在布宜诺斯艾利斯寻找美丽 BBC.doc

In Search of Beauty in Buenos AiresI have just joined a gym in downtown Buenos Aires - five floors of sweaty, muscle-pumping, stomach-toning, buttock-tightening office workers at it from seven in the morning until 10 at night. It is not easy to join the ranks of the beautiful people but a fair number of portenos seem to have made it. And dont they know it!There is a constant cluster of men in front of the full-length mirror in the changing room quite unashamedly admiring themselves before they return to work.I choke through a cloud of deodorant as I slink out and Im sure I detect a couple of disapproving glances at my rather worn jeans and less than perfectly ironed shirt.I noticed when I arrived in Argentina in the middle of the southern-hemisphere summer that people during their lunch breaks would occupy any available public space and twist themselves into the most contorted positions to sunbathe.I soon realised they were trying to expose to the midday sun that difficult spot on the side of the neck or inside of the right thigh that did not conform to the uniform, all-over tan that had been assiduously developed over the preceding months.A few years ago, the national football teams manager told his players to get their hair cut or be dropped from the squad. He said their game was suffering as they spent too much time flicking their locks into place for the cameras. Most complied, but not all of them.At the weekend, Argentines go out very late. It is not unusual to leave the house at midnight or after. On my first visit to the country I was told by my hosts that they would start preparing to leave at about eight.Five minutes later, my teeth cleaned, a check to see that my socks matched and my shirt buttons were done up correctly, I was ready to hit the town. Three hours later, and fed up waiting, I was asleep. Two hours after that, the family was ready and woke me to leave. Having spent so long getting ready, it is then important to be noticed and many revellers simply parade from one venue to another.Feminists here have a hard time arguing that piropos - as the suggestive comments building site workers direct at passing women are called - are not something to be encouraged.One study found that 68.9% of Argentines agreed that their men worry too much about how they look. The same percentage agreed that Argentine women are the most beautiful in the world. The capital city is adorned with endless clothes shops, more lingerie stores than I have ever seen and more plastic surgeons than you could wave a scalpel at. Some even have offices in the swankier shopping malls.History goes some way to explaining Argentines obsession with their looks. Huge numbers of Italians immigrated to Argentina and they brought their famous fashion sense with them. Throw in the Spanish influence and a little dash of the British polo-playing classes for good measure and you have a recipe for style. Role models include the great 1920s tango singer Carlos Gardel, with his hat carefully set at a rakish angle and his immaculate three-piece suit.The 1940s president Juan Peron whose also liked a well-pressed suit, but more of the military variety, being a great admirer of the then Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini. And then there was Perons young wife, Evita, who was style personified across Argentina and beyond.Argentines are under enormous pressure to look good, but the downside is that the number of people suffering from eating disorders is one of the highest in the world, especially among teenage girls. Job-seekers who are deemed to be overweight claim they are discriminated against.All this dieting, exercise and grooming comes to a climax each summer on the beaches of the Uruguayan resort of Punta del Este where the rich and beautiful Argentines go to display themselves.As one guidebook put it: Woe betide the mere mortals, with their few extra kilos, who commit the social faux pas of heading to one of the top beaches hoping to relax with a book.As I staggered off the treadmill after a half-an-hour workout at the gym looking red and bloated and a good 10 years older than I am, I had to ask myself whether being surrounded day and night by the beautiful people of Buenos Aires had infected me with an unhealthy dose of narcissism. Should I keep working at it and hope to one day push my way proudly through the crowd to show off my expanding biceps in the changing room mirror?But I have heard there is another side to Argentine life I should investigate, which centers around huge meat dinners, fine wines and the kind of cakes that leave you salivating outside the pastry shop window. Where did I leave that gym card?单词注释：deodorant di:5EudErEnt n. 除臭剂slink sliNk v. 潜行，溜走contorted kEntR: tId adj. 扭曲的tan tAn n. 阳光晒成的棕褐色locks lCks n. 卷发recipe 5resipi n. 食谱，秘诀betide bi5taid v. 降临，预示biceps 5baiseps n. 二头肌在布宜诺斯艾利斯寻找美丽我刚刚加入了位于布宜诺斯艾利斯商业区的一家健身俱乐部，健身房占了五层楼，从早上七点营业到晚上十点，在那里锻炼的白领们一个个汗流浃背，肌肉健美，腹部结实，臀部紧致。想要达到“美人”的标准并不容易，但是看起来，相当数量的布宜诺斯艾利斯人都已经做到了。难道他们自己还没有意识到么！在更衣室的大镜子前，一拨拨的男人毫不羞赧地欣赏着自己的体型，看够了才会回去工作。从那里溜走的时候，空气中弥漫的除臭剂的味道熏得我几乎窒息。我确信，有人对我身上的旧仔服和没有仔细熨过的衬衫投来了不以为然的目光。我来阿根廷时，这个南半球的国家正值盛夏。我发现人们在午休时会找任何一个可以的地方，摆出一个最扭曲的姿势来晒太阳。很快我就明白了，他们是在借用正午的阳光，想要把身上那些通常晒不到的地方晒黑，比如脖子两侧和大腿内侧，使其同周身的棕褐色肌肤保持一致，那可是他们几个月来不懈努力的成果。几年前，国家足球队的经理曾勒令队员们剪掉头发，否则就得离开球队。他说，球员们花了太多的时间在照相机前抚弄卷发，而不能专心踢球。多数人遵从了他的命令，但并非所有人。周末，阿根廷人很晚才会出门，拖到午夜甚至之后也是常有的事。我第一次来这个国家时，有一回房东在晚上八点钟告诉我，他们要准备一下然后出门。五分钟后，我刷完了牙，穿好了袜子，整理好了衬衫，可以进城了。三个小时后，我实在等不下去，睡着了，又过了两个小时，这一家人终于准备好，把我叫醒，然后出了门。花了那么长时间准备，当然要让所有人都注意到自己，所以很多狂欢者什么也不干，只是从一个集会场所走到另一个。在这里，建筑工人会对过往的女性直喇喇地投以带有暗示的眼光，被称为挑逗。女权主义提出，这是不适当的举动，但想要真正制止却很难。有调查显示，68.9%的阿根廷人认为这个国家的男人过分注重自己的仪表，而同等比例的人则相信，这里的女人是世界上最美的。在阿根廷的首都，有数不清的服装店、内衣店，还有无数的整形医生，其中有的甚至把诊所开到了繁华的购物中心。历史或多或少可以告诉我们，阿根廷人为什么如此为外表所累。大量的意大利移民涌入阿根廷，