原创 Soren 2025-05-13 08:46 辽宁
与其“丧偶式育儿”，不如一人轻装上阵。对于很多新时代女性来说，离婚不是崩溃的开始，而是重启的机会。她们放下不再有爱的关系，带着孩子和热爱的事业，过上了比婚姻中更轻松、更自在的生活。
婚姻并非女性人生的终点站，也不是育儿的必要前提。越来越多有能力的女性开始质疑“丧偶式育儿”，在孩子和丈夫之间，她们选择了孩子，也选择了自己。她们不怨不悔，只是觉得，如果无法共育，那不如独立育儿，反而更轻松。
今天我们看一篇Sixth Tone里的报道。
扫码阅读原文，包含原文、译文、音频，可点击查词：
1
At 40, Tiaotiao is redefining motherhood on her own terms. After launching a clothing business at 25, she gave birth to her first child at 30, navigated postpartum depression during the traditional monthlong period of confinement known in Chinese as “sitting the month” — a trauma that created emotional distance between her and her husband — had a second child at 34, and expanded her business into e-commerce and livestreaming.
40岁的跳跳，正在以自己的方式重新定义“母亲”这一角色。25岁创办服装品牌，30岁迎来第一个孩子，坐月子期间经历产后抑郁，身心创伤在她与丈夫之间造成了情感隔阂；34岁生下第二个孩子后，她将业务拓展至电商和直播领域。
navigate本义是to direct or manage a ship, aircraft, or vehicle “驾驶、导航、航行”，引申为to find one’s way through a complex or difficult situation “应对、处理”，就像船只在风浪中寻找通路、避免搁浅一样，人在现实生活中也要寻找出路，应对种种挑战。
文中navigated postpartum depression 指的是“设法应对产后抑郁症”。
看个例句：
Many recent graduates are struggling to navigate the uncertainties of the job market amid widespread layoffs in the tech industry.许多应届毕业生在科技行业大规模裁员的背景下努力应对充满不确定性的就业市场。
在写作中，我们可以用navigate替换handle, manage, cope with, deal with等词，但相比之下，navigate带有主动性，且带有情境比喻，适合高级写作。
👉 更多写作地道句型，也可顺便看看这本书：《英语写作结构与句型》
postpartum depression指“产后抑郁症”，postpartum表示“产后的”，前缀post- = after，表示“之后”，如：postwar（战后）、postgraduate（研究生，毕业之后）。
反义前缀是pre-，表示“在...之前”，例如prenatal（pre- + natal） 产前的。
partum = 拉丁语词根，意为“childbirth”（分娩）
the traditional monthlong period of confinement known in Chinese as “sitting the month”指的是“坐月子”，其中confinement指“限制（活动范围）”，构词为：con-（一起）+ fin（边界）+ -ment（名词后缀）
动词是confine，表示“限制”，用法为confine sb/sth to sth = 把某人/某事限制在…范围。例如：
Due to the pandemic, many international students were confined to online learning for over two years.由于疫情，许多国际学生被限制在网络学习中长达两年。
《傲慢与偏见》剧中也出现过这个词：
“坐月子”除了文中说法，还可以说：
the Chinese postpartum recovery practice
the 30-day postnatal rest tradition
traditional postnatal care known as ‘zuo yue zi’
更地道的解释方式是：
a traditional Chinese practice where new mothers stay indoors for a month after childbirth to recover physically and mentally.
2
“Even if we agreed on childcare, we’d likely clash on other fronts — or else lack emotional connection. Plus, my strong personality defies traditional ‘wife material’ stereotypes.”
“即使在育儿上达成一致，也很可能在其他方面产生分歧，或者缺乏情感连结。更何况，我的性格也不符合传统意义上的‘贤妻良母’。”
clash on other fronts 中， front 在这里是比喻义，指“领域”或“方面”，clash on other fronts的意思是“在其他方面发生冲突”，例如：
on the economic front
在经济方面
on the parenting front
在育儿方面
my strong personality defies traditional ‘wife material’ stereotypes中，defy在这里可以用challenge, resist, reject替换，但defy多了一种力量感与主动性，有“藐视权威”之意，适合强调突破、抗争。
3
According to my research, these women embrace motherhood despite their grueling schedules, convinced that only mothers can maximize a child’s welfare. None complained to me about the limitations or sacrifices of motherhood; instead, they sought to highlight the meaning their children brought to their lives and the strength and insights gained from parenting.
根据笔者调研，这些女性即便行程繁忙，依然坚定选择为人母，认为只有母亲才能最大程度保障孩子的利益。她们并不抱怨母职所带来的牺牲与压力，反而更愿意强调孩子赋予她们的意义，以及育儿过程中所收获的坚韧与智慧。
grueling = exhausting and demanding（精疲力竭的、艰难的）
grueling schedules = 高强度、耗体力的日程安排，常用于工作、训练、考试、家务等体力脑力消耗大的情境。
例如：
The athletes underwent grueling training sessions before the Olympics.运动员在奥运前接受了高强度的训练。
Preparing for the national civil service exam is a grueling process.备考国家公务员是一段让人筋疲力尽的过程。
Many delivery drivers work grueling hours to meet daily quotas.许多快递员每天都在艰难地加班完成派件任务。
再看一个《哈里波特与混血王子》中的例句：
The shock had taken a little while to wear off. For a time, he had tried to convince himself that Fudge had indeed been a hallucination brought on by lack of sleep during his grueling election campaign.
那阵震惊过了好一会儿才慢慢消退。有段时间，他还试图说服自己，福吉不过是竞选期间因为严重缺乏睡眠而产生的幻觉。
4
The choices these entrepreneurial women make between their roles as wives and mothers reflect their stance on female norms and values. Breaking free from the traditional emphasis on wifely duties, they live out dual identities: as architects of market-driven enterprises and curators of childhoods.
这些女性在“妻子”与“母亲”角色之间的抉择，反映出她们对女性价值的重新思考。她们挣脱“以妻为本”的传统束缚，一手主导企业发展，一手用心经营子女成长，形成双重身份。
break free from = 摆脱，可用于表示摆脱社会规训、心理障碍、人际依赖、体制约束等，看个例句：
More young Chinese women are choosing to break free from the expectation of marriage before 30 and prioritize career and self-growth instead.越来越多中国年轻女性选择摆脱30岁前必须结婚的社会期待，转而优先考虑事业与自我成长。
最后看一个《星际迷航》里的例句：
婚姻从不是人生的标配，育儿也不必依赖爱情的残余来完成。对这些女性来说，成为好母亲，不意味着必须是某人的妻子。她们不反对婚姻，但更珍惜自己在其中的价值与感受。当传统角色无法容纳真实自我，她们选择了重塑规则，而不是勉强适应。这是自由的代价，更是成长的标志。
今天就到这里，感谢阅读。
