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

譯者: Wang Qian 審譯者: Jing Yao

I was speaking to a group of about 300 kids,

當時我正與一群約有三百名的小孩說話，

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

年齡為六至八歲，在一個兒童博物館，

and I brought with me a bag full of legs,

而我帶了一個裝滿了義肢的袋子，

similar to the kinds of things you see up here,

跟你們在這裡看到的差不多，

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

還將它們擺放在一張桌子上，給小孩看。

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

然而，就我的經驗而言，孩子通常也是好奇的，

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

尤其是對於他們不知道的，不明白的，

or is foreign to them.

或是對他們陌生的。

They only learn to be frightened of those differences

他們只學到對差異性感到害怕，

when an adult influences them to behave that way,

當成年人影響他們而表現成那樣，

and maybe censors that natural curiosity,

也或許是壓抑了他們本有的好奇心，

or you know, reins in the question-asking

又或是，不允許他們問問題，

in the hopes of them being polite little kids.

希望他們變成有禮貌的小孩。

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

所以，我想像一班老師走出了大堂，

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

帶著一群不守規矩的孩子，老師會說：”好啦，不管你幹什麼，

don't stare at her legs."

就是別盯著她的腿看。“

But, of course, that's the point.

但是，問題就在這兒，

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

我之所以會在那兒，就是想讓孩子們觀察和探索。

So I made a deal with the adults

所以我就和成年人達成了協定，

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

讓孩子們在有成人陪伴下，

on their own.

自己待兩分鐘。

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

門打開後，孩子們俯身擺弄起義肢

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

他們這兒戳戳那兒碰碰，搖搖腳趾頭，

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

還試著把整個身體壓在短跑義肢上，

to see what happens with that.

看看會有什麼反應。

And I said, "Kids, really quickly --

我說道：”孩子們，我今天早上醒來，

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

很快地做下決定，要能夠一下子跳過房子，

nothing too big, two or three stories --

沒什麼大不了的，不過兩三層的高度，

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

但是，如果你能想到那些動物、超級英雄、卡通人物，

anything you can dream up right now,

你能想到的任何一個，

what kind of legs would you build me?"

你會給我造一副什麼樣的腿呢？“

And immediately a voice shouted, "Kangaroo!"

立即有孩子 答道：“長頸鹿！”

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

“不對，不 對！應該是青蛙！”

"No. It should be Go Go Gadget!"

“不對，應該是神探佳傑特（上世紀80年代動畫人物）！”

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

“不對，不對，都不對！應該是超人特工隊（迪士尼2004年出品動畫電影）”

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

還有其他一些我不太熟悉的。

And then, one eight-year-old said,

然後，一個8歲的孩子說道，

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

“嗨，為什麼你不想飛呢？”

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

所有在場的人，包括我，驚歎道“對啊”

(Laughter)

（笑）

And just like that, I went from being a woman

就這樣，我從一個女人，

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

一個這些孩子被教育成看待的“殘疾人”

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

變成了一個擁有他們所沒有的潛能的人。

Somebody that might even be super-abled.

一個很有可能有超人能力的人。

Interesting.

很有趣吧!

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

在座的有些人11年前在TED見過我

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

當時人們熱烈討論這個會議是如何如何改變人生。

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

不管你是聽眾還是發言人，我也不例外，

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

TED可以說是開啟了我之後10年的探索。

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

當時，我展示的義肢是修復術的創新技術。

I had woven carbon fiber sprinting legs

我當時接上了碳纖維製成，

modeled after the hind leg of a cheetah,

仿獵豹後肢的短跑義肢。

which you may have seen on stage yesterday.

可能你們昨天有看過。

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

而這些噴漆矽膠義肢是這樣的栩栩如生。

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

當時，我有機會

to innovators outside the traditional medical prosthetic community

在傳統醫學修復領域創新，

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

把他們的才智與科學、藝術相結合，

of building legs.

製造義肢。

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

這樣我們就不必把外觀、功能和美學劃分開來，

and assigning them different values.

並賦予不同的價值。

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

幸運的是，很多人做出了回應，

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

旅程就這樣開始了，很有趣的是，有一個TED參會者，

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

琪˙皮爾曼，希望她今天也在場，

She was the editor then of a magazine called ID,

她當時是一本名為《ID》的雜誌的編輯，

and she gave me a cover story.

她將我的照片放在封面，

This started an incredible journey.

接下來我開始了一場奇妙的旅程。

Curious encounters were happening to me at the time;

當時我碰到了很多奇妙的人和事，

I'd been accepting numerous invitations to speak

許多人邀請我去做演講，

on the design of the cheetah legs around the world.

並在世界各地討論仿獵豹義肢技術。

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

人們在演講後找上我，

men and women.

不論男女。

And the conversation would go something like this,

談話內容不外乎

"You know Aimee, you're very attractive.

“要知道，艾美，你很迷人。

You don't look disabled."

一點不像有殘疾的。”

(Laughter)

（笑）

I thought, "Well, that's amazing,

我想“這還挺神的，

because I don't feel disabled."

因為我一點也不感到殘疾。”

And it really opened my eyes to this conversation

這真的大大地打開了我對這個主題的眼界，

that could be explored, about beauty.

美也可以被探索。

What does a beautiful woman have to look like?

一個美麗的女人應該長什麼樣？

What is a sexy body?

什麼是性感的身體？

And interestingly, from an identity standpoint,

很有趣的是，從一個人的角度看，

what does it mean to have a disability?

殘疾意味著什麼？

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

我是說，有人--比如帕米拉•安德森（美國豔星，以其碩大的隆胸著稱）的修復程度可大大高過我，

Nobody calls her disabled.

可沒人說她殘疾。

(Laughter)

（笑）

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

後來這期《ID》雜誌，經美術設計師皮特•薩維耶之手

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

傳到了時裝設計師亞歷山大•麥昆和攝影師尼克•奈特手中，

who were also interested in exploring that conversation.

他們也對探索相關方面很感興趣。

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

參加完TED幾個月後，我就搭上了前往

to London, doing my first fashion shoot,

倫敦的航班，攝製我的第一組時尚雜誌照片。

which resulted in this cover --

結果可以從這本雜誌封面看出。

"Fashion-able"?

時尚?!

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

3個月後，我為亞歷山大•麥昆做了第一場時裝秀，

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

穿戴著一副硬木手工義肢。

Nobody knew -- everyone thought they were wooden boots.

沒有人知道--大家都以為這是木靴，

Actually, I have them on stage with me:

事實上，它們現在就在臺上。

grapevines, magnolias -- truly stunning.

葡萄藤、木蘭花，令人驚艷。

Poetry matters.

詩意很重要，

Poetry is what elevates the banal and neglected object

詩歌能把陳腐和受忽視的東西提升到高層次，

to a realm of art.

進入藝術的境界。

It can transform the thing that might have made people fearful

能把令人生畏的東西轉化成

into something that invites them to look,

引人入勝的東西，

and look a little longer,

讓人駐足良久，

and maybe even understand.

也許甚至能讓人們理解。

I learned this firsthand with my next adventure.

這些是我從我的下一個冒險中學到的。

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

藝術家馬修•巴尼在他的影片《懸絲》，

This is where it really hit home for me --

也就是這部影片讓我真正地察覺到

that my legs could be wearable sculpture.

我的雙腿竟可以成為雕塑品。

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

這時，我就跳脫以模仿人體的需求

as the only aesthetic ideal.

作為理想美學的框架。

So we made what people lovingly referred to as glass legs

後來我們研製了人們稱為玻璃腿的義肢，

even though they're actually optically clear polyurethane,

雖然它們實際上是剔透的聚亞安酯製作的，

a.k.a. bowling ball material.

也就是製造保齡球的材料。

Heavy!

很重！

Then we made these legs that are cast in soil

後來我們用根與土壤的東西塑造這種義肢，

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

把馬鈴薯植入其中，把甜菜根種在上頭，

and a very lovely brass toe.

還裝上了很可愛的銅質腳趾。

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

就這樣完成了一個傑作。

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

另一個造型是半人半獸，

a little homage to my life as an athlete.

是對我運動員生涯的小小致敬。

14 hours of prosthetic make-up

14個小時的義肢彩繪，

to get into a creature that had articulated paws,

才看起來像有靈活爪子、

claws and a tail that whipped around,

搖來搖去的尾巴的生物，

like a gecko.

有點像壁虎。

(Laughter)

（笑）

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

另一副我們合作的是這一雙腳，

look like jellyfish legs,

看起來有那麼一點像水母，

also polyurethane.

同樣也是聚亞安酯製成的。

And the only purpose that these legs can serve,

這副義肢唯一的用途就是

outside the context of the film,

除了電影裏的展示，

is to provoke the senses and ignite the imagination.

就是給人們感官刺激並激發人們的想像。

So whimsy matters.

所以多變性很重要。

Today, I have over a dozen pair of prosthetic legs

今天，我帶了至少12副義肢，

that various people have made for me,

它們是由不同的人為我製作的，

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

不同的義肢給了我腳下大地的不同體驗。

and I can change my height --

我還可以改變身高，

I have a variable of five different heights.

我有5個身高。

(Laughter)

（笑）

Today, I'm 6'1".

今天，我有6呎1（約186cm）

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

我身上這副義肢大概是一年前做的，

at Dorset Orthopedic in England

在英國的多西特整形外科做的，

and when I brought them home to Manhattan,

當我把它們帶回曼哈頓的家裏，

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

我回來後第一次出來是去一個高級宴會。

And a girl was there who has known me for years

舞會上有個我認識多年的女士，

at my normal 5'8".

不過那時我只有5尺8（約177cm）

Her mouth dropped open when she saw me,

她看到我驚訝不已。

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

她說道“你怎麼那麼高！”

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

我說道“是啊，挺好玩的，不是嗎？”

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

有點像站在高蹺上踩高蹺，

but I have an entirely new relationship to door jams

我從此對門的高度有了全新體驗。

that I never expected I would ever have.

這是始料未及的新天地，

And I was having fun with it.

我樂在其中。

And she looked at me,

她看著我，

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

說道：“但是，艾美，這可不公平。”

(Laughter)

（笑）

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

And the incredible thing was she really meant it.

最奇妙的是她是認真的，

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

能隨意改變身高，

as you want it.

可不公平。

And that's when I knew --

那時我才知道--

that's when I knew that the conversation with society

也就是這時我才知道社會上人們的對話

has changed profoundly

在近10年來，

in this last decade.

已有了重大變革。

It is no longer a conversation about overcoming deficiency.

不再只是克服先天障礙，

It's a conversation about augmentation.

是關於增量。

It's a conversation about potential.

是關於潛能。

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

義肢的作用不再僅局限於代替身體缺失部分，

It can stand as a symbol that the wearer

它們可以作為佩戴者身份的象徵，

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

可以創造佩戴者天馬行空的想像，

in that space.

在屬於他們的空間中。

So people that society once considered to be disabled

所以那些社會一度認為是殘障的人，

can now become the architects of their own identities

可以成為塑造自己身份的建築師，

and indeed continue to change those identities

並且切實繼續改變身份，

by designing their bodies

僅憑設計自己的身體，

from a place of empowerment.

從一個強大的源泉獲取靈感。

And what is exciting to me so much right now

現在令我激動不已的是，

is that by combining cutting-edge technology --

通過尖端科技，

robotics, bionics --

機器人技術、仿生學--

with the age-old poetry,

及由來已久的詩意，

we are moving closer to understanding our collective humanity.

我們向自身的集體人性邁進了一步。

I think that if we want to discover the full potential

我認為要發掘自身

in our humanity,

人性的的潛質，

we need to celebrate those heartbreaking strengths

我們要讚美那些令人心碎的力量，

and those glorious disabilities that we all have.

那些光榮的殘缺，人人都有這些，

I think of Shakespeare's Shylock:

我想起了沙士比亞筆下的夏洛克:

"If you prick us, do we not bleed,

“你們要是用刀劍刺我們，我們不是也會出血的嗎？

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

你們要是搔我們的癢，我們不是也會笑起來的嗎？”

It is our humanity,

這就是我們的人性，

and all the potential within it,

及其所有的潛質，

that makes us beautiful.

也正是這些讓我們熠熠生輝。

Thank you.

謝謝

(Applause)

(鼓掌)