女性穿什么，到底谁说了算？
这段时间，整个欧洲都在为穆斯林妇女到底能不能在海滩等公共场所穿布基尼（burkini）吵的不可开交，法国有些小镇甚至直接禁止穆斯林妇女穿着布基尼，虽然法国最高法院最后驳回了这一提议，但是由此可看出，世界距离停止向女性颁布着装规范还远得很呢。
这不，印度政府颁发了一条更令人瞠目结舌的消息，正式告知外国游客——在印度应该着装得体，以确保个人安全（Dress appropriately to stay safe in India）。
On Aug. 28, the country’s minister for tourism and culture, Mahesh Sharma, detailed a list of dos and don’ts that would be presented to tourists at the airport as part of a welcome kit. Speaking to the media in Agra, the north Indian city that is home to the Taj Mahal, Sharma said: “(The list) has instructions like if they are in small cities, they should not roam around alone at night or wear skirts.”
8月28日，印度旅游和文化部长沙玛（Mahesh Sharma）列出了一份详细的清单，要告诉外国游客该做什么和不该做什么。部长先生在印度北部城市、泰姬陵所在地阿格拉发表讲话称：“（清单）中有明确的指令，如果他们是在小城市，就不要一个人在夜间外出，也不要穿短裙。”
roam around：散步，闲逛
Sharma’s comments, in response to a question about promoting safety for female tourists, come as India faces a persistent reputation of being unsafe for women, particularly foreign tourists, following frequent incidents of harassment, assault, and even rape across the country.
多年来，印度持续发生各种令人震惊的案件，性骚扰、攻击，甚至强奸等，使得国家蒙上了对女性，尤其是外国游客不安全的名声，沙玛部长的表态显然是对这种局面的反应。
The minister was, however, quick to say that he wasn’t telling women what to wear, but only suggesting that they be careful while going out at night, and while visiting temples and other places of religious significance . A day later, Sharma reiterated that he had not sought to impose any dressing restrictions on anyone.
不过，这位部长又飞快地改口说，自己并不是要命令女性穿什么和不穿什么，只是建议她们晚上外出时要小心，拜访寺庙和其他宗教场所时要谨慎。一天后，他接受采访时再度强调，自己无意对任何人颁布服装禁令。
sought to：旨在，寻求
In Agra, however, Sharma insisted that there is a difference between Indian and western cultures that makes “skimpy” clothing an inappropriate choice.
可是，在阿格拉的讲话中，沙玛却坚持说，印度文化和西方文化之间有着巨大的差异，而这差异就使得“节省布料的”服装变成了一个不适当的选择。
skimpy：不足的，吝啬的
Nevertheless, he seems to have given some concession to foreign tourists. Last year, he had declared that Indian women shouldn’t at all go out in the nights. “Girls wanting a night out may be all right elsewhere but it is not part of Indian culture,” he said in September 2015.
说起来，他这样的表态已经算是对外国游客有所优待了。去年，沙玛曾经宣称，印度女性就不应该在夜间外出，他9月间曾说：“女孩儿在晚上外出，在其他地方或许没问题，但这不是印度文化的一部分。”
Similarly, in October 2015, when an elderly man in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh was murdered by a mob for eating beef, Sharma had sought to play down the incident by citing the mob’s “restraint” in not harming the victim’s 17-year-old daughter.
10月间，一位老人因为吃牛肉而在北方邦被一群暴徒杀害时，沙玛还曾经试图为这些人洗地，强调暴徒们很“克制”，并没有伤害老人十七岁的女儿。
play down：贬低，降低，减少
（印度女性对女性被强奸和遭遇不公对待的抗议）
Underlying Sharma’s latest remarks is the commonly-held assumption that revealing clothes provoke sexual harassment. However, as past incidents of violent assault and rape across the country have shown, short skirts are hardly to blame.
当然，不单单是沙玛，这世界上很多人都说过女性被侵害是因为穿得不够严实的话，但是，印度过去曾经发生过的诸多攻击和强奸案件至少已经说明，单单让短裙背锅是说不通的。
这位部长可不是第一个——当然也不会是最后一个——向女性提出这种“建议”的人。
各式各样的部长、政客以及其他一些有影响力的人总是不厌其烦一次又一次的告诉女性们不要穿牛仔裤，不要穿短裙，不要在晚上出门，不要跟男生做朋友。
不要穿这不要穿那，不要做这不要做那。
比如说：
Samajwadi Party leader Abu Azmi said scantily-clad women attracted male attention and that rape cases were on the rise due to "women wearing less clothes".
印度社会党领导人Abu Azmi曾说过，穿着暴露的女性们吸引了男性的注意力因此导致了强奸事件的发生，所以是说，强奸率的上升是由于“女人穿的太少。”
scantily-clad：穿得很少的，穿得很清凉的
Mohan Bhagwat, chief of the right-wing Hindu Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) which is the ideological mentor of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, said rapes were an urban crime shaped by westernisation, and were not happening in rural India where traditional values were upheld.
印度民族主义协会主席Mohan Bhagwat同时也是印度执政党人民党的精神领袖，他曾经说过，强奸是一种由于西方化而导致的城市犯罪，在印度传统价值观主宰的乡村地区就不会发生这样的事。
A female politician, Asha Mirje, caused outrage for saying that "rapes take place also because of a woman's clothes, her behaviour and her being at inappropriate places".
另一位女性政客Asha Mirje的言论也引起了人们的愤怒——“强奸之所以发生是因为女性们在不恰当地方的不恰当着装和不恰当的行为引起的。”
这些言论在印度这种家长式社会（paternalistic society）广受赞扬，他们认为，这都是出于好意，说到底也是为了保护女性。
但是也有很多女性和评论家认为强奸和穿着之间没有任何联系。
"It's very very important that these politicians stop telling women what sort of clothes to wear or what not to wear," Swati Maliwal, chief of Delhi Commission for Women, told the BBC.
德里妇女委员会主席Swati Maliwal告诉BBC的记者，“关于女性该穿什么不该穿什么，那些政客们真该闭嘴了。”
"It's time they stop trivialising issues like rape and sexual harassment and do something constructive to address these serious problems."
“与其没完没了的嘚啵嘚强奸和性骚扰的话题，不如做点建设性的工作来解决这些问题。”
对于这些出言不当（foot-in-mouth）的政客，前公共关系专员Chaya Srivatsa指出他们应该换一种表达的方式。沙玛也提醒女生们坐出租车的时候记下车牌号（number plate）发给朋友或家人来确保安全，可这一点却根本没人注意。
foot-in-mouth：说话笨拙的，口不择言的，出言不当的、措辞不得体的
"That was a good thought, but that went completely unnoticed. Our politicians are not good at communication. They should learn to say it in the proper manner.
“这是一个好点子可根本没人注意。那些政客们太不会说话了。他们应该学会怎么用更恰当的语言表达。”
"He should have just said: Sorry we have jerks here, be careful."
“一句'此处有混蛋，请当心'就够了”
（印度的抗议活动，“停止对女性实施暴力”）
喜剧女演员Neeti Palta对于这样的“建议”是这样回应的：
Please remember it's not the clothes that make th the woman. The only clothes that are rape-proof are clothes without women in them.
请记住，不是衣服让女性们遭受罹难的，唯一一种能“反强奸”的衣服就是里面没女人的衣服。
Get three women to approve of what you say before you make it public.
在公开发表这样的言论前请先找出三个支持你的女性好吗。
Put yourself in a time machine and emerge in 2016.
快点坐上时光机器离开2016年。
Lock people like yourselves after dark so we are safer from foot-in-mouth disease。
把别人也像你自己那样一到晚上就锁起来吧，这样我们才能免于“不当”的伤害。
（英文来源：Quartz、BBC）
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