第一夫人被“变身”为黑奴

Photo courtesy of El MundoMichelle Obama has graced magazine covers from Time to People to Vogue looking powerful, beautiful, and downright regal, but now a Spanish magazine is picturing her bare breasted, and as a slave.

美国第一夫人米歇尔·奥巴马曾为多本杂志如《时代周刊》，《人物》，《VOGUE》拍摄过封面人物，无不以强势，美丽及尊贵的形象示人。但是，近日某西班牙杂志却将她描画成一个坦胸露乳的黑奴形象。

The cover of Magazine Fuera de Serie, which is widely available in Spain as a newspaper lifestyles supplement, shows the first lady's face superimposed onto an 1800 portrait of a female slave by Marie-Guillemine Benoiste, a French neoclassical painter.

杂志《Fuera de Serie》在西班牙是一本广受欢迎的生活类杂志，近日其封面人物——第一夫人化身成为1800年代的一位女性奴隶形象。

According to the magazine's editor, the picture is meant to honor Michelle Obama who they call the "gran mujer" (great woman) who "conquered the heart" of the man who would be president and "seduced the American people."

据杂志编辑称，这幅作品意在向这位征服美国总统，征服美国人的伟大女性致敬。

Many commentators aren't seeing it that way. "Let's be clear: This image has nothing to do with acknowledging Obama's enslaved foremothers, and everything to do with reinforcing and extending the historical denial of black women's individuality…" writes Althea Legal-Miller for The Clutch. She continues "The portrait robs Obama of her identity, voice, and intellect, and visually shackles her to a politically passive subject, resigned to an assigned role as slave."

然而，许多评论家并不这样看。爱尔西亚法律米勒在《The Cluth》上评论道：“让我们清醒一点吧!这一形象与承认米歇尔·奥巴马的祖辈们曾是奴隶的事实没有半点关系，这幅图片所强调和表达的完全是对黑人女性的历史性否认。这一形象抹杀了米歇尔·奥巴马的身份，声音和智慧并肆意将她塑造成为一个被动的政治话题和奴隶形象。 ”

Some art historians describe the original painting as a tribute to emancipation in France, which occurred in 1794 and also as a feminist statement linking the universal bondage of women to the institution of slavery. Benoiste was one of the few established female artists of her era. The reality is, the majority of people today who encounter the image will have little knowledge of its art historical significance. Instead they will simply see the first lady of the United States as a half nude servant. Accompanied by the headline, "Michelle, Granddaughter of a Slave, Lady of America" it's more of a willfully ignorant attention-grab designed to spark controversy (and magazine sales) than a legitimate homage.

有些历史学家将原作视为是对1794年的法国黑奴解放运动的颂扬和反对黑人女性束缚与奴隶制的女权主义宣言。Benoiste正是在那个时期成长起来的少数几个颇有建树的女性艺术家之一。可现实情况是，今天的大多数人看到米歇尔·奥巴马的这一形象时并不了解画作的艺术历史意义。他们只会看到美国第一夫人这一半裸的奴隶形象。再配上标题“米歇尔·奥巴马，奴隶的后代，美国第一夫人”，这幅图片更多的是要刻意引发争执而非真正的敬意。

This is not the first time a magazine cover featuring Mrs. Obama has garnered accusations of racism. In 2008, the New Yorker published a satirical drawing of her decked out as a radical Black Panther fist bumping with her husband who is wearing a traditional Muslim robe.

这已不是第一次米歇尔·奥巴马作为封面人物引发对于种族歧视的指控。2008年，杂志《New Yorker》曾刊登了一张具有讽刺意味的照片，照片上的米歇尔·奥巴马打扮的像一只凶猛的黑豹与身穿传统穆斯林长袍的奥巴马总统十指紧握。

While the Obamas entered office in a supposedly "post-racial" America, what they encountered was a country where bigotry is still alive and kicking and often stirred up by their very presence in the White House. At times serving as a surrogate punching bag for her husband, Michelle Obama is likely to be labelled in some quarters as an "angry black woman" instead of the smart, accomplished person who she is.

奥巴马就职时期的美国依旧存在种族歧视，他所面对的这个国家偏执思想仍然十分活跃并且会时常被激起。尽管米歇尔·奥巴马是个睿智，有修养的女人，但她会时而被一些激进分子贴上“生气的黑女人”的标签而被当成她丈夫的出气筒。

Mikki Taylor, former editor of Essence and author of Commander in Chic writes, "The looming shadow of racism is always there and it's very sad. Who was more feisty than Barbara Bush? Laura Bush always spoke her mind, but Michelle Obama takes the heat for being an independent-thinking woman. It's so clearly based on race and a backward way of thinking."

《Essence 》杂志的前任编辑Mikki Taylor写到，“种族歧视的阴影总是若隐若现，这真的是一件让人伤心的事。显然，这幅作品以种族为背景，是一种倒退的思想。

Karine Percheron-Daniels, the artist who created the image, isn't shedding any light on its underlying message. She is quoted saying she depicted the first lady in such a manner "for obvious reasons." She adds, "I'm sure [she] would love it, and I hope that someday she can see it." We suspect the first ladies' opinion would be, in her typically dignified fashion, "no comment."

这幅作品的作者Karine Percheron-Daniels并未对这幅作品的隐喻做出阐述。她说她之所以以这种方式描绘第一夫人是有原因的。她还说，“我肯定她会喜欢的，我也希望有一天她会看到。 ”我们猜想第一夫人会以她惯用的尊贵方式来回应，那就是“无可奉告”。