譯/陳韻涵
These are some of the terms Afghan men use to refer to their wives in public instead of their names, the sharing of which they see as a grave dishonor worthy of violence: Mother of Children, My Household, My Weak One or sometimes, in far corners, My Goat or My Chicken.
But a social media campaign to change this custom has been percolating in recent weeks, initiated by young women. The campaign comes with a hashtag that translates as #WhereIsMyName.
阿富汗男子在公共場合會用一些字詞來指稱他們的老婆,而不是她們的名字,他們認為說出妻子的名字是足以引發暴力的奇恥大辱。這些字詞包括:「孩子的媽」、「我的家眷」、「我軟弱的那口子」,有時候在偏遠地區甚至是「我的羊」或「我的雞」。
但一項由年輕女性發起、力圖改變這項習俗的社群媒體活動最近幾周開始擴散。這項活動有個主題標籤,譯作#我的名字在哪。
The activists' aim is both to challenge women to reclaim their most basic identity, and to break the deep-rooted taboo that prevents men from mentioning their female relatives' names in public.
"This is just a spark — the posing of a question mostly to the Afghan women about why their identity is denied," said Bahar Sohaili, one of the supporters of the campaign.
活動發起者的目標是要激發女性重拾她們最基本的身分,並打破一個根深柢固的禁忌,亦即男性不得在公開場合提到女性親屬的名字。
活動支持者索巴哈爾.海莉說:「這只是一點火花:主要針對阿富汗女性提出一個問題,關於為什麼她們的身分要被否定。」
Like many social media efforts, this one began small. Since then, more activists have tried to turn it into a topic of conversation by challenging celebrities and government officials to share the names of their wives and mothers.
Members of the Parliament, senior government officials and artists have come forward in support, publicly declaring the identities of the female members of their families.
就像許多社群媒體活動一樣,這項活動開始時規模很小。後來,有更多社運人士力圖把它轉變為一個焦點話題,所用方法則是挑戰名流和政府官員說出妻子與母親的名字。
國會議員、政府高層官員和藝術家們挺身支持,公開宣告他們女性家族成員的身分。
The campaign also has its detractors.
Modaser Islami, head of a youth organization, wrote on his Facebook page: "The name of my mother, sister and wife are sacred like their headscarf, and it's a sign of their honor."
這項活動也遭受到惡意批評。
青年組織領袖伊斯拉米在他的臉書頁面上寫道:「我的母親、姐妹和妻子的名字就像她們的頭巾一樣神聖,這是她們榮譽的象徵。」
Hassan Rizayee, an Afghan sociologist, said the custom was rooted in tribal ways of life.
"According to tribal logic, the important thing is the ownership of a woman's body," Rizayee said. "The body of a woman belongs to a man, and other people should not even use her body indirectly, such as looking at her. Based on this logic, the body, face and name of the woman belong to the man."
阿富汗社會學家黎薩義說,這項傳統植基於部落的生活方式。
黎薩義說:「依照部落的邏輯,重要的是女性身體的擁有權。」他說:「一個女性的身體屬於一個男人,其他人甚至不應該間接使用她的身體,像是盯著她看。根據這個邏輯,女性的身體、臉和名字屬於這個男人。」
Reversing such deeply ingrained traditions will take a long time, he said, including changing what children are taught.
"By weakening tribal cultures, and awareness through the media, this type of thinking about woman could be changed," Rizayee said.
他說,想要顛覆這種根深柢固的傳統需要很長的時間,包括改變對小孩的教育。
黎薩義說:「藉由削弱部落文化,並透過媒體多加宣導,這種對女性的想法可能會改變。」
說文解字看新聞
文/張佑生
子曰:「必也正名乎!」阿富汗女性的正名(name rectification)運動,源自阿富汗男性在公共場合不稱妻子的名字,反映女性受歧視情況嚴重。閩南語歌曲「家後」描繪的鶼鰈情深令人動容,但嚴格說來「家後」一詞同樣有性別平權(gender equality)的問題。
「名不正,則言不順」,阿富汗女性拚正名,恢復最基本的身分。Reclaim是討回原本屬於自己的東西。「我失去的東西一定要拿回來!」這是「小馬哥」周潤發在電影「英雄本色」的經典台詞。收復失土、「待從頭,收拾舊山河」動詞也是用reclaim。台北世大運競技場上,名將寶刀未老可以說reclaim his/her former glory.
然而,社會成見往往根深柢固(deep-rooted或ingrained),要移風易俗(reverse the traditions)需要相當時日。原意為「過濾、滲透」的percolate描述這種潛移默化、某個觀念或感覺在組織團體緩緩散播的意象很貼切,介系詞常用through或down。