原文標(biāo)題：
The economics of thinness
THE WEIGHT OF THE WORLD
瘦身經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)
世界的重量
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It is economically rational?for ambitious women to try as hard as possible to be thin
從經(jīng)濟(jì)上講，成功女性會(huì)盡最大努力保持苗條的身材

[Paragraph 21]
It is economically rational for everyone to devote time to education because it has clear returns in the labour market and for future wages.
從經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)理性的角度看，每個(gè)人花時(shí)間接受教育回報(bào)很高，無(wú)論是在勞動(dòng)力市場(chǎng)還是未來(lái)的工資方面都是如此。

In the same way it appears to be economically rational for women to pursue being thin.
但身材苗條似乎也能對(duì)女性起著同樣的作用。
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Obsessing over what and how much to eat and paying for fancy exercise classes are investments that will bear returns.
控制飲食和付費(fèi)健身都不失為一種有效投資手段。
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For men they are not.
但僅限女性。
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[Paragraph 22]
To some extent women know this.
而女性也在某種程度上深知這一點(diǎn)。
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A generation ago they seemed to take it for granted.
上一代人似乎認(rèn)為這是理所當(dāng)然的。
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“The most basic thing to get on with after your job—or during it—is how you look and feel.
“在你工作之后或工作期間最基本的事情就是你的外表和給人的感覺(jué)。
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It is unthinkable that a woman bent on ‘having it all’ would want to be fat, or even plump,” wrote Helen Gurley-Brown, the editor of Cosmopolitan magazine in the 1980s and 1990s in her book “Having It All”, before rattling off advice about how to survive on 800 calories a day, encouraging women to weigh themselves daily and to accept that “dieting is hell and stop getting depressed about it!”
上世紀(jì)八九十年代的《世界》雜志編輯海倫?格利-布朗在她的《擁有一切》一書中寫道:“難以想象一個(gè)一心要‘擁有一切’的女人會(huì)想要變胖，甚至是真的變胖。”她在書中提出了如何在每天攝入800卡路里的情況下正常生活的建議，鼓勵(lì)女性每天稱體重以及接受“節(jié)食是地獄，停止沮喪!”
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[Paragraph 23]
Such attitudes were more acceptable four decades ago.
這種態(tài)度在40年前更容易接受。
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But the economic reality does not seem to have shifted much.
但經(jīng)濟(jì)的現(xiàn)狀似乎并沒(méi)有發(fā)生太大變化。
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All that has changed is the narrative, which has embraced body positivity and shunned dieting.
唯一改變的是敘事方式：人們對(duì)身體的態(tài)度變得積極，不再節(jié)食。
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Instead of the South-Beach diet or Atkins women eliminate?foods—becoming gluten-free, vegan, low-sugar—under the guise of health or wellness, to improve their gut health or raise their energy levels.

與南海灘飲食法或阿特金斯飲食法不同，女性不吃某種食物--飲食變得無(wú)麩質(zhì)、純素食、低糖--以健康為幌子，認(rèn)為這樣能改善腸道健康或提高能量水平。

People spend large sums to attend Soul Cycle classes, a kind of boutique indoor cycling, to be strong and fit, not to burn calories.
人們花費(fèi)大筆資金參加 "Soul Cycle"課程，一種精品室內(nèi)自行車運(yùn)動(dòng)，是為了變得強(qiáng)壯和健康，而不是為了燃燒卡路里。
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[Paragraph 24]
Because being very obese comes with elevated health risks, some might argue it is not a problem that there are incentives?for women to lose weight.
因?yàn)闃O度肥胖會(huì)帶來(lái)更高的健康風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，有些人可能會(huì)認(rèn)為，女性減肥的動(dòng)機(jī)是正確的。
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But this relies on two wobbly?pillars of logic.
這依賴于兩個(gè)不穩(wěn)定的邏輯支柱。
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First, that people’s weight really is within their control.
首先，人們的體重確實(shí)在他們的控制范圍內(nèi)。
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And second, that shame is an effective motivator.
其次，羞恥感是一種有效的激勵(lì)因素。
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[Paragraph 25]
Most people have experienced the effect that eating a little less and moving a little more has on their physical form and so it is common to think that weight and obesity is a mutable?trait—one that slim people work to achieve and fat people fail to achieve.
大多數(shù)人都經(jīng)歷過(guò)少吃多動(dòng)對(duì)身體形態(tài)的影響，所以人們普遍認(rèn)為體重和肥胖是一種可變的特征——苗條的人努力就能改變體重，而肥胖的人卻很難改變體重。?
If this were the case, then it might seem possible for women to opt out of discrimination on the basis of weight, by conforming to the body type society demands of them.
如果是這樣的話，那么女性似乎有可能通過(guò)達(dá)到社會(huì)要求的體型，來(lái)擺脫體重歧視。?
[Paragraph 26]
Yet the perception of total control is misguided.
但完全控制的觀念是錯(cuò)誤的。
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People often report gaining weight when they start taking antidepressants; women tend to if they suffer from conditions such as polycystic ovarian?syndrome.
人們經(jīng)常報(bào)告說(shuō)，當(dāng)他們開始服用抗抑郁藥時(shí)，體重會(huì)增加；如果女性患有多囊卵巢綜合征等疾病，她們體重也會(huì)增加。
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Ms Gay describes how her weight gain occurred in the aftermath?of a brutal sexual assault.
蓋伊女士描述了她遭遇殘酷的性侵后體重增加的經(jīng)歷。?
It also raises the question of why a great slice of humanity collectively lost control of their eating habits in the 1980s, when obesity rates began to soar in developed countries.

這也引出了一個(gè)問(wèn)題，為什么20世紀(jì)80年代有很大一部分人集體失去了對(duì)飲食習(xí)慣的控制，與此同時(shí)，發(fā)達(dá)國(guó)家的肥胖率開始飆升。

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Scientists are unsure of the answer (some point to the rise of processed foods) but they do agree that it is almost impossible to lose weight and stay smaller—and people who achieve this are far rarer than those who spend their lives trying, failing and blaming themselves.
科學(xué)家們不確定原因，一些人指出是因加工食品的興起。但科學(xué)家們確實(shí)認(rèn)同這樣的觀點(diǎn)：減肥和保持身材苗條幾乎是不可能的，而且能做到這一點(diǎn)的人遠(yuǎn)比那些一生都在努力、失敗和自責(zé)的人少得多。
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[Paragraph 27]
Perhaps shame can work for some people, on the margin.
也許羞恥感對(duì)某些人來(lái)說(shuō)是有用的，但也僅是少數(shù)。
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It worked for Ms Guiliano. When asked why her reaction to her father’s comment was to decide to lose weight, rather than to tell him off,?she pauses for a moment.“But, of course,” she says, “he was right.”

對(duì)朱利亞諾來(lái)說(shuō)是有用的。在被問(wèn)及為什么她對(duì)她父親的評(píng)論的反應(yīng)是決定減肥，而不是讓他閉嘴，她停頓了一會(huì)兒說(shuō)：“但是，當(dāng)然是因?yàn)楦赣H說(shuō)得對(duì)?！?/span>

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[Paragraph 28]
Too high a price
代價(jià)高昂
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But think, too, of the huge cost that the stigma, shame or the fear of becoming overweight has on all of the women and girls who spend their lives worrying about what becoming that way might cost them.
但也要想想，超重帶來(lái)的恥辱感、羞恥感或恐懼感讓所有婦女和女孩付出了巨大的代價(jià)，她們一生都在擔(dān)心變胖的代價(jià)。?
It is impossible to move around the world as a woman and not notice the time, energy and investment women make in logging the food they eat, reading diet books and attending exercise classes.
見過(guò)世面的女性不可能不注意到她們?cè)谒o(jì)錄的食物、減肥書籍和鍛煉課程上所花費(fèi)的時(shí)間、精力和投資。

Anyone who has tried a juice cleanse or a cabbage soup diet will know that the pursuit of thinness can come at the expense of other important things girls and women might want to do, like being able to focus on exams and work or enjoy food.
任何嘗試過(guò)果汁排毒法或卷心菜湯減肥法的人都知道，追求苗條可能會(huì)以犧牲她們想做的其他重要事情為代價(jià)，比如能夠?qū)Ｗ⒂诳荚嚒⒐ぷ骰蛳硎苊朗场?br>?
[Paragraph 29]
According to some surveys, girls as young as six recognise the expectation that they should be thin.
根據(jù)一些調(diào)查，6歲的女孩就認(rèn)識(shí)到人們對(duì)她們應(yīng)該保持苗條的期望。
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Then adolescents “overwhelmed by sudden expectations of beauty, transmit anorexia?and bulimia to one another like a virus,” writes Ms Tolentino.
然后，青少年“突然被對(duì)變美的期望所淹沒(méi)，厭食癥和暴食癥像病毒一樣相互傳播，”托倫蒂諾寫道。
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The tragedy is that there is no escape. Most women seem to try to conform. Some choose not to. Many simply fail.

悲劇就在于我們無(wú)處可逃。大多數(shù)女性似乎選擇屈服。也有一些人反抗了。不過(guò)失敗了。

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But whatever path is taken, it seems to come at a great cost.
但無(wú)論采取何種方式，似乎都要付出巨大的代價(jià)。
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（恭喜讀完，本篇英語(yǔ)詞匯量840/2755左右）
原文出自：2022年12月24日《The Economist》Christmas specials版塊。

精讀筆記來(lái)源于：自由英語(yǔ)之路

本文翻譯整理: Maree

本文編輯校對(duì): Irene
僅供個(gè)人英語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)交流使用。

【補(bǔ)充資料】（來(lái)自于網(wǎng)絡(luò)）
南海灘飲食South Beach Diet由佛羅里達(dá)心臟病專家 Arthur Agatston 博士于 1990 年代中期創(chuàng)立。根據(jù)已發(fā)表的采訪，Agatston 博士觀察到使用阿特金斯飲食的患者正在減輕體重和腹部脂肪。然而，他對(duì)阿特金斯飲食中允許的大量飽和脂肪感到不舒服，特別是對(duì)于患有心臟病的人。阿加斯頓博士的著作《南海灘飲食》于 2003 年出版，成為全球暢銷書。名為The South Beach Diet Supercharged的更新版本于 2009 年出版，并成為全球暢銷書。南海灘飲食是一種低碳水化合物飲食，強(qiáng)調(diào)瘦肉、不飽和脂肪和低血糖指數(shù)碳水化合物。
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阿特金斯減肥法沒(méi)有應(yīng)用之前流行的新陳代謝理論。1972年，阿特金斯博士在他的新書的出版把美國(guó)人嚇了一跳：那本書顛覆了傳統(tǒng)的減肥理念，告訴大眾：“肥胖的元兇不是脂肪，而是碳水化合物！”他的減肥理論主要是少吃淀粉多吃肉，受到廣泛關(guān)注并被上百萬(wàn)的成功減肥人士證實(shí)科學(xué)有效。
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?Soul Cycle成立于2006年，最初只有一家規(guī)模很小的工作室外加幾十輛自行車，他們專注于動(dòng)感單車項(xiàng)目，致力于為運(yùn)動(dòng)者提供時(shí)尚精致的環(huán)境。慢慢的，他們?cè)诼D上西區(qū)擁有了一群忠實(shí)的女性支持者。Soul Cycle稱得上是健身市場(chǎng)中的“自動(dòng)提款機(jī)”。他們選擇按課時(shí)計(jì)費(fèi)模式——每個(gè)消費(fèi)者需要為每節(jié)45分鐘的課程消費(fèi)34美元。申請(qǐng)上市時(shí)，Soul Cycle公司已經(jīng)將工作室數(shù)量增至38家，擁有約30萬(wàn)名顧客。
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Anorexia厭食癥就是由于怕胖、心情低落而過(guò)分節(jié)食、拒食，造成體重下降、營(yíng)養(yǎng)不良甚至拒絕維持最低體重的一種心理障礙性疾病。約95%為女性，常在青少年時(shí)期就有類似的性格傾向。原因多為營(yíng)養(yǎng)不良引起的并發(fā)癥和精神抑郁而引發(fā)的自殺行為。常與社會(huì)因素有關(guān)，多有過(guò)度追求身體苗條的心理。此類患者多性格內(nèi)向，敏感、多疑、偏激、情緒不穩(wěn)定、無(wú)端的挑剔和喜好。
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【重點(diǎn)句子】（3 個(gè)）
Obsessing over what and how much to eat and paying for fancy exercise classes are investments that will bear returns. For men they are not.
控制飲食和付費(fèi)健身都不失為一種有效投資手段。但僅限女性。
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All that has changed is the narrative, which has embraced body positivity and shunned dieting.
唯一改變的是敘事方式：人們對(duì)身體的態(tài)度變得積極，不再節(jié)食。
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But whatever path is taken, it seems to come at a great cost.
但無(wú)論采取何種方式，似乎都要付出巨大的代價(jià)。