法国总统新眼镜引发时装政治风波

Once again the question of sex discrimination when it comes to politics and fashion has reared its pundit-baiting head.

“政治与时尚界的性别歧视”这个话题又一次投下了诱饵，等着评论员们去咬钩。

The announcement that Alyssa Mastromonaco, a former deputy chief of staff for President Obama, would join Marie Claire as a contributing editor has talking heads from Politico to New York magazine up in arms about whether it is demeaning or about time for serious women to have a serious relationship with glossy magazines, why fashion is belittling to female power players (Politico calls this “the princess effect”), why this is never an issue when it comes to their male counterparts and how, if we were really being fair, we would pay beady-eyed attention to men and their garb, so on and so forth. You know the story.

据有关消息，奥巴马总统的前任副幕僚长阿丽莎·马斯特洛莫纳克(Alyssa Mastromonaco)即将加入《Marie Claire》杂志，担任撰稿编辑。从《政客》到《纽约》杂志，众多评论者纷纷发表意见，探讨她是不是自贬身份；何时才是严肃的职业女性和时尚杂志发展严肃关系的好时候；为什么卷入时尚会使那些女性权力玩家们显得渺小（《政客》称之为“公主效应”）；为什么男性政客就不会遇到这种事；还有，如果我们真正公平的话，应该对男人和他们的着装密切关注到什么地步，等等等等，诸如此类。你们懂的。

But here’s the thing: While everyone has been shouting about the above (Ms. Mastromonaco has written an editorial in her defense), the very same issue, which is to say, a major public figure’s relationship to fashion, has actually become something of a cause célèbre in France. But in this case, the public figure is a man.

但是问题就在这儿：正当所有人都在叫嚷着上述这些问题的时候（马斯特洛莫纳克也写了一篇社论为自己辩护），重要公众人物与时尚的关系这个同样的问题在法国也引发了一场公开论战，只不过主人公是男性。

I offer as proof positive that these days sartorial politics is an equal opportunity arena (and taken equally seriously for both sexes) the recent hoo-ha over President François Hollande’s new ... eyeglasses. Truth is, when it comes to image, male leaders are under scrutiny just as much as women are. Perhaps even more, as they have fewer options for self-expression, resulting in greater attention to every detail.

我可以拿出的铁证是——弗朗索瓦·奥朗德总统(President François Hollande)的……新眼镜问题掀起的轩然大波表明，现在服装政治完全是个机会均等的舞台（对于男女来说都是严肃的事情）。事实是：当涉及形象问题时，男性领导人也和女性领导人一样，会受到人们细心审视。或许人们对男性领导人的关注更多，因为他们没有多少选择可供自我表达，其结果就是人们对所有细节更加关注。

A few weeks ago, Mr. Hollande swapped his clear rimless glasses for a geekier, horn-rimmed style. They are not as extreme as stereotypical black-framed architect’s numbers, but they come close. And this started a vociferous debate among the French.

几个星期前，奥朗德把原来清澈明朗的无边眼镜换成了有点书呆子气的角质框架眼镜。它不像典型的黑边建筑师眼镜那么极端，但也差不多了。这在法国人当中引发了一场热闹的讨论。

The glasses, made by Lindberg, a Danish company whose glasses are also worn by Queen Elizabeth II, Bill Gates, Miuccia Prada and Brad Pitt, have been condemned by French businesses for being both unpatriotic and hypocritical. The glasses prove, Mr. Hollande’s critics said, that he does not practice what he preaches: that is, supporting local industry. (The president made the somewhat ill-considered decision to do the glasses swap as his government embarked on a heightened Made in France push.)

这副眼镜是由丹麦公司林德伯格制造，伊丽莎白女王二世(Queen Elizabeth II)、比尔·盖茨、缪西娅·普拉达(Miuccia Prada)和布拉德·皮特(Brad Pitt)也戴这个牌子的眼镜。法国商界批评总统戴这个牌子的眼镜显得不爱国、虚伪。奥朗德的批评者们说，奥朗德鼓吹支持本土工业，这副眼镜却和他的话自相矛盾（总统做出这个某种程度上欠考虑的换眼镜决定正值他的政府大力鼓励“法国制造”之际）。

Ludovic Brochard and Maxime Rolandeau, directors of the French glasses manufacturer Roussilhe, posted a letter on the company’s website that they also sent to the Élysée Palace, in which they wrote (and I have translated): “You are, Mr. President, an important figure around the world, and your choice of glasses could suggest that no French company can satisfy your needs.”

法国眼镜公司卢西勒(Roussilhe)的经理卢多维·布罗夏尔(Ludovic Brochard)和马克西姆·罗兰多(Maxime Rolandeau)在公司网站上发表了一封公开信，同时这封信寄到了爱丽舍宫，信中写道（由我翻译成英文）：“总统先生，你是世界要人，你对眼镜的选择暗示着没有任何法国眼镜公司能够满足你的需求。”

Instead, they continued, “You could have been an ambassador for French glasses and witness to the dynamism of our sector in France and beyond.” They invited him to meet them at the Salon Mondiale de l’Optique at the end of September to check out their wares.

他们还写道，“你本应成为法国眼镜的大使，以及我们的公司在法国乃至国外的活跃势头的见证人。”他们邀请奥朗德在9月底的世界光学镜片沙龙上与他们见面，看看他们的产品。

Another optician, Sabine Bégault-Vagner, stepped in and gave Mr. Hollande a model from her brand, Sabine Be, in the colors of the republic (red and blue) with a slightly more diplomatic note saying, “I modestly propose you try a pair ‘hand made in France’ with much love.”

另一个眼镜制造商萨宾娜·贝格尔-瓦格诺(Sabine Bégault-Vagner)也参与进来，她送给奥德朗一副本公司品牌萨宾娜·比(Sabine Be)的样品，它有国旗的颜色（红与蓝），还附上了一则略带外交口吻的便条：“谨此，满怀爱意地建议你试戴这副‘法国手工制造’的眼镜。”

For their part, the Élysée Palace-ologists have been speculating on the potential symbolism of the glasses swap. Is it about “rose-tinted nostalgia”? asked the news channel France24, apropos of the retro style. Bruno Roger-Petit, a columnist in the weekly newsmagazine Le Nouvel Observateur, posited that the specs were a clear nod to the style of the politician Jacques Chirac in the golden years of French prosperity during the 1960s-70s, and thus “an object that embodies a clear relationship to a past perceived as positive, the nostalgia for an era of fun both prohibited and conquered.” (This despite the fact that the last French leader to actually wear Lindberg glasses, albeit a different style, was Mr. Hollande’s fellow socialist, Lionel Jospin, who was prime minister from 1997 to 2002; Mr. Chirac was the founder of the Gaullist party, Rally for the Republic.)

爱丽舍宫的研究专家们也在思考换眼镜背后的象征意味。这副眼镜是复古的样式，所以，这是“玫瑰色调的怀旧”吗？新闻频道France 24问道。新闻周刊《新观察者》(Le Nouvel Observateur)的专栏作家布鲁诺·罗格-波蒂(Bruno Roger-Petit)认为，这副眼镜显然是对20世纪六七十年代便开始担任政客的雅克·希拉克(Jacques Chirac)的风格致敬，那段时期正值法国的黄金时代。它“承载了与被认为是积极进取的过去时光的联系，是对一个乐趣被禁止也被征服的时代的怀旧”。（其实上一位戴林德伯格牌眼镜的法国领导人是奥朗德的同僚、社会主义者里昂内·乔斯班[Lionel Jospin]，他于1997年至2002年担任首相；希拉克是戴高乐党，即共和联盟的创始人）。

What has not come up in all the discussions is the price of the glasses: $1,300, according to Peter Warrer, Lindberg’s director of sales and marketing. That seems like a fair amount to spend on frames for a president who ran on the idea of a 75 percent “millionaires tax.”

争议中没有涉及眼镜的价格——根据林德伯格的市场销售部门主管彼得·沃勒(Peter Warrer)，这副眼镜售价1300美元。对于一位提出征收75%税率的“百万富翁税”的总统来说，这可是一笔不小的数字。

Since the brouhaha began, the Élysée Palace has been engaged in some damage control, hinting to the disgruntled local manufacturers that the president would try out their brands as well, which leads to the somewhat unsettling picture of Mr. Hollande changing glasses daily, simply to prove his evenhandedness. This might work to satisfy his various constituencies, but if I were his adviser, I would argue against it, as it seems to open the door to all sort of potential flip-flopping charges. Better, really, to demonstrate a consistent point of view through dress.

这场喧闹开始以来，爱丽舍宫就忙于将此事的损害降至最低，向不满的本国眼镜制造商们暗示，总统也会尝试他们的品牌，这在某种程度上给人一种混乱的感觉，好像奥德朗得每天换眼镜，只为证明自己是公平的。这或许能令他的选民们感到满意，但如果我是他的顾问，我会表示反对，这有可能令人们指责他喜欢变卦。其实更好的办法还是通过着装展现出持续性。

(The sheer existence of l’affair lunettes suggests that perhaps Mr. Hollande’s advisers are not as canny when it comes to image as they might be, and maybe the French should take a cue from the British, and start luring American spin doctors like David Axelrod and Jim Messina across the channel, because they are already across the Atlantic.)

（奥朗德眼镜事件表明奥朗德的顾问们或许也不是表面看上去那么能干，或许法国人应该听听英国人的指点，雇用海峡对岸的大卫·阿里克尔洛德[David Axelrod]和吉姆·梅西纳[Jim Messina]等来自美国的政府媒体顾问，他们已经从大西洋彼岸来到欧洲了。）

Possibly the fact that Mr. Hollande has actually been wearing Lindberg glasses for the last four years according to the company (those rimless numbers were theirs) might have led everyone involved to conclude the change of glasses would make no difference. My guess, however, is that they were a pre-existing condition on his election, and therefore not up for debate ... until he decided to change. At which point the manufacturers felt free to point out that he should have seized the day, and decision, to support French business.

林德伯格公司说，其实奥朗德过去四年里戴的都是该公司的产品，包括之前那副无框眼镜。或许这个事实能让所有参与者得出结论：这次换眼镜其实没什么大不了的。不过我猜想，在他选举上任之前就已经戴这个牌子的眼镜了，那时候根本没有引起什么争议……直到这次他换眼镜。如今他换了眼镜，眼镜公司们才纷纷指摘他应该把握机会，做出决定，支持国货。

Indeed, I’m surprised he hadn’t considered it. I mean, it’s not as if Mr. Hollande is a stranger to issues of sartorial spin, or the importance of the right pair of eyeglasses.

事实上，我很惊讶他居然没考虑到这一点。我的意思是，奥朗德似乎对服装公关并不陌生，也了解一副好眼镜的重要性。

He ran on an election platform of “Mr. Normal,” after all: his blandness and slightly rumpled suits the visual counterpoint to the Nicolas Sarkozy “President Bling-Bling” schtick. And to get there Mr. Hollande nevertheless underwent his own pre-campaign makeover under the tutelage of his former partner, Valérie Trierweiler, who helped him lose weight and settle on those rimless, rectangular Lindbergs. (Previously he had worn rounder, more goggly- eyed styles.)

毕竟，在选举期间，他把自己塑造为“普通人”形象：他平易近人，穿着稍微有点皱的西装，在视觉上正好和尼古拉·萨科齐(Nicolas Sarkozy)那种“Bling-Bling总统”的噱头形象截然相反。为此，奥朗德在前伴侣瓦莱丽·特里埃维勒(Valérie Trierweiler)帮助下设计了选举期间的形象，她还帮他减肥，选了那些无边的长方形林德伯格眼镜（更早以前，他戴的是更圆、更突出眼珠的样式）。

This suggests that the most recent glasses flipper-roo may actually have had to do with shedding some emotional baggage when Mr. Hollande’s relationship with Ms. Trierweiler went south, a motivating factor that thus far has not been raised in the discussion. We have all been there, after all: dumping T-shirts or even shoes that remind us unhappily of a former lover. Indeed, Mr. Warrer seems to think this may be the case, seeing Mr. Hollande’s switch as a sign “he wanted to renew himself.”

也就是说，最近奥朗德换眼镜，其实可能和他与特里埃维勒每况愈下的感情纠葛有关，迄今这个动机在讨论中尚没有人提起。毕竟我们都经历过这种事——扔掉衣服或鞋子，只因为它们让我们想起令人不快的老情人。其实，沃勒似乎也是这么想的，他觉得奥朗德换眼镜是“他想重新开始”的信号。

But in the end, and whatever the motivation and the mistakes involved, the kerfuffle shows that it’s not just first ladies who are seen as potential billboards for local industry (remember the outcry in the United States when Michelle Obama wore Alexander McQueen to the China state dinner?), but first executives, too.

但是，不管动机如何，不管出了什么错，这次的风波表明，不仅是第一夫人们才会成为国产工业潜在的宣传公告牌（还记得米歇尔·奥巴马[Michelle Obama]穿亚历山大·麦昆[Alexander McQueen]时装出席中国国宴时，美国上下一片哗然的景象吗？），首席执政者也有同样的功能。

At a time when the global economy dictates that every possible tool in a national arsenal be used to increase employment and promote industry, it’s a part of the job (admittedly unwritten) that should be taken seriously. Fact is, unlike Freud’s supposed remark that sometimes a cigar is only a cigar, in politics a new accessory is never just a new accessory. It’s always a symbol. No matter which gender it’s on.

当今，全球经济形式令国家需要动用所有手段去增进就业，宣传本国工业，这也成为领导人工作中（不成文）的一部分，必须被严肃对待。事实是，虽然弗洛伊德说过，有时候一支雪茄就是一支雪茄（指研究中就事论事，不过度引申——译注），但在政治当中，一个新配饰的意义永远不仅仅是一个新配饰而已。它永远都具有象征意义，不管佩戴它的是男人还是女人。