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把爱藏起来:婚礼本是私密

 昵称535749 2011-10-09

把爱藏起来:婚礼本是私密

By J.M. Henderson

J.M. Henderson

For a very private person, weddings feel like a lavish exercise in voyeurism. When else in your relationship will its terms be laid so bare?

对于注重隐私的人,婚礼就像是一场盛大的窥阴演习。在你的关系中还有哪种会如此时,所有条目都赤裸示人?

There's something about public sentimentality, alcohol, and the Chicken Dance that proves to be an irresistibly potent combination for wedding guests.

公开的儿女情长,酒精,还有鸡舞,这些程序有着它们的魅力,让它们成了招待婚礼宾客难以抗拒的强有力的组合。

He's come a long way from almost falling into Nan's open grave, I thought as I watched my cousin and his new wife, both Ph.D. students in their mid-30s, do the Twist out on the dance floor. I had never met the woman in question before, but as soon as I saw her sensible shoes, vintage dress, and mane of flyaway hair, I couldn't imagine my cousin with anyone else. This made me smile. But it wasn't their wedding I was attending. They were merely guests (or hostages, I came to think, uncharitably, as the night wore on) at this one, just as I was. Neither of them, though, were swaddled in brown bridesmaid taffeta or resplendent with a feather headpiece that was less Kate Middleton and more vaguely depressed saloon girl.

从失足掉进奶奶的坟坑到如今他的人生已经走了很长一段路了,我看着堂弟和他的新婚妻子时想到这些。两个人都是差不多35岁的哲学博士生,此时正在舞池里做着翻转动作。我以前从没见过别人所说的这个女人,但当我看到她朴素的鞋子,古典的礼裙还有散开的秀发,我知道没有别人更配我这位堂弟了。这让我不由微笑。不过我并不是来这里参加他们的婚礼。和我一样,他们只是这场婚礼上的客人(也可以说是人质,夜晚慢慢流逝的时候我开始这样毫无慈悲的想)。当然,他们也不是来当裹着褐色塔夫绸的伴娘,或是头戴耀眼的羽毛冠饰,不那么像凯特.米德尔顿,相反更像是低迷茫然的厅堂小姐。

I've always assumed I would get married, but I have never fantasized about my wedding day. Never played "Here comes the bride" with my Barbies. Never thought about flowers, dresses, who I'd have as bridesmaids -- none of it. My mother has steadfastly believed that I will come around on the wedding front. I tell her she won't see me in a wedding gown; she suggests a nice skirt or perhaps a pantsuit. I tell her that I can't bear the idea of standing in front of dozens of people; she proposes limiting the event to immediate family only. I tell her I will never, ever walk down any aisle -- ever. She sighs and begs me to at least spare her the shock of showing up one Christmas with a hitherto unmentioned husband and two small children in tow, and, if I must elope to Vegas, at least opt for one of the classier drive-thru chapels.

我一直在想我有一天会去结婚,但对我的婚礼从没有做太多幻想。从来没用芭比娃娃玩过什么结婚进行曲。从来没想到鲜花,礼裙,要谁当我的伴娘——我一样也没想过。我妈妈坚信到了要结婚的时候我会开始想这些。我告诉她她不会看到我穿着结婚礼服;她建议我穿漂亮的裙子或是套装。我告诉她我根本无法想象站到一堆人面前;她提议这项程序只保留给近亲。我告诉她我绝不会走下那条红毯,绝对不会。她不由叹气,求我至少能在那个圣诞节带着目前为止还没出现的丈夫和两个小孩,出现在她面前让她惊喜一下。而且,如果我执意要私奔到维加斯,至少要选一家好点的小教堂。

There are many reasons to oppose wedding culture -- marriage inequality, the patriarchal undertones of being "given away," the pop cultural Bridezilla meme, the fact that the average cost of one could cover the down payment for a house -- and while I subscribe to all of them, it wasn't until the most recent wedding I attended, that of my sister, that I was finally able to pinpoint what was at the root of my discomfort with this most joyous of occasions. And it had nothing to do with an aversion to lace.

有很多理由去反对婚礼文化——婚礼不平等,“泼出去的水”的男权主义基调,文化中风行的“新娘哥斯拉”基因,婚礼花费足够新房首付的事实——我列出这些,但是直到我最近参加过我妹妹的婚礼,在那场婚礼上我第一次清楚地知道我对这样一个喜庆的场合不感冒的根本原因。那和对这些细枝末节的厌恶根本不相干。

In fact, it's the intimacy of it that I find so unsettling. For a very private person, weddings feel like a lavish exercise in voyeurism. Think about it. When else in your relationship -- unless you're the type of couple to engage in accusatory screaming matches in the cereal aisle of Whole Foods -- will its terms and conditions be laid so bare? Making out on a park bench is nothing compared to promising in front of an audience of people to love, honor, and cherish someone, to be faithful to them, to stick by them even if they get sick or until one of you dies. Weddings publicly codify the private agreements (spoken or otherwise) that underpin your partnership, and they do it in front of your Great Aunt Ruth and your father's boss. And they all know that when the whole event is over, you and the person you promised to forsake all others for will most assuredly be having sex.

事实上,是婚礼上那种亲密感让我难以自处。对于注重隐私的人,婚礼就像是一场盛大的窥阴演习。想想吧,在你的关系中还有哪种,除非你是那种会卷入全食超市麦片过道里的控诉尖叫比赛中的夫妇——会如此时全部条目和状况都赤裸示人?在公园的长椅上相互爱抚和在众人面前许诺,答应爱护,敬重,和珍视某人,给他们信赖,不论病、逝守护身旁比起来就算不上什么了。公开的婚礼相当于变了一份私人的协议(口头或其它方式),这将为你们的伴侣关系奠下基石,这些要在你的露丝好阿姨和你老爸的头头见证下完成。而且我们都知道当这个仪式结束的时候,你和你承诺抛弃其他所有人得到的人百分之百在做爱。

The guests don't get off any easier. It's one thing when a wedding involves strangers on the big screen who are, or seem to be, simply going through the exercise for our entertainment, but it's quite another when you see the spectacle scaled down to your own family and friends. You know these people at their Cheeto-eating, hangover-having, awkward adolescence worst and now they appear before you transformed, no longer Emily and Jeff or Katie and Greg. They're the Bride and Groom. This is their Special Day. And you're a part of it. And if you're a part of it, you might as well go all in, right?

宾客婚礼将一些陌生人展示在大屏幕上,这些人正在或者只是做样子,不过是进行着娱乐大家的活动。但当你看到这种场景出现在你自己的家人和朋友身上,这就是另一回事了。你见识过这些人吃奶酪的样子,宿醉的样子,不堪的青春期,而此时他们改头换面的出现在你面前,不再是艾米丽和杰夫或者凯特和格雷戈。他们今天是新娘和新郎。这是他们特殊的日子。而且你也是这节日的一部分。那么既然你也是其中的一部分,你也要进入角色,不是吗?

And that's where things get interesting. As an amateur Margaret Mead, it's the point at which guests give themselves over to the esprit de wedding that's much more compelling than the whole with-this-ring pomp and circumstance to me. Forget about the bride and groom. All the good stuff happens after the receiving line, when people finally let their hair down.

而这就是事情有趣的地方。作为一个不专业的玛格丽特.米德,当宾客全力投入到这场团队合作的婚礼,这比整个交付一生的隆重和仪式更加扣人心弦。忘了新娘和新郎吧。好事都在迎宾结束之后,那时大家都解放了。

There's something about public sentimentality, alcohol, and the Chicken Dance that proves to be an irresistibly potent combination for wedding guests. You reach a certain bleary point in the evening, after the heartfelt toasts, after the cake-cutting, after the first dance to that song from Armageddon, when people drop their guards. Requesting the Spice Girls and hitting the floor with the bride's octogenarian uncle seems like a pretty good plan. And really, would it be so bad to catch the bouquet? Wait, is that your father doing shots with the best man?

公开的儿女情长,酒精,还有鸡舞,这些程序有着它们的魅力,让它们成了招待婚礼宾客难以抗拒的强有力的组合。喝过了交心酒,切过了蛋糕,在绝世天劫的配曲中跳完了第一支舞,你迎来了这个夜晚的迷乱时刻,辞世人们已经摆脱了他们的同行。招惹辣妹,和新郎八十多岁的叔叔一起倒在地板上是个不错的计划。而且不知为何,你已经拿不住一束花了吧?没准,你还看见你老爸正和一个老好人在注射咖啡因呢?

These vignettes are removed from the formality, from the expectation, from the social prescriptions and cultural tropes that determine what a wedding should be. These moments are not subject to the dictates of a wedding planner, an overzealous mother-in-law or the happy couple themselves. These are the unscripted and spontaneous responses to what happens when we agree to get dressed up, assemble in a specific place at a predetermined time in order to be spectators in a centuries-old tableau, and then expect to be rewarded for our time and attention with free alcohol and a handful of Jordan almonds wrapped in tulle. These are the parts that touch my emotions and spark my own longing more than Canon in D Major ever could.

礼节,印象,社会约定和文化意象定义了婚礼形式,这些画面则被从中去除。这个时刻并不在婚礼策划者,过分热心的婆婆抑或是婚礼主角计划之内。当我们同意盛装一番,在预定的时间到特定的地点集合,为一场有着悠久传统的活人动画做观众,然后期待能有免费的酒精和一包用手绢包好的约旦杏来奖励我们拿出的时间和注意时,这是剧本之外的也是自然而然的。这也是触动我的情绪并引发我的渴望的部分,远非D大调卡农所能。

And this is how I came to be observing my cousin and his wife twisting the night away and stealing a kiss as if no one was watching. Maybe no one other than me was. Maybe no one else cared about small-r romance. Maybe no one else felt uncomfortable with the publification of private sentiment that a traditional wedding represents. Maybe everyone else felt as if they were sharing in my sister and new 's happiness and not somehow intruding on it.

我就这样看着我堂弟和他的小妻子整晚交错舞步,旁若无人的暗地接吻。也许除了我没有其他人这样。也许其他人并关心小两口的浪漫。也许其他人并不会对传统婚礼代表的私人情感的公开感到不舒服。也许所有人都以为他们一同分享了我妹妹和妹夫的快乐而不是打扰了这一切。

Maybe other people don't think so much.

也许其他人并不会想这么多。

I used to worry that my discomfort at weddings meant that I was a misanthrope or lacking the distinctly feminine gene that makes centerpieces and pew markers appealing. I feel relieved to realize that it's just pre-planned public displays of emotion (funerals excepted) that give me hives. Possibly Jordan almonds, too. I'm as pro-love as the next person; I just prefer to keep the details under wraps. My anthropological dissection of your big day doesn't mean I won't still buy you something nice from your registry, though. And of course, I wish you all the happiness in the world, and, as a bonus, a lifetime of closed doors behind which to celebrate it properly and away from prying eyes.

我曾经担心我对婚礼感到不舒服会不会是因为我是个愤世嫉俗者,或是我少了对重大时刻和教堂长凳花饰标志迷恋的女子特有基因。意识到让我感到烦扰的不过只是提前准备好的一次公共场合的情绪展示(婚礼也要这样),我的担心消除了。也许是约旦杏(让我放松了),说不定。我和其他人一样拥护恩爱;我只是不想将细节都公诸于众。我从人类学的角度去剖析了你们的大喜之日,不过,并不是说我就不再提着好东西填到你们的登记册上。而且和其他人一样,我祝愿你们能拥有世间一切的欢乐,同时,作为一份额外的礼物,我祝愿你们在一生中这样的时刻能有关闭的大门,在大门之后以合适的方式庆祝那样的时刻一天,躲开一双双刺探隐私的眼睛。

Image: REUTERS/Natallia Ablazhei.

Wedding-Reuters-Post.jpg

图:路透社∕娜塔莉.艾布拉兹海(Natallia Ablazhei)

This article available online at:

http://www./life/archive/2011/09/youve-got-to-hide-your-love-away-why-weddings-should-be-private/245698/

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