外刊聽讀| 經濟學人日本人戴口罩上癮

2022-11-13 10:21 作者:鵝崽的小跟班 0人讀過 | 我要投稿

Covid-19’s aftermath

新冠后遺癥

Cover story

口罩的故事

Why get a face lift when you can get a face mask?

既然可以帶口罩，為什么還要整容？

1 ZAWACHIN, A JAPANESE celebrity, has long been known for her stylish face masks. When she started her career a decade ago, wearing masks helped draw attention to her lavishly made-up eyes. With time, masks became part of her brand, and she carved out a niche as a “mask influencer”. The pandemic brought her passion to the masses. Now she not only promotes new masks, she also advises those suffering from “mask addiction” on how to take them off.

ZAWACHIN，一位日本名人，長期以來以她的時尚面膜而聞名。十年前，當她開始她的職業(yè)生涯時，戴口罩有助于吸引人們對她豪華眼妝的注意。隨著時間的推移，口罩成為她品牌的一部分，她作為 "口罩網紅"做出了一份稱心的事業(yè)。新冠疫情把她的熱情帶到了大眾面前。現在，她不僅推廣新的口罩，還向那些患有 "口罩癮 "的人建議如何摘下口罩。

2 Even before covid-19 arrived, mask use was common in Japan. Many wore them as a barrier against pollen during hay-fever season or to protect others when sniffly. During the pandemic, the practice became pervasive, though the government has never enforced a mask mandate. It looks set to continue. A recent survey showed that half of Japanese would like to keep wearing masks as much as possible, regardless of medical advice or rules.

甚至在covid-19到來之前，口罩的使用在日本就很普遍。許多人在花粉病流行季節(jié)戴上口罩，作為抵御花粉的屏障，或者在感冒時保護他人。在疫情期間，戴口罩變得很普遍，盡管政府從來沒有強制要求。這種行為看起來會繼續(xù)下去。最近的一項調查顯示，一半的日本人希望盡可能多地戴口罩，無論醫(yī)療建議或規(guī)則如何變化。

3 Some reckon the attachment to masks is a function of social conformity. Since mask-wearing has become common practice, no one wants to be the one to buck the trend. “In Western countries if there’s coercion, people feel their freedom is invaded, but in Japan people feel it is fair if everyone is doing it,” says Yonaha Jun, a cultural critic.

一些人認為，對口罩的依戀是社會從眾性的一種表現。由于戴口罩已經成為普遍做法，沒有人愿意成為逆潮流而動的人。"文化評論家Yonaha Jun說："在西方國家，如果有脅迫行為，人們會覺得他們的自由受到侵犯，但在日本，如果每個人都這樣做，人們會覺得很公平。

4 Japanese communicative culture may place a greater emphasis on the eyes than the mouth. Consider emoticons (or their newer avatar, emoji), says Yamaguchi Masami of Chuo University: in the West, the shape of the mouth changes the expression, such as :-P or :-D. In Japan, the eyes do: (><) or ^^. Ms Yamaguchi, who has conducted studies on how facial expressions are perceived, reckons that people in East Asia tend to spend relatively more time looking at the eyes of a speaker, while Westerners focus more on the mouth. Masks, she argues, are thus less of an impediment to socialising.

日本的交際文化可能更強調眼睛而不是嘴巴。中央大學的山口正美(Yamaguchi Masami)說，考慮到表情符號（或其新的化身--emoji）：在西方，嘴巴的形狀會改變表情，如:-P或:-D。在日本，眼睛發(fā)揮了改變表情的作用，如：（><）或^^。山口女士對人們如何看待面部表情進行了研究，她認為東亞人往往花相對較多的時間看說話人的眼睛，而西方人則更關注嘴巴。她認為，因此，口罩對社交的阻礙較小。

5 Moreover, young people have discovered that masks can be useful for covering up unflattering features, blemished skin or crooked teeth. Men can get away without shaving, and women without putting on make-up. Some young women believe masks make their eyes seem larger and prettier.

此外，年輕人還發(fā)現，口罩可以用來掩蓋不好看的面部特征、有瑕疵的皮膚或歪斜的牙齒。男人可以不刮胡子，而女人可以不化妝。一些年輕女性認為口罩使她們的眼睛看起來更大、更漂亮。

6 A new lexicon has emerged. Some call masks “kao pantsu”, or “face underwear”, reflecting how essential they have become. Among adults, a “masuku bijin”, or “mask beauty” is someone who looks beautiful in a mask; a “masuku sagi”, or “mask fraud”, is someone who looks good with one on, but less so with it off. Fear of being deemed a mask fraud is another reason to keep the things on.

新的詞匯已經出現。有些人稱口罩為 "花王內褲"，或"臉部內衣"，反映出口罩已變得十分重要。在成年人中，"masuku bijin"或 "口罩美女"是指戴著口罩看起來很美的人；"masuku sagi "或 "口罩騙子"是指戴著口罩看起來很美，但摘下口罩后就不那么美的人。害怕被認為是口罩騙子是保持戴著口罩的另一個原因。

7 Zawachin’s advice is to take it slowly. “It takes a lot of courage to take it off all at once,” she says. Try spending a few days with the mask below your nose, then shift to wearing it below your lips, and finally below your chin. Eventually, she suggests, it will start to feel normal to live without a mask.