59歲的芭比娃娃變了嗎？

Even though she hasn’t aged a day since she was “born”, one of the most famous figures in US culture recently turned 59. Barbie, the doll whose face is known all around the world, was created in 1959.

盡管自誕生之日起，她的容顏從未老去，但這位最著名的美國文化名人最近度過了59歲生日。芭比娃娃誕生于1959年，如今她的面孔無人不曉。

In the past half a century, a lot of toys have come and gone, but Barbie – short for Barbara – has always had a home on toy stores’ shelves. This is probably due to the fact that “she” is not just a toy, but a “barometer” of people’s changing attitudes toward women, as The New York Times put it.

在過去的半個(gè)世紀(jì)里，不少玩具都是曇花一現(xiàn)，但芭比娃娃 —— 全名是芭芭拉 —— 在玩具店的貨架上總有一席之地。這或許是因?yàn)?ldquo;她”并不僅僅是玩具，而是如《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》所言，是人們對(duì)于女性態(tài)度變化的“晴雨表”。

When Barbie was first introduced by Ruth Handler (1916 – 2002), co-founder of US toy company Mattel, she had good intentions. “Unlike playing with a baby doll – in which a little girl is pretty much limited to assuming the role of Mommy – Barbie has always represented the fact that a woman has choices,” she said, according to her autobiography, Dream Doll: The Ruth Handler Story.

當(dāng)美國美泰玩具公司共同創(chuàng)始人露絲·漢德勒首次推出芭比娃娃時(shí)，她賦予了芭比美好的意愿。“小女孩玩洋娃娃時(shí)，往往局限于扮演媽媽的角色，而芭比的不同之處就在于，她代表了女性能有所選擇，”她在其自傳《夢想中的娃娃：露絲·漢德勒的故事》中這樣寫道。

But these good intentions still didn’t prevent the earliest versions of Barbie being available only in a sexy swimsuit or a housewife’s outfit, neither of which gave the image of a girl with many “choices”.

但盡管存在這些美好的意愿，最早期的芭比娃娃卻依然只能穿著性感的泳裝或者家庭主婦的衣服，無法展現(xiàn)女孩的多種“選擇”。

During the following years, fortunately, the company made some positive progress, including introducing the first black and Hispanic Barbies and making Barbie separate from her long-time “boyfriend” Ken, as they needed to “spend some quality time – apart”, as Mattel noted.

幸運(yùn)的是，在接下來的幾年里，該公司做出了一些積極的改進(jìn)，如制作了首款非裔和西班牙裔芭比娃娃，以及將芭比與交往多年的“男友”肯分開，正如美泰公司所指出的那樣，因?yàn)閮扇诵枰?ldquo;分開獨(dú)自享受美好時(shí)光”。

And on March 8, this year’s Women’s Day, the company launched a new line of “Inspiring Women”, with dolls of famous female figures from throughout history, including legendary US pilot Amelia Earhart and UK boxer Nicola Adams.

而在今年3月8日婦女節(jié)期間，該公司推出了“勵(lì)志女性”新系列，娃娃們都是歷史上知名的女性人物，如美國傳奇飛行員阿梅莉亞·埃爾哈特和英國拳擊手尼古拉·亞當(dāng)斯。

But in spite of more “good intentions”, the line has its problems. The Nicola Adams doll, for example, unlike the athlete herself, has no muscle at all. Instead, it’s designed to have a slim body, just like other Barbies. And this, according to Independent reporter Biba Kang, exactly reflects the latest attitude that the world has toward women.

但盡管“美好的意愿”變得更多了，該系列娃娃也存在著問題。打個(gè)比方，該系列中的尼古拉·亞當(dāng)斯娃娃和運(yùn)動(dòng)員本人不同，看不出一點(diǎn)兒肌肉。這款娃娃被設(shè)計(jì)成和其他芭比娃娃一樣，身材苗條?！丢?dú)立報(bào)》記者碧瑪·康認(rèn)為，這一點(diǎn)正好反映了世界對(duì)于女性的最新態(tài)度。

“We’re allowed to be fit, but we’re not supposed to be too muscular (肌肉發(fā)達(dá)的). We’re allowed to be clever, but smart women are meant to look like models with glasses on. We’re allowed to be creative and artistic, but quickly become ‘crazy’ if we start to look too individualistic or unkempt,” she wrote.

“我們可以變得健美，但我們不可以肌肉發(fā)達(dá)。我們可以很聰明，但聰慧的女性得看起來像戴了眼鏡的模特。我們可以擁有創(chuàng)作和藝術(shù)的才華，但如果我們看起來太過自我或者邋遢，很快就變成了‘瘋狂’。”她寫道。

Yes, Barbie isn’t perfect. But the mere fact that she’s spent her life trying to break the norm one bit at a time is perhaps the one thing that most real females can relate to.

是的，芭比并不完美。但她一生都在試著一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)打破固有準(zhǔn)則，而這一點(diǎn)或許是現(xiàn)實(shí)生活中大多數(shù)女性能夠借鑒之處。