“What do you mean by the power of women?” I said. “Everybody, on the contrary, complains that women have not sufficient rights, that they are in subjection.”
“That’s it; that’s it exactly,” said he, vivaciously2. “That is just what I mean, and that is the explanation of this extraordinary phenomenon, that on the one hand woman is reduced to the lowest degree of humiliation3 and on the other hand she reigns4 over everything. See the Jews: with their power of money, they avenge5 their subjection, just as the women do. ‘Ah! you wish us to be only merchants? All right; remaining merchants, we will get possession of you,’ say the Jews. ‘Ah! you wish us to be only objects of sensuality? All right; by the aid of sensuality we will bend you beneath our yoke,’ say the women.
“The absence of the rights of woman does not consist in the fact that she has not the right to vote, or the right to sit on the bench, but in the fact that in her affectional relations she is not the equal of man, she has not the right to abstain6, to choose instead of being chosen. You say that that would be abnormal. Very well! But then do not let man enjoy these rights, while his companion is deprived of them, and finds herself obliged to make use of the coquetry by which she governs, so that the result is that man chooses ‘formally,’ whereas really it is woman who chooses. As soon as she is in possession of her means, she abuses them, and acquires a terrible supremacy7.”
“But where do you see this exceptional power?”
“Where? Why, everywhere, in everything. Go see the stores in the large cities. There are millions there, millions. It is impossible to estimate the enormous quantity of labor8 that is expended9 there. In nine-tenths of these stores is there anything whatever for the use of men? All the luxury of life is demanded and sustained by woman. Count the factories; the greater part of them are engaged in making feminine ornaments10. Millions of men, generations of slaves, die toiling11 like convicts simply to satisfy the whims12 of our companions.
“Women, like queens, keep nine-tenths of the human race as prisoners of war, or as prisoners at hard labor. And all this because they have been humiliated13, because they have been deprived of rights equal to those which men enjoy. They take revenge for our sensuality; they catch us in their nets.
“Yes, the whole thing is there. Women have made of themselves such a weapon to act upon the senses that a young man, and even an old man, cannot remain tranquil14 in their presence. Watch a popular festival, or our receptions or ball-rooms. Woman well knows her influence there. You will see it in her triumphant15 smiles.
“As soon as a young man advances toward a woman, directly he falls under the influence of this opium16, and loses his head. Long ago I felt ill at ease when I saw a woman too well adorned,— whether a woman of the people with her red neckerchief and her looped skirt, or a woman of our own society in her ball-room dress. But now it simply terrifies me. I see in it a danger to men, something contrary to the laws; and I feel a desire to call a policeman, to appeal for defence from some quarter, to demand that this dangerous object be removed.
“And this is not a joke, by any means. I am convinced, I am sure, that the time will come — and perhaps it is not far distant — when the world will understand this, and will be astonished that a society could exist in which actions as harmful as those which appeal to sensuality by adorning17 the body as our companions do were allowed. As well set traps along our public streets, or worse than that.
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1 solely | |
adv.仅仅,唯一地 | |
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2 vivaciously | |
adv.快活地;活泼地;愉快地 | |
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3 humiliation | |
n.羞辱 | |
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4 reigns | |
n.君主的统治( reign的名词复数 );君主统治时期;任期;当政期 | |
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5 avenge | |
v.为...复仇,为...报仇 | |
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6 abstain | |
v.自制,戒绝,弃权,避免 | |
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7 supremacy | |
n.至上;至高权力 | |
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8 labor | |
n.劳动,努力,工作,劳工;分娩;vi.劳动,努力,苦干;vt.详细分析;麻烦 | |
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9 expended | |
v.花费( expend的过去式和过去分词 );使用(钱等)做某事;用光;耗尽 | |
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10 ornaments | |
n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 );点缀;装饰品;首饰v.装饰,点缀,美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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11 toiling | |
长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的现在分词 ); 艰难缓慢地移动,跋涉 | |
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12 WHIMS | |
虚妄,禅病 | |
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13 humiliated | |
感到羞愧的 | |
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14 tranquil | |
adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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15 triumphant | |
adj.胜利的,成功的;狂欢的,喜悦的 | |
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16 opium | |
n.鸦片;adj.鸦片的 | |
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17 adorning | |
修饰,装饰物 | |
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