挑战传统禁忌 傅园慧大方谈论生理期参赛

BEIJING — The uninhibited Fu Yuanhui, the Chinese swimmer beloved for her over-the-top expressions, has made waves once again. On Saturday night in Rio, she freely discussed having her period while competing in the Olympics, breaking what has long been a taboo among female athletes. Thevideo of her poolside interview quickly went viral.

北京——因夸张的表情而备受喜爱的直率的中国游泳运动员傅园慧再次掀起波澜。周六晚上，她在里约没有顾忌地谈到自己在月经期间参加奥运会的比赛，打破了女运动员中长期存在的一种禁忌。她在泳池边接受采访的视频很快疯狂传播开来。

Ms. Fu’s remarks came after the Chinese women’s swimming team narrowly missed winning a medal in the 4x100-meter medley relay. In a post-race interview, Ms. Fu, who had already won a bronze medal for the 100-meter backstroke, could be seen crouching as her teammates were questioned one by one. As the commentator turned to her, Ms. Fu stood up, grimacing in pain. The commentator ventured a guess that Ms. Fu must be suffering from a stomachache, which Ms. Fu quickly corrected.

傅园慧发表这番言论之前，中国女子游泳队刚刚在4x100米混合泳接力赛中以微小的差距错失奖牌。此前，她在100米仰泳比赛中获得了一枚铜牌。在视频中可以看到，当其他队员在赛后一个挨一个接受采访时，傅园慧一直蹲在地上。记者转向她时，傅园慧站起来，面部痛苦地扭曲着。记者大胆猜测她肯定是肚子疼，但傅园慧马上纠正了这种说法。

“It’s because I just got my period yesterday, so I’m still a bit weak and really tired,” she said. “But this isn’t an excuse for not swimming well.”

“因为昨天来例假了，所以还是会有点乏力吧，特别累，”她说。“但这也不是理由，还是我没有游好。”

Ms. Fu’s candor immediately attracted a deluge of comments online. On Weibo, China’s Twitter-like social media platform, the hashtag related to the subject was searched more than half a million times by the end of Sunday, with many commenters expressing their support for Ms. Fu’s openness.

傅园慧的直率很快在网上引发洪水般的评论。截至周日晚，在中国类似Twitter的社交媒体平台新浪微博上，与这个话题有关的标签已经被搜索了超过50万次。许多网民对傅园慧的坦诚表达了支持。

“Only those who have gotten their periods know how deathly painful it can be,” one wrote. “You are too awesome.”

“只有来例假痛经的人才知道，生不如死啊，”其中一位写道。“你是最棒的。”

A male user wrote, “To compete during her period and still feel bad about placing fourth: Fu Yuanhui, you are amazing. You are our pride.”

一名男性用户写道，来月经了“坚持去比赛，得了第四名还特别内疚，傅园慧你真的很棒，傅园慧你是我们的骄傲。”

Female commenters also took to social media to dispute largely male-driven criticism that swimming in a pool while menstruating was unhealthy and unhygienic.

女性网民也开始在社交媒体上与大多由男性发出的一种批评声音展开辩论。这些批评者认为，月经期间在池子里游泳有害健康，也不卫生。

“Don’t talk to me about staining the pool red or taking medicine to stop one’s period,” a female commenter wrote. “Haven’t you heard of something called a tampon?”

“不要再说会把泳池染红或者怎么不吃药延迟经期的这种话了，”一位女性评论者写道。“你们难道不知道有个东西叫卫生棉条吗？”

In many parts of the world, menstruation is still regarded with shame and distaste, though that is changing. In the United States, creative hashtag campaigns on social media and online petitions have challenged the discomfort about period-related topics. Female athletes, including the former tennis star Annabel Croft of Britain, have criticized the silence surrounding menstruation in sports. In 2015, the American musician Kiran Gandhi ran the London Marathon during her period sans female hygiene products to protest period-shaming, crossing the finish line with bloodstains prominently on display.

在世界上许多地方，月经依然被认为是一件让人羞愧和嫌恶的事，不过这种情况正在发生改变。在美国，社交媒体上富有创意的标签倡导运动和网上请愿活动，对大众的月经话题不适感发起了挑战。包括英国前网球明星安娜贝尔•克罗夫特(Annabel Croft)在内的女性运动员，对人们在月经期运动问题上的缄默提出挑战。2015年，美国音乐人基兰•甘地(Kiran Gandhi)在来月经期间不带女性卫生用品跑完伦敦马拉松，以此抗议对月经的羞耻感。在她跨过终点线那一刻，可以明显看到斑斑血迹。

Yet more open discussion about menstruation has been more slow to catch on in China. When talking about their periods, if at all, women still prefer to use euphemisms like “a visit from my aunt” or “taking a break.” Television ads for feminine hygiene products are banned during prime viewing times as inappropriate.

然而在中国，有关月经的更公开的讨论出现得更慢。在谈论月经时——如果她们会谈起的话——中国女性仍然宁愿使用“大姨妈来了”或“例假”等委婉说法。女性卫生用品的电视广告以不合时宜为由被禁止在黄金时段播出。

As a result, very few Chinese women use tampons, because it is widely, and falsely, believed that they can rob a woman of her virginity. This month, Chinese entrepreneurs plan to introduce the country’s first domestic tampon brand. All tampons sold in China have been imported, and most are sold online.

结果，中国女性很少使用卫生棉条，因为人们普遍错误地认为，这种东西会剥夺女性的童贞。几名中国创业者计划在本月推出中国首个国产卫生棉条品牌。此前，在中国出售的卫生棉条都是进口的，而且大多在网上销售。

In February, Anhui Province issued regulations allowing women to take up to two days off for menstrual pain, provided they could procure a doctor’s note certifying their symptoms. However, critics feared the practice might have the unintended effect of discouraging employers from hiring women and pointed out that women might still elect to forgo a paid menstrual leave to avoid criticism from male colleagues.

今年2月，安徽省颁布新规，允许女性因痛经每月请至多两天的假，条件是她们拿到医嘱，证明自己受到这一问题的困扰。不过，批评者担心这一举措可能会产生意想不到的影响，导致雇主不愿聘请女性。他们指出，女性可能还是会选择放弃请带薪生理假，以免受到男性同事的指责。

“Fu Yuanhui’s comments have raised awareness, because Chinese society still approaches menstruation indirectly, even considering it unlucky,” said Chen Yaya, a feminist activist and researcher at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. “But there’s no need for this at all. The period is simply an everyday phenomenon.”

“傅园慧应该会引起关注，因为我们社会对例假这个事还是很隐晦的，以前封建迷信还有觉得晦气不吉利，”在上海社科院从事研究工作的女权活动人士陈亚亚说。“其实没有必要，就是一种正常的生理现象。”