一位维秘超模的TED演讲：外表没有那么重要！（附视频&演讲稿）

Hi. My name is Cameron Russell, and for the last little while, I've been a model. Actually, for 10 years.And I feel like there's an uncomfortable tension in the room right now because I should not have worn this dress.

大家好，我是Cameron Russell, 在过去的一段时间里，我是个模特。其实，(我干了)10年。现在，我在这个房间内感到一种令人不适的紧张感，因为我不该穿这条裙子。

So luckily, I brought an outfit change. This is the first outfit change on the TED stage, so you guys are pretty lucky to witness it, I think. If some of the women were really horrified when I came out, you don't have to tell me now, but I'll find out later on Twitter.

幸亏我带了另外一套。这是TED讲台上第一次现场换装，所以我觉得今天在场的人都很幸运。如果有些女士对我的出现感到惊恐，不必现在告诉我。但我马上就会在twitter上知道的。（精彩英语演讲，最值得关注的英语演讲类公众号）

I'd also note that I'm quite privileged to be able to transform what you think of me in a very brief 10 seconds. Not everybody gets to do that. These heels are very uncomfortable, so good thing I wasn't going to wear them. The worst part is putting this sweater over my head, because that's when you'll all laugh at me, so don't do anything while it's over my head.

我也想告诉各位，我有幸能够在10秒内改变我在你们心中的形象。这不是所有人都能做得到的。这双高跟鞋很不舒服，而好消息是我不打算穿他们。最坏的消息是我要把这件毛衣从头上套进去，因为这时候你们会笑我，所以当我穿衣服的时，(你们)什么都不要做。

All right.

换好了。

So, why did I do that? That was awkward.

那么，我为什么做这个呢(现场换装)? 看起来很奇怪。

Well --Hopefully not as awkward as that picture.

希望不会像图片上那样怪。

Image is powerful, but also, image is superficial. I just totally transformed what you thought of me, in six seconds. And in this picture, I had actually never had a boyfriend in real life. I was totally uncomfortable, and the photographer was telling me to arch my back and put my hand in that guy's hair. And of course, barring surgery, or the fake tan that I got two days ago for work, there's very little that we can do to transform how we look, and how we look, though it is superficial and immutable, has a hu褐色ge impact on our lives.

形象是强大的，但同时又是表面化的。我只是在6秒内就彻底改变了自己在你们心中的形象。在这张照片里，我事实上在现实生活中根本没有男朋友。当摄影师要我弓起背，摸那个男士的头发时，我非常不自在。当然，除了手术或像两天前我为了工作做的棕 (色的皮肤) ，我们基本上是没法改变外表的。我们的外表即使是表面化的、固定的，还是极大地影响着我们的生活。（精彩英语演讲，最值得关注的英语演讲类公众号）

So today, for me, being fearless means being honest. And I am on this stage because I am a model. I am on this stage because I am a pretty, white woman, and in my industry, we call that a sexy girl. I'm going to answer the questions that people always ask me, but with an honest twist.

所以今天，对我来说，变的无惧就意味着要诚实。今天我站在这里是因为我是个模特。我在这个舞台上是因为我是个漂亮的白种女性，在我们业内我们称此为“性感女孩”。我要回答下人们常常问我的那些问题， (而且是)以一种诚实的方式。

So the first question is, how do you become a model? I always just say, "Oh, I was scouted," but that means nothing. The real way that I became a model is I won a genetic lottery, and I am the recipient of a legacy, and maybe you're wondering what is a legacy. Well, for the past few centuries we have defined beauty not just as health and youth and symmetry that we're biologically programmed to admire, but also as tall, slender figures, and femininity and white skin.

第一个问题是，你是怎么成为模特的? 我总是说：“我是被发现的”，但这其实什么也说明不了。我成为模特的真正的原因是我拥有极佳的基因，我是遗产的接受者，你可能在疑问什么是遗产?在过去的几个世纪里，美的定义不仅仅只包括健康，年轻和身材匀称这些我们出于生物本能去赞美的元素，还包括高挑，苗条的体型， 富有女性气质，白色皮肤这些特征。

And this is a legacy that was built for me, and it's a legacy that I've been cashing out on. And I know there are people in the audiencewho are skeptical at this point, and maybe there are some fashionistas who are like, "Wait. Naomi. Tyra. Joan Smalls. Liu Wen." And first, I commend you on your model knowledge. Very impressive.

这就是我的遗产，这就是我一直在兑现的遗产，我知道你们中有些人可能对这个观点存疑，你们可能会举出一些时尚圈人物，像 Naomi, Tyra, Joan Smalls和Liu Wen (前三位为黑人模特，第四位为中国模特)。 首先，我要表扬下你们对于模特界的了解令人印象深刻。（精彩英语演讲，最值得关注的英语演讲类公众号）

But unfortunately, I have to inform you that in 2007, a very inspired NYU Ph.D. student counted all the models on the runway, every single one that was hired, and of the 677 models that were hired, only 27, or less than four percent, were non-white.

但不幸的是，我得告诉你们，在2007年时，一名纽约大学的博士在启发之下统计了所有在职模特的人数，在677名正式受雇模特中只有27名，也就是不到百分之四，是非白种人。

The next question people always ask is, "Can I be a model when I grow up?" And the first answer is, "I don't know, they don't put me in charge of that." But the second answer, and what I really want to say to these little girls is, "Why? You know? You can be anything. You could be the President of the United States, or the inventor of the next Internet, or a ninja cardiothoracic surgeon poet, which would be awesome, because you'd be the first one."

下一个人们常问我的问题是 “我长大了能当模特吗?” 我的第一个答案是：“我也不知道，因为他们没让我来掌管这件事”。但第二个答案，也是我想对问问题的那些小姑娘说的是“为什么?你知道吗?你可以选择任何的职业。你可以成为美国总统，或是下一代互联网的发明者，或是个忍者般的心胸外科诗人，——这个不错，因为你会是第一个。”

If, after this amazing list, they still are like, "No, no, Cameron, I want to be a model," well, then I say, "Be my boss." Because I'm not in charge of anything, and you could be the editor in chief of American Vogue or the CEO of H&M, or the next Steven Meisel. Saying that you want to be a model when you grow up is akin to saying that you want to win the Powerball when you grow up. It's out of your control, and it's awesome, and it's not a career path.

如果，听完这些她们还是说 “不，不，Cameron，我想当模特”，我会说：“当我的老板吧。”因为我不能决定任何事，你可以成为美国Vogue杂志的主编，或是H&M的首席执行官，或下一个Steven Meisel(著名时尚摄影师) 。说你长大后想当模特就像你说你长大后想赢彩票一样。(能不能成为模特)不在你的掌控范围之内。当模特很棒，但它不是一个可规划的行业 。（精彩英语演讲，最值得关注的英语演讲类公众号）

I will demonstrate for you now 10 years of accumulated model knowledge, because unlike cardiothoracic surgeons, it can just be distilled right now. So, if the photographer is right there, the light is right there, like a nice HMI, and the client says, "We want a walking shot," this leg goes first, nice and long, this arm goes back, this arm goes forward, the head is at three quarters, and you just go back and forth, just do that, and then you look back at your imaginary friends, 300, 400, 500 times.

我将为大家展示我模特从业十年的一些经验，因为不像一个忍者般的心胸科诗人，它只能立足当下。所以如果摄影师就在这里，灯光就在这里—想想一个漂亮的水银灯，客户说：“Cameron,我想要一张走路时的快门照”，这条先迈步，(要露出)修长的美腿，这条手臂放在后面，这条手臂放前面，露出四分之三侧脸，来来回回(迈步)，就这样，然后回头看你臆想中的朋友，(重复)300，400，500次。

It will look something like this.

这看上去就像这样。

Hopefully less awkward than that one in the middle. That was -- I don't know what happened there.

希望不像中间那张那么怪，我不知道那张是怎么回事儿。

Unfortunately, after you've gone to school, and you have a résumé and you've done a few jobs, you can't say anything anymore, so if you say you want to be the President of the United States, but your résumé reads, "Underwear Model: 10 years," people give you a funny look.

现实是，当你毕业后，有了简历，做过了几份工作，你就不能再说其它的了，所以如果你说你想成为美国总统，但你的简历上写着：有十年工作经验的内衣模特，人们会笑你。（精彩英语演讲，最值得关注的英语演讲类公众号）

The next question is, "Do they retouch all the photos?" And yeah, they pretty much retouch all the photos, but that is only a small component of what's happening. This picture is the very first picture that I ever took, and it's also the very first time that I had worn a bikini, and I didn't even have my period yet.I know we're getting personal, but I was a young girl.This is what I looked like with my grandma just a few months earlier.

下一个人们常问的问题是：“他们会修照片吗?”是的，他们会修几乎所有照片，但这只是工作的一小部分。这是我第一张模特照片，也是我第一次穿比基尼，我基至还没有过月经，我知道这有点私人，但那时我还是个年轻的小女孩。这是那张照片几个月前我跟祖母一起拍的照片。

Here's me on the same day as this shoot. My friend got to come.

这是拍照片当天，我朋友跟我在一起。

Here's me at a slumber party a few days before I shot French Vogue.

这是我拍法国Vogue杂志前几天前在睡衣party上拍的照片。

Here's me on the soccer team and in V Magazine.

这是我在足球队和V杂志的照片。

And here's me today.

这是现在的我。

And I hope what you're seeing is that these pictures are not pictures of me. They are constructions, and they are constructions by a group of professionals, by hairstylists and makeup artists and photographers and stylists and all of their assistants and pre-production and post-production, and they build this. That's not me.

我希望你们明白的是，这些不是我自己的照片，而是由一群专业人士制出的形象，(他们是)发型师，化装师，摄影师，造型师以及他们的助理，还有前期制作，后期制作。他们制造出了这些形象，而不是我。

Okay, so the next question people always ask me is, "Do you get free stuff?"

下一个问题是“你能得到免费的东西吗?”

I do have too many 8-inch heels which I never get to wear, except for earlier, but the free stuff that I get is the free stuff that I get in real life, and that's what we don't like to talk about.

我确实有太多从没机会穿的8英寸高跟鞋，但是免费的东西却是我在现实生活中得到的。而这恰恰是我们不愿意谈的。（精彩英语演讲，最值得关注的英语演讲类公众号）

I grew up in Cambridge, and one time I went into a store and I forgot my money and they gave me the dress for free. When I was a teenager, I was driving with my friend who was an awful driver and she ran a red and of course, we got pulled over, and all it took was a "Sorry, officer," and we were on our way. And I got these free things because of how I look, not who I am, and there are people paying a cost for how they look and not who they are.

我在剑桥市长大，有一次我走进一家商店却忘了带钱，他们送了我一条裙子。十几岁时，我跟朋友一起开车，她是个糟糕的司机，闯了红灯，我们被停车，我只说了句：“长官，抱歉”，我们就继续上路了。我得到这些是因为我的外表，而不是我是身份。有些人为了他们的外表，而不是身份付出了代价。

I live in New York, and last year, of the 140,000 teenagers that were stopped and frisked, 86% of them were black and Latino, and most of them were young men. And there are only 177,000 young black and Latino men in New York, so for them, it's not a question of, "Will I get stopped?" but "How many times will I get stopped? When will I get stopped?" When I was researching this talk, I found out that of the 13-year-old girls in the United States, 53% don't like their bodies, and that number goes to 78% by the time that they're 17.

我住在纽约，去年有14万青年被停车搜身，他们中百分之86是黑人和拉美人，大多数是年轻的男孩子。而在纽约年轻黑人和拉美男性总数只有17万7千人。所以，对他们来说，问题不是：“我会被停车吗?”而是“我要被停几次?我什么时候会被停?”我在为这次演讲做调查时发现，在美国13岁女孩儿群体中，53%不喜欢她们的身体，到了17岁，这一比例上升至78%。（精彩英语演讲，最值得关注的英语演讲类公众号）

So, the last question people ask me is, "What is it like to be a model?" And I think the answer that they're looking for is, "If you are a little bit skinnier and you have shinier hair, you will be so happy and fabulous." And when we're backstage, we give an answer that maybe makes it seem like that. We say, "It's really amazing to travel, and it's amazing to get to work with creative, inspired, passionate people."

那么最后一个问题是“当模特是什么感觉?”我猜他们期待的答案是 “是不是只要再瘦一点儿，头发再有光泽一些，你就会很开心”。当在后台时，我们会给出一个像这样的答案：“能到处旅行，和有创造力的、热情的、灵感不断的人一起工作真的很棒。”

And those things are true, but they're only one half of the story, because the thing that we never say on camera, that I have never said on camera, is, "I am insecure." And I'm insecure because I have to think about what I look like every day. And if you ever are wondering, "If I have thinner thighs and shinier hair, will I be happier?" you just need to meet a group of models, because they have the thinnest thighs, the shiniest hair and the coolest clothes, and they're the most physically insecure women probably on the planet.

这不假，但这只是事实的一半，因为我们永远不会在镜头前说，而且我也没说的是, “我没有安全感”。 因为我必须每天都要担心自己看上去怎么样。如果你曾经也想过 “如果我的大腿更瘦，头发更好，我会更开心吗? ”你只要去看看模特就知道了，因为她们有最瘦的大腿，最漂亮的头发，最酷的衣服，而她们却可能是世界上最没有身体安全感的女人。（精彩英语演讲，最值得关注的英语演讲类公众号）

When I was writing this talk, I found it very difficult to strike an honest balance, because on the one hand, I felt very uncomfortable to come out here and say, "Look I've received all these benefits from a deck stacked in my favor," and it also felt really uncomfortable to follow that up with, "and it doesn't always make me happy." But mostly it was difficult to unpack a legacy of gender and racial oppression when I am one of the biggest beneficiaries.

所以当我为这次演讲做准备时，发现很难为诚实找到一个平衡点。因为一方面如果我站在这儿，说“看，我凭着天生的优势得到了这么多东西”，心里会不舒服，但如果这句话接着 “可是这些都不能让我开心”，也很不自在。但最难的是，当我自己本身是最大的受益者时，去揭露性别和种族歧视的职业传统。

But I'm also happy and honored to be up here and I think that it's great that I got to come before 10 or 20 or 30 years had passed and I'd had more agency in my career, because maybe then I wouldn't tell the story of how I got my first job, or maybe I wouldn't tell the story of how I paid for college, which seems so important right now.

但同时我又很开心并很荣幸能站在这里，趁着我还年轻，而不是已经工作了10，20或30年，与更多的公司签约，因为可能到那时我就不会讲我怎样得到第一份工作，怎样付大学学费，这些现在看来是如此重要的东西。（精彩英语演讲，最值得关注的英语演讲类公众号）

If there's a takeaway to this talk, I hope it's that we all feel more comfortable acknowledging the power of image in our perceived successes and our perceived failures.

如果这次演讲能使你有所受益，我希望，我们都能欣然接受形象的力量，接受因形象带来的我们理解中的成功和我们理解中的失败。

Thank you.

谢谢