时间:2018-11-29 作者:英语课 分类:四级晨读英语美文


英语课

Barbie’s fate


‵Barbie, beware. The ‵iconic plastic doll|is ‵often mutilated|at the ‵hands of young girls, according to research published|by British academics.


“The ‵girls we survey|see Barbie torture|as a ‵legitimate play activity, and see the ‵torture as a| ‵‘cool’ activity,” said Agnes Nairn, one of the University|of Bath researchers. The ‵types of mutilation are ‵varied|and ‵creative, and ‵range from removing the hair|to decapitation, burning, breaking|and ‵even microwaving.


Researchers from the university’s ‵marketing|and ‵psychology departments|questioned ‵100 children|about their attitudes|to a ‵range of products|as part of a study|on ‵branding. They found| ‵Barbie provoked the ‵strongest reaction, with youngsters reporting|“‵rejection, ‵hatred and ‵violence”, Nairn said. “The ‵meaning of ‘Barbie’|went ‵beyond an expressed antipathy 1; ‵actual physical violence|and torture towards the doll|was ‵repeatedly reported.” she said.


While boys ‵often expressed nostalgia|and affection toward GI Joe, ‵renouncing Barbie|appeared to be a ‵rite of passage|for ‵many girls,① Nairn said.


“The ‵most readily expressed reason|for ‵rejecting Barbie|was that she was ‵babyish, and girls saw her|as representing their younger childhood| ‵out of which they felt|they had now grown,” she said.


Nairn said|many girls saw Barbie|as an ‵inanimate object| ‵rather than a treasured toy.


“Whilst for an ‵adult|the delight the child felt in ‵breaking, ‵mutilating|and ‵torturing their dolls|is ‵deeply disturbing, from the child's point of view|they were ‵simply being imaginative|in disposing of an ‵excessive commodity|in the ‵same way|as one might crush cans|for recycling,” she said.


Manufacturer Mattel, which sells 94 ‵million Barbies|a year worldwide, said the doll remained|the “‵No. 1 fashion doll brand”.


Mattel U.K. said|that despite the findings|of “this ‵very small group of children, we know|that there are ‵millions of girls in the U.K.|and ‵across the world|that love and enjoy playing with ‵Barbie|and will ‵continue to do so|in the future.” [330 words]

芭比娃娃的命运


芭比娃娃,小心点。根据英国研究人员公布的调查结果,这只塑料娃娃经常受到年轻女孩的虐待。


英国巴斯大学研究人员艾格尼丝·奈恩说:“我们调查的那些女孩都认为虐待芭比娃娃没有什么不对,而且还觉得自己这样做挺酷的。”虐待芭比的方式多种多样,而且很有创意,有的把芭比娃娃的头发给剃了,有的把她的头给卸了,有的烧它、把它的身体折断,甚至有人把它放进微波炉里。


巴斯大学营销系和心理学系的研究人员对100个儿童进行了调查,调查主要是针对他们对一系列产品的态度,这也是品牌研究的一个部分。调查结果表明,孩子们对芭比娃娃的反应最为强烈,据奈恩介绍,“排斥、厌恶和暴力”是被用的最多的评价字眼。她说,“芭比所遭受的已经不仅仅是孩子们的反感了,暴力和‘酷刑’对于这个娃娃来说已是家常便饭。”


“当男孩们对于‘美国大兵’念念不忘时,和芭比娃娃说再见则是很多女孩告别童年时代的标志。”


奈恩说,“女孩们不喜欢芭比最直接的一个原因就是,觉得芭比太孩子气,就像自己童年时的样子,而她们觉得自己已经不再是小女孩了,芭比娃娃已经不适合自己。”


奈恩说很多女孩都觉得芭比娃娃死气沉沉的,没有一点生气,根本不把她当成宝贝。


她说,“在大人们看来,孩子以虐待、蹂躏玩具娃娃为乐实在是太不正常了,但是站在孩子们的角度想想,他们觉得自己只是在处理一个多余的东西,这就和把铁罐压扁以便回收的道理是一样的。”


芭比娃娃的生产商麦特尔公司介绍,芭比娃娃仍然是时尚娃娃的第一品牌。她每年的全球销售量达到9400万。


麦特尔公司说,尽管这个调查发现有一小部分孩子不喜欢芭比娃娃,但是我们知道在英国乃至全世界,有几百万的女孩都很喜欢芭比,她们把她当作自己的朋友,而且会一直对芭比娃娃‘宠爱有加’



1 antipathy
n.憎恶;反感,引起反感的人或事物
  • I feel an antipathy against their behaviour.我对他们的行为很反感。
  • Some people have an antipathy to cats.有的人讨厌猫。
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a.a.u
Aragats
be lost to all feeling
berlevaag (bearalvahki)
blure
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celery top pines
charging tundish
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