学术英语原文4单元

-.z.HisPolitenessIsHerPowerlessnessDeborahTannenTherearemanydifferentkindsofevidencethatwomenandmenarejudgeddifferentlyeveniftheytalkthesameway.Thistendencymakesmischiefindiscussionsofwomen,menandpower.Ifalinguisticstrategyisusedbyawoman,itisseenaspowerless;ifitisusedbyaman,itisseenaspowerful.Often,thelabelingof"women’slanguage〞as"powerlesslanguage〞reflectstheviewofwomen’sbehaviorthroughthelensofmen’s.Becausetheyarenotstrugglingtobeone-up,womenoftenfindthemselvesframedasone-down.Anysituationisripeformisinterpretation.Thisambiguityaccountsformuchmisinterpretationbye*pertsaswellasnone*perts,bywhichwomen’swaysofthinking,utteredinaspiritofrapport,arebrandedpowerless.Nowhereisthisinherentambiguityclearerthaninabriefmentinanewspaperarticleinwhichacouple,bothpsychologists,werejointlyinterviewed.Thejournalistaskedthemthemeaningof"beingverypolite.〞Thetwoe*pertsrespondedsimultaneously,givingdifferentanswers.Themansaid,"Subservience.〞Thewomansaid,"Sensitivity.〞Bothe*pertswereright,buteachwasdescribingtheviewofadifferentgender.E*pertsandnone*pertsaliketendtoseeanythingwomendoasevidenceofpowerlessness.Thesamenewspaperarticlequotesanotherpsychologistassaying,"Amanmightaskawoman,‘Willyoupleasegotothestore"’whereawomanmightsay,‘Gee,Ireallyneedafewthingsfromthestore,butI’msotired.’〞Thewoman’sstyleiscalled"covert,〞atermsuggestingnegativequalitieslikebeing"sneaky〞and"underhanded.〞Thereasonofferedforthisispower.Thewomandoesn’tfeelshehastherighttoaskdirectly.Granted,womenhavelowerstatusthanmeninourAmericansociety.Butthisisnotnecessarilywhytheyprefernottomakeoutrightdemands.Thee*planationforawoman’sindirectnesscouldjustaswellbeherseekingconnection.Ifyougetyourwayasaresultofhavingdemandedit,thepayoffissatisfyingintermsofstatus:You’reone-upbecauseothersaredoingasyoutoldthem.Butifyougetyourwaybecauseothershappenedtowantthesamething,orbecausetheyofferedfreely,thepayoffisrapport.You’reneitherone-upnorone-downbybeinghappilyconnectedtootherswhosewantsarethesameasyours.Furthermore,ifindirectnessisunderstoodbybothparties,thenthereisnothingcovertaboutit:Thatarequestisbeingmadeisclear.Callinganindirectmunicationcovertreflectstheviewofsomeoneforwhomthedirectstyleseems"natural〞and"logical〞－aviewmoremonamongmen.Indirectnessitselfdoesnotreflectpowerlessness.It’seasytothinkofsituationswhereindirectnessistheprerogativeofothersinpower.Fore*ample,awealthycouplewhoknowsthattheirservantswilldotheirbiddingneednotgivedirectorders,butsimplystatewishes:Thewomanofthehousesays,"It’schillyinhere,〞andtheservantsetsaboutraisingthetemperature.Themanofthehousesays,"It’sdinnertime,〞andtheservantseesabouthavingdinnerserved.Perhapstheultimateindirectnessisgettingsomeonetodosomethingwithoutsayinganythingatall:Thehostessringsabellandamaidbringsthene*tcourse;oraparententerstheroomwherechildrenaremisbehavingandstandswithhandsonhips,andthechildrenimmediatelystopwhatthey’redoing. Entireculturesoperateonelaboratesystemsofindirectness.Fore*ample,IdiscoveredinasmallresearchprojectthatmostGreeksassumedawifewhoasked,"Wouldyouliketogototheparty"〞washintingthatshewantedtogo.Theyfeltthatshewouldn’tbringitupifshedidn’twanttogo.Furthermore,theyfelt,shewouldnotstateherepreferenceoutrightbecausethatwouldsoundlikeademand.Indirectnesswastheappropriatemeansformunicatingherpreference. Japaneseculturehasdevelopedindirectnesstoafineart.Fore*ample,aJapaneseanthropologist,HarumiBefu,e*plainsthedelicatee*changeoftendedtheinvitation,Befufirsthadtodeterminewhetheritwasmeantliterallyorjustproforma,muchasanAmericanmightsay,"We’llhavetohaveyouoverfordinnersometime〞butwouldnote*pectyoutoturnupatthedoor.Havingdecidedtheinvitationwasmeantliterallyandhavingaccepted,Befuwasthenaskedwhathewouldliketoeat.Followingcustom,hesaidanythingwoulddo,buthisfriend,alsofollowingcustom,pressedhimtospecify.Hostandguestrepeatedthise*changeanappropriatenumberoftimes,untilBefudeemeditpolitetoanswerthequestion－politely－bysayingteaoverrice－asthelastcourseofasumptuousmeal.Befuwasnotsurprisedbythefeastbecauseheknewthatprotocolrequiredit.Hadhebeengivenwhatheaskedfor,hewouldhavebeeninsulted.Butprotocolalsorequiredthathemakeagreatshowofbeingsurprised. ThisaccountofmutualindirectnessinalunchinvitationmaystrikeAmericansase*cessive.Butfarmoreculturesintheworlduseelaboratesystemsofindirectnessthanvaluedirectness.OnlymodernWesternsocietiesplaceapriorityondirectmunication,andevenforusitismoreavaluethanapractice.Evidencefromotherculturesalsomakesitclearthatindirectnessdoesnotitselfreflectlowstatus.Rather,ourassumptionsaboutthestatusofwomenpelustointerpretanythingtheydoasreflectinglowstatus.AnthropologistElinorKeenan,fore*ample,foundthatinaMalagasy-speakingvillageontheislandofMadagascar,itiswomenwhoaredirectandmenwhoareindirect.Andthevillagersseethemen’sindirectwayofspeaking,usingmetaphorsandproverbs,asthebetterway.Forthem,indirectness,likethemenwhouseit,hashighstatus.Theyregardwomen’sdirectstyleasclumsyandcrude,debasingthebeautifulsubtletyofmen’slanguage.Whetherwomenormenaredirectorindirectdiffers;whatremainsconstantisthatwomen’sstyleisnegativelyvaluated－seenaslowerinstatusthanthemen’s.各种各样的证据说明：即使女性和男性说话方式一样，人们对他们的看法还是不同。这种倾向导致有关女性、男性和无能耐的讨论纷争不断。女性说话讲究方式方法被认为是卑微无能，而换成男性则被认为是有能力的表现。视女性的语言为卑微无能者的语言常常反映出男性看女性行为的视觉角度。女性不为高人一等而拼搏，往往就被认为是低人一等。在任何情况下都极容易发生误会。这也说明了为什么专家和非专家常常把女性以友善语言表述出来的思维方式曲解成卑微无能的表现。没有什么能比一家报社登载的采访片段更能清楚地说明这种根深蒂固的歧义。采访对象是一对心理学家夫妇，当记者问他们"表现得非常有礼貌〞的含义时，这两位专家同时给出不同的答案。男性答复说："服从〞。女性答复说："敏感〞。两位专家都是正确的，只不过每个人描述的是不同性别的观点。专家和非专家都习惯把女性的任何行为看为卑微无能的表现。以上同一篇报刊文章援引另一位心理学家的话说："一个男人会这样问一个女人：‘请你去一趟商店好吗？’同样的情况下女人会说：‘哎，我真的需要从商店买点东西，但是我实在太累了。’〞女性的这种表达方式被称为"隐蔽的〞，该词含有"鬼祟〞和"秘密〞等贬义，而这样表达的原因归咎于一个"权〞字，女人觉得她没有权利直接提出要求。确实，在我们〔美国〕社会里，女性的地位比男性低，但这不等于说她们不愿意提出直截了当的要求。女性的这种间接方式很可能是因为她们在努力寻找*种关系。如果愿意在自己的要求下得到满足，结果就是社会地位的胜利：你高人一等，因为别人按你的意志行事。而如果你的愿望得到满足是因为他人的愿望恰好和你的一致，或者是因为对方心甘情愿，结果就是融洽和谐。当你和对方的需求一致而一拍即合时，你既不高人一等，也不低人一等。而且如果双方都了解这种间接方式，那就不存在什么隐蔽：提出的要求很明确。称间接的沟通方式为隐蔽反映出那些青睐直接沟通方式的人的观点，即直接的方式才是"自然的〞、"符合逻辑的〞，这种观点在男性中更普遍。间接方式本身并不反映卑微无能。我们不难想象出权势者中有特权的人是怎样使用间接方式的。例如，一位有钱的夫妇用不着直接向听命于他们的用人发号施令，而只须简单地说明其愿望，房子的女主人说："这儿冷，〞用人就会去调高室温；房子的男主人说："是晚饭的时间，〞用人就会摆桌上菜。或许终极的间接是什么都不用说就能使*人做*事：女主人按一下铃，女仆端上下一道菜；家长走进有孩子正在嬉闹的房间，双手叉腰一站，他们就会戛然而止。所有文化都靠以"间接〞二字所形成的复杂而精巧的体制去运作。例如，我在做一个小规模的研究工程时发现：当妻子问"你想去参加那个聚会吗？〞，大多数希腊人认为他们的妻子是在暗示她想去。他们认为如