美国精神正能量何存? 美国体操女队的启示
Where can you find reasons to feel truly positive about the American spirit today? That is a question that many voters might be asking themselves after the long 2016 race.
今天你在哪里还能真正感受到美国精神的正能量？在漫长的2016年大选后，许多选民或许正在问自己这个问题。
For while the contest ended this week with a victory for Trump, it seems unlikely to bring a close to all the polarisation and acrimony; on the contrary, most pundits fear that America is more polarised now than ever before, with a poisonous mood.
尽管大选已经以特朗普的胜利落幕，但这似乎不太可能给极化和尖刻态度画上句号；相反，大多数评论人士都担忧美国现在比以往任何时候都更加极化，整个社会弥漫着一种有毒的情绪。
Last week, though, I discovered one little flash of joy — and hope — in an unexpected place: the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, where I took my daughters to watch a performance of the US Olympic women’s gymnastics team.
然而，最近我在一个意想不到的地方发现了一点喜悦——和希望：纽约布鲁克林的巴克莱中心(Barclays Center)。我带着我的女儿们到这里观看了美国奥运体操女队的表演。
The Final Five — as Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas, Aly Raisman, Madison Kocian and Laurie Hernandez call themselves — delivered a stunning performance at the Rio Games, reaping a historic nine medals.
自称终极五人组的西蒙娜.拜尔斯(Simone Biles)、加比.道格拉斯(Gabby Douglas)、阿利.雷斯曼(Aly Raisman)、麦迪逊.科齐安(Madison Kocian)和劳丽.赫南德斯(Laurie Hernandez)在里约奥运会用令人惊叹的表演历史性地斩获了9枚奖牌。
Unsurprisingly, their performance at the Barclays Center was exuberant and impressive, with somersaults, gravity-defying leaps, bar routines — and rousing images of the American flag.
豪不意外，她们在巴克莱中心的表演充满活力，令人印象深刻——空翻、挑战重力的跳跃、杠上动作，以及激动人心的美国国旗的画面。
So far, so cheering.
这一切都令人欢欣鼓舞。
But what really grabbed my attention was not the physical contortions — it was the atmosphere in the auditorium.
但真正吸引我的注意力的不是她们的动作——而是观众席上的氛围。
The Final Five is a strikingly multiracial group, with African-American (Biles and Douglas), Caucasian (Kocian and Raisman) and Hispanic (Hernandez) gymnasts.
终极五人组是一个醒目的多族裔组合，其中包含非裔美国人（拜尔斯和道格拉斯）、高加索种白人(科齐安和雷斯曼)和西语裔人（赫南德斯）。
The audience at the Barclays Center was a mix too, seemingly from all boroughs and backgrounds, rich and poor (many tickets were distributed at subsidised rates).
巴克莱中心的观众也混合了多种族裔，他们似乎来自纽约各区和各种背景，既有富人，也有穷人（很多票是以补贴价分发的）。
Nobody in the hall gave a damn about whether the gymnasts were black, brown, white or blue; they shrieked with pleasure in a colour-blind way.
没人在乎这些体操运动员的肤色是黑色、棕色、白色或者任何什么颜色；他们高兴地尖叫，对不同的肤色一视同仁。
This was an America united, not divided by racial slurs or anger.
这是一个团结的美国，没有被种族主义诋毁或者怒火撕裂。
Better still, for a blissful few hours, that gym mat even drowned out gender battles.
更棒的是，在快乐的几个小时中，体操垫也让性别之争湮没无声。
Like many parents in America, I have spent the past few months wondering how to raise young girls to feel strong and confident in a political culture that has become infused with rows about sexism, sexual harassment and feminism.
像很多美国的父母一样，过去几个月我一直在思考如何抚养年幼的女儿们，让她们能够在当前这种充斥着有关性别歧视、性骚扰和女权主义的纷扰的政治文化下自强自信。
Should you stop kids watching TV in case they hear vulgar language?
是否应该不让孩子看电视，以免他们听到粗俗的语言？
(As I did for the second political debate.) Or should you, instead, talk openly about sexual harassment? (As I have tried to do.)
（在第二场总统候选人电视辩论的时候，我就是这么干的。）或者，你是不是应该公开谈论性骚扰？（我尝试这么做了。）
And even if you can sidestep the political cycle, what do you do about all the other appalling images that bombard girls today on social media, such as vapid YouTube stars or pouting, hyper-sexualised icons like Rihanna and Miley Cyrus?
就算你能绕开政治周期，对于现在社交媒体上铺天盖地涌向女孩子的令人惊骇的图片，你又能做些什么呢？比如那些乏味的YouTube明星，或者像蕾哈娜(Rihanna)和麦莉.赛勒斯(Miley Cyrus)那样撅着双唇的超级性感的偶像？
There are no easy answers.
对此，没有简单的答案。
But, as I watched those five gymnasts twirl on the mat, I realised that they offer a refreshing counterpoint.
但是，当我看着那5个体操运动员在体操垫上旋转的时候，我意识到她们提供了一个令人耳目一新的对比。
Are they wholesome? Yes, as far as anyone can tell.
她们是不是健康正派？是的，至少在观众眼里是如此。
Do they demonstrate discipline and ambition? Undoubtedly: if you want to teach a kid about triumph in the face of adversity, Biles’s life story is a good place to start: she overcame the challenges of a very tough childhood to win five Olympic medals.
她们是否展现出自律和雄心？毫无疑问：如果你想要教一个孩子战胜逆境，拜尔斯的人生故事是一个好的开始：她克服了一个非常艰难的童年带来的挑战，赢得了5枚奥运奖牌。
Do the Final Five create a positive body image? Surprisingly, yes.
终极五人组是否创建了一个正面的身材形象？令人惊讶的是，答案是肯定的。
When I was growing up, many female gymnasts seemed to be emaciated waifs.
在我长大的年代，许多女性体操运动员看起来像是瘦弱的流浪儿童。
But the US Olympic women’s team has all types of builds, and each of them seems utterly comfortable in her own skin, projecting an image of strength and confidence.
但美国奥运女子体操队的成员们有各种各样的体型，每一个人都轻松自在，展现出力量和自信。
Or, as my daughters declared on our way home after the show: They are awesome, awesome, awesome! Every other family around us in the subway carriage seemed to agree.
或者，就像表演结束后，我的女儿们在回家的路上说的：她们棒极了，棒极了，棒极了！在地铁车厢里，我们周围的其他每一个家庭似乎都认同这一点。
Of course, some readers may point out that sport is not real life; they might also observe that it’s easier to create this harmonious blend in relatively privileged corners of the US, such as New York.
当然，一些读者可能会指出，体育不是现实生活；他们或许还会指出，在美国的一些相对优越的地方，比如纽约，更容易营造这种和谐的融合。
Perhaps so.
或许如此。
But the reason I am sharing this experience is this: at a time when so much poison is swirling around the political landscape — and pundits everywhere are wailing about uncertainty in the US — we also need to celebrate the parts of our cultural life that are truly great, at least in terms of upholding the American spirit.
但我分享这段经历的原因是：在现在这个政治生态被如此之多的毒药围绕的时期，在各路评论人士都在哀叹美国的不确定性的时期，我们也需要欢呼我们的文化生活中真正伟大的那些部分，至少从弘扬美国精神的角度上是这样。
When we finally got home, I was quietly thrilled to see my daughters put a poster of the Final Five above their beds.
我们终于到家后，看到女儿们把一张终极五人组的海报挂在床头，我暗自感到振奋。
To them, this is merely an expression of hero(ine) worship.
对她们来说，这只不过是对（女）英雄崇拜的一种表达。
To me, it seems like a little talisman to ward off a wave of sexism, racism and hate.
对我来说，这就像是一个能够抵御性别歧视、种族主义和仇恨的小小护身符。
Perhaps we should send Donald Trump down to the gym mat too; if nothing else, it might force him to ponder a better vision of the mighty US of A.
或许我们应该让唐纳德.特朗普(Donald Trump)也到体操垫上；即使没有其他作用，那或许能够迫使他思考一个强大的美利坚合众国的更美好愿景。
