男性从事“女性”职业 ——1988年英译汉及详解 Seated behind the front desk at a New York firm, the receptionist was efficient. Stylishly dressed, the firm"s newest employee had a pleasant telephone voice and a natural charm that put s at ease. The company was pleased:【F1】 Clearly, this was a person who took considerable pride in personal appearance. David King, the receptionist, is unusual, but by no means unique.【F2】 Just as all truck drivers and construction workers are no longer necessarily men, all secretaries and receptionists are no longer automatically women. The number of men in women-dominated fields is still small and they haven"t attracted the attention that has often followed women advancing into male-dominated fields, but men are moving into more and more jobs that have traditionally been held by women. Strictly speaking, the phenomenon is not new. For the past several decades, men have been quietly entering fields such as nursing, social work and elementary education. But today no job seems off-limits. Men serve coffee in offices and meals on airplanes.【F3】 These changes are helping to influence some of the long-standing traditions about the types of work men and women can do—but they also produce some undeniable problems for the men who are entering those fields formerly dominated by women. What kinds of men venture into these so-called "women"s fields" All kinds.【F4】 "I don"t know of any definite answers I"d be comfortable with," explains Joseph Pleck, Ph.D., of the Wellesley College Centre for Research on Women. Sam Ormont, for example, a thirty-year-old nurse at a Boston hospital, went into nursing because the army had trained him as a medical worker.【F5】 "I found that work very interesting." he recalled, "and when I got out of the service it just seemed natural for me to go into something medical. I wasn"t really interested in becoming a doctor." Thirty-five-year-old David King, an out-of-work actor, found a job as a receptionist because he was having trouble landing roles in Broadway plays and he needed to pay the rent. 【F6】 In other words, men enter "female" jobs out of the same consideration for personal interest and economic necessity that motivates anyone looking for work. But similarities often end there. Men in female-dominated jobs are conspicuous. As a group, their work histories differ in most respects from those of their female colleagues, and they are frequently treated differently by the people with whom they are in professional contact. The question naturally arises: Why are there still approximately ninety-nine female secretaries for every one male There is also a more serious issue. Most men don"t want to be receptionists, nurses, secretaries or sewing workers. Put simply, these are not generally considered very masculine jobs.【F7】 To choose such a line of work is to invite ridicule. "There was kidding in the beginning," recalls Ormont. "Kids coming from school ask what I am, and when I say "A nurse," they laugh at me. I just smile and say, "You know, there are female doctors, too."" Still, there are encouraging signs. Years ago, male grade school teachers were as rare as male nurses. Today more than one elementary school teacher in six is male. 【F8】 Can we anticipate a day when secretaries will be an even mix of men and women—or when the mention of a male nurse will no longer raise eyebrows It"s probably coming—but not very soon. 【F2】