女性為什么要穿高跟鞋?

There was a time in my life in New York City when Iwore high heels almost every day. I myself did nothave much power, but I worked at the UnitedNations, in a place where powerful peoplecongregate. It is a place of suits and ties, skirts andsilk blouses; of long speeches; of Your Excellency, and Madam Chairperson, and yes, high heels.

在紐約市生活的那段時(shí)間，我?guī)缀趺刻於即└吒?。我本身沒有多少權(quán)力，但我在聯(lián)合國工作，那兒是有權(quán)有勢(shì)者的聚集地。這是一處人人都穿西裝打領(lǐng)帶、穿工作裙和絲綢襯衣的地方;是充滿長篇演講的地方;是尊敬的先生閣下和主席女士，以及穿高跟鞋的地方。

There was an image in my mind of a certain kind of woman - professional, feminine, poised- that I wanted to embody. I saw these women daily, year after year, backstage to the halls ofpower, on benches by the ladies' room, changing in and out of comfortable and uncomfortableshoes.

在我的腦海中，我一直都想成為這樣的女人--職業(yè)、女性和沉著。我每天都能見到這樣的女性，年復(fù)一年，無論是幕后還是臺(tái)前，她們會(huì)在女衛(wèi)生間的長凳上換上不舒服的高跟鞋，脫下舒適的平底鞋，如此往復(fù)。

These were power heels, and they were worn by women from all over the world. They wereleopard print, or green and scaly. They were amaranthine and violaceous. They were black andshiny as Japanese lacquer, with a shock of red on the sole. Some were plain, butuncomfortable anyway. What is not in dispute is that all of these statement shoesinvariably came with an appendage like an exclamation point: stiletto.

這是權(quán)力的高跟鞋，全球女性都在穿。有豹紋印花款、綠色款和鱗片款;有紫色和紫羅蘭色;也有像日本漆那樣锃亮的黑色高跟鞋，鞋底有一抹大紅色。有些高跟鞋是平底的，但穿著也不舒服。毫無爭議的是，所有這些鞋子都會(huì)伴有與驚嘆號(hào)如出一轍的附屬物：細(xì)高跟。

When I worked in a formal office setting, high heels were never of any special interest to mebeyond the fact that I liked them, and wore them, and liked wearing them. I didn't fixate. Inever owned too many. If I'm honest, there were times when I liked the idea of wearing themmore than the actual wearing of the shoes. Still, without high heels, at work I didn't feel quiteput together. They made me feel powerful; suited up, like I was buckled in to the workday.

當(dāng)我在正式的辦公場(chǎng)所工作時(shí)，我對(duì)高跟鞋似乎并沒有特別的興趣，除了我喜歡它們、穿著它們、也喜歡穿它們。我沒有關(guān)注這一點(diǎn)。我的高跟鞋不多。說實(shí)話，有時(shí)候我對(duì)穿高跟鞋這一想法的喜歡遠(yuǎn)甚于我實(shí)際穿高跟鞋的喜歡。但是，在不穿高跟鞋的情況下工作，我總感覺提不起勁兒來。高跟鞋讓我感覺強(qiáng)大;穿上正裝，就好像我享受工作一樣。

For better or worse, the high heel is now womankind's most public footwear. It is a shoe forevents, display and performance. In some settings and on some occasions, usually the mostformal, it is even required. High heels are something like neckties for women.

無論如何，高跟鞋現(xiàn)已成為女性穿著最普遍的鞋類。適合穿高跟鞋參加活動(dòng)、展覽、表演。在某些場(chǎng)景、某些場(chǎng)合，通常是最正式的情況下，甚至?xí)蟠└吒?。高跟鞋于女人恰如領(lǐng)帶之于男人。

It's a shoe for when we're on, for ambition; for magazine covers, red carpets, award shows, boardrooms, courtrooms, parliament buildings and debate lecterns.

為追求野心、拍雜志封面、走紅毯、參加頒獎(jiǎng)典禮、去會(huì)議室、法庭、議會(huì)大樓和辯論講臺(tái)，我們也會(huì)穿上高跟鞋。