性欲;性征;性方面的事情(比如性行为或性能力);
It's so that we don't have any sexual desire. 扼杀女性的性欲。
And I said, "Am I asexual now? 我说,「我是无性人吗？
Will I just live the rest of my life not feeling like having sex, not enjoying sex?" 从今往后做爱时我都感觉不到什么吗？ 不会有所享受是吗？」
She couldn't answer my questions, so they went unanswered . 她回答不了我的问题, 这些疑问就留在了我的心中。
unanswered:adj.未答复的;无反应的;
When I started having my period around the age of 14, 在14岁迎来了初潮后,
I realized I didn't have normal periods because of FGM. 我意识到因为FGM,
My periods were heavy, they were long, and they were very painful . 我的生理周期不正常,流量大,持续时间长,疼痛难当。
painful:adj.痛苦的;疼痛的;令人不快的;
Then they told me I had fibroids . 有人告诉我我患有子宫肌瘤,
fibroids:adj.纤维性的;纤维状的;n.子宫肌瘤;[肿瘤]纤维瘤;
They're like these little balls sitting there. 肿瘤就像球状物附着在那儿,
One was covering one of my ovaries . 其中一个裹住了我的卵巢。
ovaries:n.[解剖]卵巢,[植]子房(ovary复数形式);
And there came then the big news. 随后是一个晴天霹雳,
'"We don't think you can have children, Khadija." 「你可能不能有孩子,Khadija。」
And once again, I was an angry black woman. 又一次,我成了愤怒的黑人女子。
I went home and I said to my mom, "Your act, your action, no matter what your may defense may be" -- because she thought she did it out love -- "what you did out of love is harming me, and it's hurting me. 回到家后,对我妈说, 「你的所作所为,无论是出于怎样的目的」 因为她是出于对我的爱才这么做—— 「你的爱对我而言却是伤害,带给我伤痛。
no matter what:不管什么…;
What do you have to say for that?" 你不应该为此说什么吗？」
She said, "I did what I had to do as a mother." 她说,「作为一个母亲,我不得不做。」
I'm still waiting for an apology, by the way. 至今我依旧在等她的道歉,顺便说一下。
Then I got married. 后来我结婚了。
And once again -- FGM依然是
FGM is like the gift that keeps giving. 挥之不去的阴影。
You figure that out very soon. 结婚后不久我就知道了。
Sex was very painful. 性爱总是很痛苦,
It hurt all the time. 始终在折磨我。
And of course I realized, they said, "You can't have kids." 当然,那个声音一直在心里回荡,「你生不了孩子的。」
I thought, "Wow, is this my existence? Is this what life is all about?" 我想,「天啊,我就这样了吗？这就是我的一生吗？」
I'm proud to tell you, five months ago, 我很自豪地告诉你们, 五个月前,
I was told I was pregnant . 我得知我怀孕了。
pregnant:adj.怀孕的;富有意义的;
(Applause) （掌声）
I am the lucky girl. 我是个幸运的女孩。
There are so many women out there who have gone through FGM who have infertility . 有那么多经历了FGM的女孩 怀不了孩子。
infertility:n.不毛;不肥沃;贫瘠;
I know a nine-year-old girl who has incontinence , constant infections , pain. 我认识一个9岁的女孩,不仅大小便失禁,还有无休止的感染和伤痛。
incontinence:n.[医]失禁;无节制;不能自制; infections:n.传染病;口腔病害(infection复数形式);
It's that gift. It doesn't stop giving. 这就是FGM带来的,给数不胜数的女孩
It affects every area of your life, and this happened to me because I was born a girl in the wrong place . 生活的方方面面带来伤害。 我也经历了这一切,只是因为我生在了一个 错误的地方,
in the wrong place:不合适的地方;
That's why it happened to me. 一切都源于此。
I channel all that anger, all that pain, into advocacy because I needed my pain to be worth something. 我把心中的愤懑和伤痛都倾吐了出来, 因为我不想让我的经历变成毫无意义的伤痛。
advocacy:n.主张;拥护;辩护;
So I'm the director of an organization called No FGM Australia. 为此,我成为了一个名为「澳大利亚无FGM」的组织的领头人。
You heard me right. 你没有听错,
Why No FGM Australia? 为什么叫「澳大利亚无FGM」？
FGM is in Australia. 因为澳大利亚存在FGM。
Two days ago, I had to call Child Protective Services, because somewhere in Australia, there's a four-year old there's a four-year-old whose mom is planning on performing FGM on her. 两天前,我不得不给儿童保障局打电话, 因为在澳大利亚某个地方, 一个母亲正 打算给她四岁的女儿实施割礼,四岁。
Protective:adj.防护的;关切保护的;保护贸易的; performing:adj.表演的;演奏的;v.做;执行;演出;运转(perform的现在分词)
That child is in kindy. I'll let that sink in: four years old. 小孩是无辜的。你们想想,四岁啊。
A couple of months ago, I met a lady who is married to a Malaysian man. 几个月前,我遇到一个嫁给马来西亚男人的妇女,
Her husband came home one day and said he was going to take their daughters back to Malaysia to cut off their clitoris. 某一天她丈夫回到家后跟她说,他要带女儿们回到 马拉西亚割掉她们的阴蒂。
And she said, "Why?" He said they were dirty. 她说,「为什么？」他说不割阴蒂的女人是肮脏的。
And she said, "Well, you married me." 她说,「但你还是娶了我。」
He said, "Oh, this is my cultural belief." 他说,「好吧,但这是我的文化信仰。」
They then went into a whole discussion where she said to him, " Over my dead body will you do that to my daughters." 然后他俩彻夜长谈,她说, 「我死也不会让你带我女儿去那儿。」
Over my dead body:除非我死了(表示强烈反对);
But imagine if this woman wasn't aware of what FGM was, if they never had that conversation? 想象一下,如果这个母亲不知道FGM是什么, 如果他俩没进行过谈话,
Her children would have been flown over to Malaysia and they would have come back changed for the rest of their lives. 他们的孩子就要被带去马来西亚, 再回来时一生的轨迹就已经变调了。
Do you know the millions of dollars it would take us to deal with an issue like that? 你们知道我们处理这些问题 要投入数百万美金吗？
issue:n.重要议题;争论的问题;v.宣布;公布;发出;发行;
[Three children per day] in Australia are at risk of having FGM performed on them. 每天平均有三个孩子 面临遭受割礼的危险。
performed:v.表演;执行;履行;演出;工作,运转(好/不好)(perform的过去分词和过去式)
This is an Australian problem, people. 这是澳大利亚的问题啊,
It's not an African problem. It's not a Middle Eastern problem. 这不只是非洲、中东的问题,
Eastern:adj.东方的;向东的;东部的;东方国家的;n.东方人;东正教信徒;
It's not white, it's not black, it has no color, it's everybody's problem. 不只是黑人或白人的问题,无关乎肤色,这是所有人面临的问题。
FGM is child abuse . FGM就是虐待儿童,
child abuse:n.摧残儿童;虐待儿童;
It's violence against women. 是对女性的暴行,
violence:n.暴力;侵犯;激烈;歪曲;
It's saying that women don't have a right to sexual pleasure. FGM的目的是女性没有享受性爱的权利,
It says we don't have a right to our bodies. 我们没有权利保护自己的身体。
Well, I say no to that, and you know what? Bullshit . 我对这种暴行说不,你知道吗？这个习俗真烂。
Bullshit:v.胡说,哄骗;n.胡说;
That's what I have to say to that. 这就是我要说的。
(Applause) （掌声）
I am proud to say that I'm doing my part in ending FGM. 我在为根除FGM贡献自己的力量,为此我很自豪。
What are you going to do? 你会不会也做些什么？
There may be a child in your classroom who is at risk of FGM. 也许在你的教室里某个孩子面临FGM的危险。
There may be a patient who comes to your hospital who is at risk of FGM. 也许你所在医院里的某个人 正面临FGM的危险。
patient:adj.有耐心的,能容忍的;n.病人;患者;
But this is the reality, that even in our beloved Australia, the most wonderful place in the world, children are being abused because of a culture. 这就是事实, 即便是我们挚爱的澳大利亚, 就在这个世界上最美好的地方, 孩子正因为某种陋俗而面临危险。
beloved:adj.心爱的;挚爱的;n.心爱的人;亲爱的教友; abused:v.滥用(以致危害健康); (abuse的过去分词和过去式)
Culture should not be a defense for child abuse. 习俗文化不应成为虐待儿童的借口。
I want ever single one of you to see FGM as an issue for you. 我希望你们每一个人都把FGM看成是切身相关的事情。
Make it personal. FGM就在你的身边,
It could be your daughter, your sister, your cousin. 或许是你的女儿,你的姐妹,你的表亲。
I can't fight FGM alone. 我不能孤单地挑战FGM,
I could try, but I can't. 我会努力,但一个人的力量不够。
So my appeal to you is, please join me. 我对你们的希望是,跟我站在一起。
appeal:n.上诉;吸引力;申诉;魅力;v.上诉;呼吁;申诉;恳求;
Sign my petition on Change.org and type in Khadija, my name, and it'll come up, and sign it. 在 Change.org 写下我的请愿,(译注:一个国际性的请愿网站,大陆无法访问) 并输入我的名字,Khadija,它会出现,然后签下。
petition:n.请愿;请愿书;祈求;[法]诉状;vi.请愿;请求;vt.请愿;请求;恳求;
The aim of that is to get support for FGM victims in Australia and to protect little girls growing up here to not have this evil done to them, because every child has a right to pleasure. 我们的目的是为澳大利亚受割礼之害的儿童提供帮助, 并保护在这里成长的女孩, 不让割礼发生在她们身上, 因为,每一个小孩都有权利享乐。
evil:adj.邪恶的;不幸的;有害的;讨厌的;n.罪恶,邪恶;不幸;
Every child has a right to their bodies being left intact , and dammit, ever child has a right to a clitoris. 每一个小孩都有权利保护身体不受伤害。 每个小孩都有权利拥有阴蒂。
intact:adj.完整的;原封不动的;未受损伤的;
So please join me in ending this act. 请跟我一起,让这个陋俗灭绝。
My favorite quote is, "All it takes for evil to prevail is for a few good men and women to do nothing." 我最喜欢的一句话是, 「善良的人不作为, 邪恶就会蔓延。」
quote:v.引用;报价;举例说明;开价;为(企业的股份)上市;n.引用; prevail:v.流行;盛行;战胜;压倒;
Are you going to let this evil of female genital mutilation to prevail in Australia? 你们希望让女性割礼 在澳大利亚盛行吗？
I don't think so, so please join me in ensuring that it ends in my generation. 我想不是的, 那么就请跟我一起,让割礼在我们这一代终结。
ensuring:v.保证;确保;担保(ensure的现在分词);
Thank you. 谢谢。
(Applause) （掌声）