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大学英语自学教程(上册) unit 25 ：美国男人不哭
25-A. American Men Don't Cry
American men don't cry because it is considered not characteristic of men to do so. Only women cry. Cry is a "weakness" characteristic of the female, and no American male wants to be identified with any-thing in the least weak or feminine. Crying, in our culture, is identified with childishness, with weakness and dependence. No one likes a crybaby, and we disapprove of crying even in children, discouraging it in them as early as possible. In a land so devoted to the pursuit of happiness as ours, crying really is rather un-American. Adults must learn not to cry in situations in which it is permissible for a child to cry. Women being the "weaker" and "dependent” sex, it is only natural that they should cry in certain emotional situations. In women, crying is excusable. But in men, crying is a mark of weakness. So goes the American belief with regard to crying.
"A little man," we impress on our male children, "never cries. Only girls and crybabies do." And so we condition males in America not to cry whenever they feel like doing so. It is not that American males are unable to cry because of some biological time clock within them which causes them to run down in that capacity as they grow older, but that they are trained not to cry. And so the "little man" controls his desire to cry and goes on doing so until he is unable to cry even when he wants to. Thus do we produce a trained incapacity in the American male to cry. And this is bad. Why is it bad? Because crying is a natural function of the human organism which is designed to restore the emotionally disequilibrated person to a state of equilibrium. The return of the disequilibrated organ systems of the body to steady states or dynamic stability is known as homeostasis. Crying serves a homeostatic function for the organism as a whole. Any interference with homeostasis is likely to be damaging to the organism. And there is good reason to believe that the American male‘s trained incapacity to cry is seriously damaging to him.
It is unnecessary to cry whenever one wants to cry, but one should he able to cry when one ought to cry - when one needs to cry. For to cry under certain emotionally disequilibrating conditions is necessary for the maintenance of health.
To be human is to weep. The human species is the only one in the whole of animated nature that sheds tears. The trained inability of any human being to weep is a lessening of his capacity to be human - a defect which usually goes deeper than the mere inability to cry. And this, among other things, is what American parents - with the best intentions in the world - have achieved for the American male. It is very sad. If we feel like it, let us all have a good cry - and clear our minds of those cobwebs of confusion which have for so long prevented us from understanding the natural necessity of crying.
【课文译文】
美国男人不哭
美国男人不哭，因为人们认为哭不是男子汉的特征，只有女人才哭。哭是女性特有的“软弱”的表现，没有任何一个美国男人愿意与软弱或女人气有关系。在我们的文化中，哭就是孩子气、软弱、不自立。没有人喜欢爱哭的孩子，即便是孩子哭泣也是不受欢迎的。我们尽可能早地不让孩子哭。在一块人们如此专心致志追求幸福的土地上，哭的确不是美国人的特点。在许多情况下，孩子哭是允许的，而成年人必须学会不哭。女人是“软弱”和“依赖的”性别。因此很自然，在某些感人的场合，她们可以哭。女人的哭泣是可以原谅的。但是，男人的哭泣代表了软弱。这就是美国人对于哭的信条。
“小男子汉”，我们让我们的男孩子铭记在心，“决不哭泣”。因此，我们把美国男人都调教得即使想哭也不能哭。美国男人不会哭，不是因为他们随着年龄的增长体内的某个生物钟使其哭的能力消耗殆尽，而是因为他们被训练得不哭。因此，“小男子汉”的观念控制着他哭的欲望，直到他想哭却又哭不出来。我们正是这样造成了美国男人训练有素的不会哭的能力。这很有害。为什么有害呢?因为哭是人这种生物的一种自然功能，能使人从感情失衡的状态恢复到平衡状态。人们身体里失调的器官系统恢复到稳定的或动态稳定状态的过程被称为体内平衡。哭对整个身体起着恢复平衡的作用。任何对体内平衡的干扰都可能损害身体。因此有理由相信，美国男人的这种训练出来的不会哭的能力严重损害着他的健康。
想哭的时候，不一定要哭，但该哭的时候就应该哭。因为在某些感情失衡的状态下，哭对保持身体健康是必要的。
是人就会哭。人类是整个生机勃勃的大自然中惟一会流泪的动物。训练出来的不会哭的能力削弱他做人的能力——这种欠缺远远不只是不会哭。而这，以及其他一些东西，都是怀着最美好心愿的美国父母给美国男人造成的。这是多大的悲哀啊。如果想哭，就让我们痛痛快快地哭吧!让我们把头脑中长期阻碍我们正确认识哭这种自然需要的错误思想一扫而光。
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