为什么单身女性的称谓发生了变化

Why words for single women have changed through
为什么单身女性的称谓发生了变化

In a recent interview with，actress Emma Watson
在最近的一次采访中，女演员艾玛·沃森

about being a single 30-year-old woman.Instead of calling herself single，however，she used the word “self-partnered.”
谈论自己作为单身30岁女性的感受。然而，她没有称自己为单身，而是使用了“自我伴侣”这个词。

I’ve studied and written about the history of single women，and this is the first time I am aware of “self-partnered” being used.We’ll see if it catches on，but if it does，it will join the ever-growing list of words used to describe single women of a certain age.
我研究并撰写了关于单身女性历史的著作，这是我第一次听说使用“自我伴侣”。我们拭目以待它是否会流行起来，但如果会，它将加入描述特定年龄单身女性的不断增长的词汇列表中。

Women who were once called spinsters eventually started being called old maids.In 17th-century New England，there were also words like “thornback”—a sea skate covered with thorny spines—used to describe single women older than 25.
曾经被称为纺纱女的人最终开始被称为老姑娘。在17世纪的新英格兰，还有像“thornback”（一种长满棘刺的鳐鱼）这样的词用来描述25岁以上的单身女性。

Before the 17th century，women who weren’t married were called maids，virgins or “puella，” the Latin word for “girl.” These words emphasized youth and chastity，and they presumed that women would only be single for a small portion of their life—a period of “pre-marriage.”
在17世纪之前，未婚女性被称为少女、处女或“puella”（拉丁语中的“女孩”）。这些词强调青春和贞洁，它们假定女性只会在人生的短暂时期内单身——即“婚前时期”。

But by the 17th century，new terms，such as “spinster” and“singlewoman，” emerged.
但到了17世纪，出现了“spinster”（纺纱女）和“singlewoman”（单身女性）等新术语。

What changed? The numbers of unwed women—or women who simply never married—started to grow.
发生了什么变化？未婚女性（或从未结婚的女性）的数量开始增长。

Now terms were needed for adult single women who might never marry.The term spinster transitioned from describing an occupation that employed many women—a spinner of wool—to a legal term for an independent，unmarried woman.
现在需要为可能永远不会结婚的成年单身女性寻找术语。“纺纱女”一词从描述雇用许多女性的职业（羊毛纺纱工）转变为独立未婚女性的法律术语。

Many of us assume that past societies were more traditional than our own，with marriage more common.But my work shows that in 17th-century England，at any given time，more women were unmarried than married.It was a normal part of the era’s life and culture.
我们许多人认为过去的社会比我们自己的更传统，婚姻更普遍。但我的研究表明，在17世纪的英格兰，任何时候未婚女性都多于已婚女性。这是那个时代生活和文化中正常的一部分。

In the late 1690s，the term old maid became common.The expression emphasizes the paradox of being old and yet still virginal and unmarried.It wasn’t the only term that was tried out; the era’s literature also poked fun at “superannuated virgins.” But because “old maid” a little easier，it’s the one that stuck.
在1690年代末，“老姑娘”一词变得普遍。这个表达强调了年老却仍保持处女和未婚的矛盾。这并不是唯一尝试过的术语；那个时代的文学作品也嘲笑“过时的处女”。但因为“老姑娘”更容易发音，所以它流传了下来。

Today in the U.S.，the median first age at marriage for women is 28.For men，it’s 30.
如今在美国，女性初婚的中位年龄是28岁。男性则是30岁。

What we’re experiencing now isn’t a historical first; instead，we’ve essentially returned to a marriage pattern that was common 300 years ago.From the 18th century the mid-20th century，the average age at first marriage dropped to a low of age 20 for women and age 22 for men.Then it began to rise again.
我们现在经历的并不是历史上的第一次；相反，我们基本上回到了300年前常见的婚姻模式。从18世纪到20世纪中叶，初婚平均年龄降至女性20岁和男性22岁的低点。然后它又开始上升。

There’s a reason was asking Watson about her single status as she approached 30.To many，age 30 is a milestone for women—the moment when，if they haven’t already，they’re supposed to go from being footloose and fancy-free to thinking about marriage，a family and a mortgage.
沃森快30岁时询问她的单身状态是有原因的。对许多人来说，30岁是女性的里程碑——那一刻，如果她们还没有，就应该从无拘无束、随心所欲转变为考虑婚姻、家庭和抵押贷款。

Even if you’re a wealthy and famous woman，you can’t escape this cultural expectation.Male celebrities don’t seem to be questioned about being single and 30.
即使你是一位富有且著名的女性，你也无法逃避这种文化期望。男性名人似乎不会因为单身和30岁而受到质疑。

While no one would call Watson a spinster or old maid today，she nonetheless feels compelled to create a new term for her status：“self-partnered.” In what some have dubbed the “age of self-care，” perhaps this term is no surprise.It seems to say，I’m focused on myself and my own goals and needs.I don’t need to focus on another person，whether it’s a partner or a child.
虽然现在没人会称沃森为纺纱女或老姑娘，但她仍然感到有必要为自己的状态创造一个新词：“自我伴侣”。在一些人称之为“自我关爱的时代”，也许这个词并不令人惊讶。它似乎在说，我专注于自己和自己的目标和需求。我不需要专注于另一个人，无论是伴侣还是孩子。

To me，though，it’s ironic that the term “self-partnered”seems to elevate coupledom.Spinster，singlewoman or singleton：None of those terms openly refers to an absent partner.But selfpartnered evokes a missing
对我来说，讽刺的是“自我伴侣”这个词似乎抬高了伴侣关系。纺纱女、单身女性或单身者：这些词都没有公开指涉缺席的伴侣。但“自我伴侣”让人联想到缺失的

It says something about our culture and gender expectations that despite her status and power，a woman like Watson still feels uncomfortable simply calling herself single.
这说明了我们的文化和性别期望，像沃森这样的女性尽管拥有地位和权力，却仍然对简单地称自己为单身感到不安。