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美国历史上针对女性的9条奇葩禁令

2016-01-24来源:和谐英语

美国历史上针对女性的9条奇葩禁令

Although men and women now enjoy relatively good social, economic and political parity in this country, it wasn’t always the case. Believe it or not, these were all real things that women could not do.
虽然美国现在男人和女人的社会、经济、政治地位近乎平等,但历史上并不总是如此。信不信由你,下面这些就是历史上女性曾经被禁止做的事情。

1. Wear Revealing Swimsuits
不准穿过于暴露的泳装

During the 1920s, beachgoing women were expected to adhere to strict guidelines about how much skin they could reveal. There were actually law enforcement details whose sole responsibility was measuring women’s suits with measuring tapes. Infractions could be punished with arrest.
20世纪20年代,前往沙滩的女性被要求遵守严格规则,皮肤的裸露面积不得超过一定值。实际上,有些执法人员的唯一指责就是用卷尺测量女性的泳装,违法人员可能会被逮捕。

2. Run in the Boston Marathon
不准参加波士顿马拉松

Up until 1972, women were barred from running in the Boston Marathon. Roberta Gibb wasn’t about to wait, though. In 1966 she insisted on running uninvited and unregistered. The next year, a woman named Katherine Switzer signed up as “K.V. Switzer” and was issued a number. She was greeted by a number of angry men, including Jock Semple, a race official who chased her, tried to rip off her number and (unsuccessfully) attempted to bully her off the track.
1972年以前,女性被禁止参加波士顿马拉松。1966年,Roberta Gibb坚持在未获邀约、未登记的情况下参加了长跑。第二年,一位名为Katherine Switzer的女性用“K.V.Switzer”之名进行登记,并获得了一个号码。许多男人对她表示愤怒,其中包括比赛的官方人员Jock Semple——他诅咒她,试图扯掉她的号码,企图恐吓她离开跑道。

3. Have Credit Cards
不准拥有信用卡

Not until the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974 were women allowed to have credit cards without male supervision. Before then, single women were often (completely legally) refused credit cards, which were reserved for married women who had their husbands as cosigners on their accounts.
直到1974年美国通过了《平等信用机会法》,女性才被允许在没有男性监护人的情况下获得信用卡。在此之前,单身女性通常被(合法地)拒绝发放信用卡,只有已婚女性才能在丈夫作为账户连署人的情况下拥有信用卡。

4. Work While Pregnant
不准怀孕期间工作

It used to be legal for employers to fire female workers after they became pregnant. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act put an end to this practice in 1978. Before then, it was extremely common for companies to fire the pregnant. It is estimated that up to forty percent of employers adhered to the practice.
曾经,雇佣怀孕女性是违法的。知道1978年,《怀孕歧视法案》才终止了这一行为。此前,企业开除怀孕员工再正常不过了——据估计,大约有40%的雇主坚持如此。

5. Become Astronauts
不准成为宇航员

NASA did not hire female applicants to train as astronauts until 1979. It wasn’t until the 1983 Challenger mission that Sally Ride became the first female astronaut to enter space.
直到1979年,NASA才开始接受女性进行宇航员训练。1983年,Sally Ride成为第一个进入太空的女性宇航员。

6. Serve On Juries
不准担任陪审团成员

Until a 1975 Supreme Court ruling, women were legally excluded from being members of a jury. It was believed that they wouldn’t be able to handle the violent details of some crimes and were also too prone to emotion to make rational judgments. It was also believed that jury duty would distract from their homemaking responsibilities.
1975年,最高法院裁决女性可以成为陪审团成员。在那之前,人们认为女性无法承受某些犯罪行为的暴力细节,并且会因为过于情绪化而无法做出理性判断。此外,人们还相信她们的持家指责会被此所干扰。

7. Smoke In Public
不准在公众场合吸烟

Between 1908 and 1927, women in New York were barred from smoking in public businesses. Smoking was actually very rare for women until Edward Bernays launched a marketing campaign that redubbed them “liberty torches” and framed them as a symbol of gender equality.
1908-1927年期间,纽约禁止女性在公共场合吸烟。其实,吸烟在女性中很少见,知道Edward Bernays推行了一项市场运动,授予香烟“自由火炬”的称呼,将其塑造成性别平等的象征。

8. Watch the Olympics
不准观看奥运会

In the original Olympics, held in ancient Greece, it was forbidden for married women to observe the games, under punishment of death. In 1930, British women were similarly banned from watching Olympic boxing matches by the army, including the wives of the fighters themselves.
最初的古希腊奥运会禁止已婚女性观看比赛,违者处以死刑。1930年,军队禁止英国女性观看奥运会的拳击比赛,包括选手自己的妻子。

9. Take Birth Control Pills
不准服用避孕药

The birth control pill made it through the FDA approval process in 1957, but was reserved as a treatment exclusively for menstrual issues. The pill was greenlit as a contraceptive in 1960, but even then was only prescribed to married women. General consensus at the time was that it was immoral and encouraged prostitution.
1957年,避孕药通过了FDA的审批,但仅可用户治疗月经不调。1960年,它被许可用于避孕,但只以处方形式开具给已婚女性。当时,人们普遍认为避孕药是不道德的,会鼓励卖淫。