妇女与经济 Women and Economics

    财富、权力、社会地位、名望ˇ除此之外ˇ还有家庭及其天伦之乐、个人名声、闲情逸趣、油盐酱醋等等ˇ一个女子要获得这一切就得接受那小小的金戒指ˇ嫁给男人。

    夏洛特ˇ金斯ˇ吉尔曼(1860ˇl 935)是这一进步时代妇女运动的著名理论家。吉尔曼的童年十分凄惨ˇ父亲抛弃母亲后ˇ家里几乎一贫如洗。1884年ˇ古尔曼结婚ˇ婚后生有一女。家务例行琐事的烦恼使她精神崩溃。1888年ˇ她带着女儿离开丈夫。离婚后ˇ她原先丈夫与她的一位挚友再婚ˇ于是吉尔曼将女儿送到他们处ˇ由此腾出时间从事著述和演讲。吉尔曼写有短篇小说和诗歌ˇ并以发表有关妇女、劳工和社会组织等题目的演讲来维持生计。

    1900年ˇ吉尔曼再婚ˇ但婚后继续其演讲和著述的繁忙生活。自1909年至19l6年ˇ吉尔曼只身 一人编辑、出版女权运动月报ˇ《先驱》ˇ并独自为其撰稿。吉尔曼还发表过一部名为《家》的小说ˇ以及一部有关自己精神崩溃的虚构性著作ˇ《黄色的糊墙纸》。

    这里选载的是她的名作《妇女与经济》(1898)ˇ文章倡导的是妇女的经济独立。

    我们所能做的要比别人施加给我们的更能制约自己。妇女的表达自由ˇ如果有的话ˇ也要比承受自由少得多。她们只能通过铁条阻隔的窗户窥视她们生活于其中的世界一角ˇ只能从深闺帏幔间隙中呼吸到一点外部空气ˇ她们竖起耳朵ˇ如饥似渴ˇ听到的只是男人口中传来的一点点知识。莎剧《奥瑟罗》中的苔丝德蒙娜从丈夫奥瑟罗口中只了解到一丁点东西ˇ要是她能多了解一些情况ˇ可能会活得更久。虽然人有不断增长的创造欲ˇ有能力和毅力以新的形式表达新的精神ˇ以求有所作为ˇ但妇女在这些方面是完全受ˇ制的。她们可以ˇ先前那样操劳ˇ干那些最原始的家务活。当她们很自然地将这种辛勤劳作扩展到职业层次时ˇ我们却ˇ设法拖她们的后腿。妇女靠双手干体力活ˇ直接为家庭服务ˇ一无所获ˇ这是允许的ˇˇ甚至是强制的!除此之外ˇ妇女要越雷池一步是不允许的。妇女的劳动不仅在内容上受ˇ制ˇ在形式上也一样受到制约。即使允许她们于这做那ˇ她们也只能独自悄悄地进行ˇ所从事的是最原始的手工劳动……

    妇女受制于经年累月形成的综合影ˇˇ追溯起来ˇ耐人玩味却令人痛心。首先ˇ是自然法则对所有生灵的巨大影ˇˇ同样作用 于妇女身上。其次ˇ是紧步自然力之后且与之形成一种合力的社会风俗习惯与社会法则之演化ˇ在这一演化过程中ˇ妇女的低下地位是一活跃因素。接着是随着文明发展ˇ累积而成ˇ经年不断的一个个先例ˇ不断增强的教育作用使之深深印入每代人的脑海ˇ艺术使之迷人ˇ宗教使之神圣ˇ习惯使之更具ˇ力。再有便是最为根本的经济需要ˇ它奠定了整个社会结构的基础ˇ其作用贯穿古今ˇ延至永远。毫无疑问ˇ上述种种是对妇女强有力的制约条件。

    对妇女的这些制约本来可以更加有效ˇ而且痛苦要少得多ˇ但有个重要因素还得考虑ˇ那就是先天遗传并非“舍拉法典”。根据这一法典ˇ在昔日舍拉族和日耳曼部族里ˇ妇女不得继承土地ˇ而在昔日法国ˇ女人不准继承王位。可由于遗传的作用ˇ每个女孩从父亲身上继承有越来越多的求发展、图强大的人性倾ˇˇ而每个男孩同样从母亲身上继承有愈来愈多的温柔天性。先天遗传的作用是要使后天环境及教育倾ˇ于区别对待的趋于平等。遗传的作用是张扬女性、抑制男性。同时又不让女性成为一种舞毒蛾ˇ并给那些企图荒唐地在一个种族里使一种性别落后于另一种性别的人套上铁镣ˇ不让他们的企图得逞。但是遗传的这种作用又使人类生活异常痛苦ˇ极其艰难。这种痛苦与艰难应使我们早就看到ˇ我们的生活出了正轨。一个女孩诞生后ˇ经过其父亲参与的种族活动的洗礼ˇ更加人性化了ˇ可她自身的传统地位又使自己重新女性化ˇ这样她得重新生活一番ˇ亲身再次体验那种受ˇ制、受压抑、受否定的全过程。令人窒息的一个“不”字粉碎了她作为一个人的所有愿望ˇ所有创造、探索、学习及表达个人见解、奋发ˇ上的愿望……

    对一个面对生活的年轻男子来说ˇ世界是个广阔的天地。他可以利用ˇ而且必须利用身上的所有力量。假如第一步选择错了ˇ他可以选择再选择ˇ一条路定不通ˇ他可以选择另一条路ˇ最后获得成功。整个人类各种不断增长的需要要求他从事各种有利自身发展的工作。ˇ成为什么样的人ˇ他可以努力争取达到ˇˇ要什么ˇ他可以努力争取得到。财富、权力、社会地位、名望……ˇ要什么ˇ他都可以争取得到。

    对一个面对生活的女子来说ˇ外部世界并无两样ˇ其自身也同样拥有人的能量ˇ人的愿望ˇ人的抱负。然而她可望得到的ˇ可望从事的ˇ都只有一次性选择ˇ摆在她面前的只有一条通道。财富、权力、社会地位、名望ˇ除此之外ˇ还有家庭及其天伦之乐ˇ个人名声、闲情逸趣、油盐酱醋等等ˇ一个女子要获得这一切ˇ就得接受那小小的金戒指ˇ嫁给男人。压力之大概莫能外。这是她身后传统累积而成的压力ˇ是她周围环境继续施加的压力。这种压力通过教育的潜移默化进入她的内心ˇ直到最后自己竟也认为ˇ这种压力是无可非议的ˇ并将其影ˇ变本加厉地施加给自己的女儿。这样ˇ女人过于女性化还有什么可值得奇怪的呢?要不是不断地从男性身上继承有某种更有人性的东西ˇ我们早就都成为一群雌蜂了。然而ˇ每个时代ˇ每个士兵的女儿、海员的女儿、艺术家的女儿、发明家的女儿、巨商的女儿ˇ在身体与脑力两方面ˇ都继承和分ˇ有父辈发展的成果。因此ˇ尽管过于女性化ˇ她们也同时或多或少地人性化……

What we do modifies us more than what is done to us. The freedom of expression has been more restricted in women than the freedom of impression, if that be possible. Something of the world she lived in she has seen from her barred windows. Some air has come through the purdah's folds, some knowledge has filtered to her eager ears from the talk of men. Desdemona learned somewhat of Othello. Had she known more, she might have lived longer. But in the ever-growing human impulse to create, the power and will to make, to do, to express one's new spirit in new forms,―here she has been utterly debarred. She might work as she had worked from the beginning,―at the primitive labors of the household; but in the inevitable expansion of even those industries to professional levels we have striven to hold her back. To work with her own hands, for nothing, in direct body-service to her own family,―this has been permitted,―yes, compelled. But to be and to do anything further from this she has been forbidden. Her labor has not been limited in land. but in degree. Whatever she has been allowed to do must be done in private and alone, die first-hand industries of savage times. . . .

      It is painfully interesting to trace the gradual cumulative effect of these conditions upon women: first, the action of large natural laws, acting on her as they would act on any other animal; then the evolution of social customs and laws (with her position as the active cause), following the direction of mere physical forces, and adding heavily to them; then, with increasing civilization, the unbroken accumulation of precedent, burnt into each generation by the growing force of education, made lovely by art, holy by religion, desirable by habit; and, steadily acting from beneath, the unswerving pressure of economic necessity upon which the whole structure rested. These are strong modifying conditions, indeed.

      The process would have been even more effective and far less painful but for one important circumstance. Heredity has no Salic law. Each girl child inherits from her father a certain increasing percentage of human development, human power, human tendency; and each boy as well inherits from his mother the increasing percentage of sex-development, sex-power, sextendency. The action of heredity has been to equalize what every tendency of environment and education made to differ. This has saved us from such a female as the gypsy moth. It has held up the woman, and held down the man. It has set iron bounds to our absurd effort to make a race with one sex a million years behind the other. But it has added terribly to the pain and difficulty of human life,―a difficulty and a pain that should have taught us long since that we were living on wrong lines. Each woman born, re-humanized by the current of race activity carried on by her father and re-womanized by her traditional position, has had to live over again in her own person the same process of restriction, repression, denial; the smothering "no" which crushed down all her human desires to create, to discover, to learn, to express, to advance. . . .

     To the young man confronting life the world lies wide. Such powers as he has he may use, must use. If he chooses wrong at first, he may choose again, and yet again. Not effective or successful in one channel, he may do better in another. The growing, varied needs of all mankind call on him for the varied service in which he finds his growth. What he wants to be, he may strive to get. What he wants to get, he may strive to get. Wealth, power, social distinction, fame, ―what he wants he can try for.

      To the young woman confronting life there is the same world beyond, there are the same human energies and human desires and ambition within. But all that she may wish to have, all that she may wish to do, must come through a single channel and a single choice. Wealth, power, social distinction, fame,―not only these, but home and happiness, reputation, ease and pleasure, her bread and butter,―all, must come to her through a small gold ring. This is a heavy pressure. It has accumulated behind her through heredity, and continued about her through environment. It has been subtly trained into her through education, till she herself has come to think it a right condition, and pours its influence upon her daughter with increasing impetus. Is it any wonder that women are oversexed? But for the constant inheritance from the more human male, we should have been queen bees, indeed, long before this. But the daughter of the soldier and the sailor, of the artist, the inventor, the great merchant, has inherited in body and brain her share of his development in each generation, and so stayed somewhat human for all her femininity. . . .