It's not fair having 12 pairs of legs | Aimee Mullins

エミー・マランスと12組の足

翻訳: Atsuko Saso 校正: Emily Sakata

I was speaking to a group of about 300 kids,

子ども博物館で６～８才の

ages six to eight, at a children's museum,

子供300人と話す機会があって

and I brought with me a bag full of legs,

ここにあるような義足を

similar to the kinds of things you see up here,

カバンいっぱい持って行き

and had them laid out on a table for the kids.

机の上に並べたの

And, from my experience, you know, kids are naturally curious

子供は本来見知らぬものや

about what they don't know, or don't understand,

異質なものに対して

or is foreign to them.

好奇心旺盛

They only learn to be frightened of those differences

大人が恐怖心を植えつけたり

when an adult influences them to behave that way,

失礼がないようにと

and maybe censors that natural curiosity,

子供の好奇心を押さえ込んだり

or you know, reins in the question-asking

質問を遮ったりするから

in the hopes of them being polite little kids.

子供は異質なものを恐れてしまう

So I just pictured a first grade teacher out in the lobby

実際先生がはしゃぐ子供たちに言ったわ

with these unruly kids, saying, "Now, whatever you do,

「間違ってもエミーさんの足を」

don't stare at her legs."

「じろじろ見ないこと」

But, of course, that's the point.

でも大切なのはそこ

That's why I was there, I wanted to invite them to look and explore.

義足に触れてもらうのが目的

So I made a deal with the adults

そこで私は先生にこう持ちかけた

that the kids could come in without any adults for two minutes

「２分間だけ子供たちと話がしたい」

on their own.

「大人抜きで」

The doors open, the kids descend on this table of legs,

扉が開き、子供たちは義足に群がった

and they are poking and prodding, and they're wiggling toes,

つついたり、つま先を動かしたり

and they're trying to put their full weight on the sprinting leg

短距離走用の義足に

to see what happens with that.

全体重をかけてみたり

And I said, "Kids, really quickly --

私は尋ねた「今朝ふと思ったの」

I woke up this morning, I decided I wanted to be able to jump over a house --

「家を跳び越えてみたいって」

nothing too big, two or three stories --

「２、３階建ての家よ」

but, if you could think of any animal, any superhero, any cartoon character,

「動物、スーパーヒーロー、アニメキャラ」

anything you can dream up right now,

「何でもいいの」

what kind of legs would you build me?"

「どんな足なら跳べるかしら」

And immediately a voice shouted, "Kangaroo!"

「カンガルー！」と誰かが叫んだ

"No, no, no! Should be a frog!"

「だめだめ！カエル！」

"No. It should be Go Go Gadget!"

「ガジェット警部がいいよ！」

"No, no, no! It should be the Incredibles."

「ちがうよ！Mr.インクレディブルだよ！」

And other things that I don't -- aren't familiar with.

私が聞いたことのないものまで

And then, one eight-year-old said,

すると８才の子が

"Hey, why wouldn't you want to fly too?"

「ねえ、空を飛びたいとは思わないの？」

And the whole room, including me, was like, "Yeah."

みんな口をそろえて言ったわ「もちろん！」

(Laughter)

(笑)

And just like that, I went from being a woman

しつけられた子供の目には

that these kids would have been trained to see as "disabled"

障害者として映ったであろう私は

to somebody that had potential that their bodies didn't have yet.

今や未知の可能性を秘めた体の持ち主

Somebody that might even be super-abled.

超人にだってなれる

Interesting.

おもしろいでしょ

So some of you actually saw me at TED, 11 years ago.

私は11年前もこの場に立ちました

And there's been a lot of talk about how life-changing this conference is

TEDで人生が変わったという声を

for both speakers and attendees, and I am no exception.

何度も耳にしますが、私もそのひとり

TED literally was the launch pad to the next decade of my life's exploration.

TEDはその後の人生探求の出発点だった

At the time, the legs I presented were groundbreaking in prosthetics.

その時紹介したのが当時画期的とされた義足

I had woven carbon fiber sprinting legs

チーターの後肢をモデルに

modeled after the hind leg of a cheetah,

炭素繊維で作った

which you may have seen on stage yesterday.

短距離走用の義足です

And also these very life-like, intrinsically painted silicone legs.

そしてこの本物さながらのシリコンの足

So at the time, it was my opportunity to put a call out

従来の医療の枠を越えて

to innovators outside the traditional medical prosthetic community

革新者を集め、科学と技術を駆使した

to come bring their talent to the science and to the art

義足作りを目指した

of building legs.

形、機能、美の価値を

So that we can stop compartmentalizing form, function and aesthetic,

別々に追求するのをやめるには

and assigning them different values.

いいチャンス

Well, lucky for me, a lot of people answered that call.

幸い多くの人が賛同してくれて

And the journey started, funny enough, with a TED conference attendee --

TED参加者のチー・パールマンを知ったのもこの頃

Chee Pearlman, who hopefully is in the audience somewhere today.

今日も会場にいるはずよ

She was the editor then of a magazine called ID,

チーは当時『ID』誌の編集者で

and she gave me a cover story.

トップ記事で私を紹介してくれた

This started an incredible journey.

これが大きなきっかけとなり

Curious encounters were happening to me at the time;

心躍る出会いが次々と生まれた

I'd been accepting numerous invitations to speak

チーター義足のデザインについて

on the design of the cheetah legs around the world.

世界中から講演依頼が殺到

And people would come up to me after the conference, after my talk,

講演の後は男性も女性も

men and women.

みんな集まってきた

And the conversation would go something like this,

そしてこんな風に言われるの

"You know Aimee, you're very attractive.

「エミー 、すごく魅力的だよ」

You don't look disabled."

「とても身体障害者に見えない」

(Laughter)

私だって

I thought, "Well, that's amazing,

そんな風に感じたことないわ

because I don't feel disabled."

と心の中で思いながら

And it really opened my eyes to this conversation

だけどこの会話で、美しさには探求の余地があることを

that could be explored, about beauty.

気づかされました

What does a beautiful woman have to look like?

美しい女性ってどんな姿？

What is a sexy body?

魅力的な体って？

And interestingly, from an identity standpoint,

アイデンティティという視点から

what does it mean to have a disability?

障害を持つことにはどんな意味がある？

I mean, people -- Pamela Anderson has more prosthetic in her body than I do.

パメラ・アンダーソンの体は人工的でも

Nobody calls her disabled.

障害者とは呼ばれないでしょ

(Laughter)

（笑）

So this magazine, through the hands of graphic designer Peter Saville,

『ID』の記事はグラフィックデザイナーのピーター・サヴィルから

went to fashion designer Alexander McQueen, and photographer Nick Knight,

ファッションデザイナーのアレキサンダー・マックイーンと

who were also interested in exploring that conversation.

写真家のニック・ナイトに渡った

So, three months after TED I found myself on a plane

TEDの３ヶ月後、初のモデル撮影を

to London, doing my first fashion shoot,

ロンドンで行いました

which resulted in this cover --

それがこの表紙

"Fashion-able"?

見出しは「ファッション化？」

Three months after that, I did my first runway show for Alexander McQueen

３ヶ月後にはマックイーンのショーでモデルを務め

on a pair of hand-carved wooden legs made from solid ash.

トネリコ製の手彫りの義足を履いたら

Nobody knew -- everyone thought they were wooden boots.

観客は木のブーツだと勘違い

Actually, I have them on stage with me:

これが実物です

grapevines, magnolias -- truly stunning.

ブドウのつるとモクレンの見事な美

Poetry matters.

詩も大切よ

Poetry is what elevates the banal and neglected object

詩は平凡でなおざりになったものを

to a realm of art.

芸術に変える

It can transform the thing that might have made people fearful

詩は人々が恐れていたものを

into something that invites them to look,

興味深くし

and look a little longer,

もう少しだけ見てみたい

and maybe even understand.

理解したいものに変える

I learned this firsthand with my next adventure.

マシュー・バーニーの「クレマスター・サイクル」が

The artist Matthew Barney, in his film opus called the "The Cremaster Cycle."

私にそのことを教えてくれた

This is where it really hit home for me --

私の義足は履く彫刻なのだと

that my legs could be wearable sculpture.

心から痛感した

And even at this point, I started to move away from the need to replicate human-ness

そのとき私は人間らしさの復元だけに美の理想を見出す視点から

as the only aesthetic ideal.

解放されつつありました

So we made what people lovingly referred to as glass legs

「ガラスの脚」として親しまれた義足は

even though they're actually optically clear polyurethane,

実はボーリング玉の素材と同じ

a.k.a. bowling ball material.

透明なポリウレタン製

Heavy!

重いのよ！

Then we made these legs that are cast in soil

これは土の中で鋳造した義足

with a potato root system growing in them, and beetroots out the top,

ジャガイモとテンサイが根を張ってるわ

and a very lovely brass toe.

つま先は真ちゅう

That's a good close-up of that one.

これが拡大画像

Then another character was a half-woman, half-cheetah --

次は上半身が女性、下半身がチーター

a little homage to my life as an athlete.

アスリート人生への感謝の印

14 hours of prosthetic make-up

特殊メイクに14時間かけ

to get into a creature that had articulated paws,

本格的な足や爪としなやかな尻尾を持つ

claws and a tail that whipped around,

生き物になりきりました

like a gecko.

ヤモリみたいに

(Laughter)

（笑）

And then another pair of legs we collaborated on were these --

もう一つ共同制作したのがこちら

look like jellyfish legs,

クラゲの足のよう

also polyurethane.

これもポリウレタンです

And the only purpose that these legs can serve,

映画以外での

outside the context of the film,

この足の使い道は

is to provoke the senses and ignite the imagination.

感覚に訴え想像力を刺激すること

So whimsy matters.

奇抜さも大事よ

Today, I have over a dozen pair of prosthetic legs

私は義足を12足以上持ってます

that various people have made for me,

多くの人が手がけ

and with them I have different negotiations of the terrain under my feet,

それぞれが違った感覚を足もとに与えてくれる

and I can change my height --

身長だって変えられる

I have a variable of five different heights.

私の身長は５種類

(Laughter)

（笑）

Today, I'm 6'1".

今日は185cm

And I had these legs made a little over a year ago

１年前、英国ドーセット州の整形外科で

at Dorset Orthopedic in England

作ってもらったものを

and when I brought them home to Manhattan,

マンハッタンに持ち帰り

my first night out on the town, I went to a very fancy party.

パーティーに行った時のこと

And a girl was there who has known me for years

普段173cmの私を知る

at my normal 5'8".

長年の友人が

Her mouth dropped open when she saw me,

私を見てビックリ

and she went, "But you're so tall!"

「すごい背が高いじゃない！」

And I said, "I know. Isn't it fun?"

私はすかさず「ねぇ！面白いでしょ？」

I mean, it's a little bit like wearing stilts on stilts,

竹馬に竹馬で乗る感覚よ

but I have an entirely new relationship to door jams

想定外だったのは

that I never expected I would ever have.

ドア枠に頭を打ってしまうこと

And I was having fun with it.

それすらも楽しかった

And she looked at me,

しかも友人が言うの

and she said, "But, Aimee, that's not fair."

「でも、エミーそんなのずるいわ」

(Laughter)

（笑）

(Applause)

（拍手）

And the incredible thing was she really meant it.

ウソみたいだけど友人は本気だった

It's not fair that you can change your height,

自由に身長を変えられるなんて

as you want it.

ずるいでしょ

And that's when I knew --

その瞬間――

that's when I knew that the conversation with society

社会の反応がこの10年で

has changed profoundly

大きく変わったと

in this last decade.

実感した

It is no longer a conversation about overcoming deficiency.

もはやハンディは克服するものではなく

It's a conversation about augmentation.

プラスに増幅していくもの

It's a conversation about potential.

社会は可能性に溢れている

A prosthetic limb doesn't represent the need to replace loss anymore.

義肢はもはや失ったものを補うのではない

It can stand as a symbol that the wearer

新たに生まれた空間に

has the power to create whatever it is that they want to create

装着者が自由な創作を実現する

in that space.

力の象徴

So people that society once considered to be disabled

身体障害者とされてきた人々は

can now become the architects of their own identities

今や自分の個性を演出できるんです

and indeed continue to change those identities

自分が秘めた可能性を信じ

by designing their bodies

身体をデザインすることにより

from a place of empowerment.

新たな個性を生み出し続ける

And what is exciting to me so much right now

今、私が心待ちにしているのが

is that by combining cutting-edge technology --

ロボットやバイオニクスなどの最先端技術と

robotics, bionics --

昔からある詩を

with the age-old poetry,

組み合わせることで

we are moving closer to understanding our collective humanity.

私たちが人類全体の人間らしさを理解し始めていること

I think that if we want to discover the full potential

私たちが持つ人間らしさに最大の可能性を

in our humanity,

見出したければ

we need to celebrate those heartbreaking strengths

誰もが持っているすばらしい長所や

and those glorious disabilities that we all have.

偉大な欠陥を褒め称える必要があります

I think of Shakespeare's Shylock:

『ヴェニスの商人』でシャイロックが言ってるでしょ

"If you prick us, do we not bleed,

「針で刺せば血が出る」

and if you tickle us, do we not laugh?"

「くすぐられれば笑いもする」

It is our humanity,

それが私たちの人間らしさであり

and all the potential within it,

そこに潜むすべての可能性が

that makes us beautiful.

私たちを美しくするのです

Thank you.

ありがとうございました

(Applause)

（拍手）