Emoji圖庫裏有了比基尼,還需要連體泳衣嗎?

The Miss America pageant is not the only establishment rethinking the swimsuit portion of its offering.

美國小姐選美大賽(Miss America)並不是唯一一個在重新考慮泳裝環節的機構。

The Unicode Consortium — that is, the emoji overlords (or, more officially, the nonprofit organization “devoted to developing, maintaining, and promoting software internationalization standards and data”) — are in the process of deciding whether to allow a very simple pink maillot, or one-piece bathing suit, to join the itsy-bitsy-teeny-weeny-yellow-polka-dot bikini in the emoji lexicon.

統一碼聯盟(Unicode Consortium)——也就是表情符(emoji)的最高統治者（或者更正式地說，“致力於開發、維護和推廣軟件國際化標準和數據的非營利組織”）——正在決定是否允許一件非常簡單的粉色連體泳衣，加入已經包含一件迷你黃色圓點比基尼的表情符圖庫中。

Its point is to offer another, less sexualized, option to users who may not feel that the Barbie-wardrobe two-piece really communicates who they are or what they want to say. Or is the most relevant choice in the current cultural climate.

它的目的是爲那些可能不覺得芭比娃娃風格的兩件式泳衣真的傳達出她們是誰或者她們想表達什麼的用戶，提供另一種不那麼性別化的選擇。或者是當前的文化氛圍中最具有相關性的選擇。

“I have nothing against bikinis,” said Florie Hutchinson, the 38-year-old independent arts publicist and mother of three (soon to be four) girls, who, along with Jennifer 8. Lee, a former New York Times reporter and the co-founder of Emojination, proposed the maillot addition. “I have worn them. But not every woman or girl wants to wear one, and they should have the ability to make another choice,” Ms. Hutchinson said. “I wanted my girls, when they got old enough to have their own smartphones, to be able to see both, side by side.”

“我不反對比基尼，”38歲的獨立藝術公關、三個女孩（即將變成四個）的母親弗洛裏·哈欽森(Florie Hutchinson)說，她和前《紐約時報》(New York Times)記者、Emojination的聯合創始人李競(Jennifer 8. Lee)共同提議增加泳衣表情符號的數量。“我穿過它們。但並不是每個女人或女孩都想穿，她們應該有做出另一種選擇的能力，”哈欽森說。“我希望我的女孩們長到能夠擁有自己的智能手機時，能夠同時看到兩種選擇。”

As it happens, she is also the woman who, a year ago, began the process of convincing the Consortium to add a flat shoe emoji to the red stiletto that already existed. Not every woman, it turns out, dreams of teetering around in skyscraper heels.

巧的是，她是一年前開始說服統一碼聯盟在已有的紅色高跟鞋之外添加一雙平底鞋符號的同一個人。事實證明，並不是每個女人都夢想穿着“恨天高”高跟鞋到處搖搖晃晃。

That proposal became something of a feminist cause célèbre. “I was really surprised,” Ms. Hutchinson said. “I knew it meant something to me but hadn’t expected it to mean so much to so many.” The shoe was formally adopted earlier this year; it should appear in emoji lexicons everywhere this month or next.

那項提議成了女權主義的轟動事件。“我真的很驚訝，”哈欽森說。“我知道這對我來說意味着什麼，但沒想到對這麼多人來說它會有這麼大的意義。”這款鞋今年早些時候被正式採用；這個月或下個月，它應該會出現在所有表情符圖庫中。

Having changed the women’s wardrobe options once, Ms. Hutchinson was ready to do it again. Ms. Lee, who has made it her mission to modernize the emoji vocabulary so that it reflects contemporary culture in an inclusive way, approached her about working together on the bathing suit, and Ms. Hutchinson enlisted Aphee Messer, the artist who created her shoe, to come up with a design.

哈欽森曾經改變了女性的着裝符號選擇，她準備再次這樣做。李競把更新表情符號，使其以包容的方式反映當代文化作爲她的使命。她聯繫了哈欽森，希望一起合作完成泳衣這件事。哈欽森邀請了創造了她的平底鞋的藝術家阿菲·梅塞爾(Aphee Messer)來打造一款設計。

“We wanted something very basic so that it would read microscopically,” Ms. Hutchinson said. The style of the suit — thigh-cut legs, round neck — is more sporty than sexy, and the curves of the theoretical body beneath less Playboy than those implied by the bikini. The one-piece is designed to appeal to those for whom swimming, or the pool and the beach, is more about activity than, say, hooking up, or who identify with strength and functionality (or discretion) more than seduction.

“我們想要一個非常基本的東西，這樣它的任何細節都能被讀懂，”哈欽森說。這套服裝的風格——長到大腿、圓領——與其說性感，不如說更具運動感，想象中穿它的身體曲線比比基尼所暗示的那種要少一些花花公子雜誌風。這款單品旨在吸引的對象是那些認爲游泳、游泳池和沙灘更多是關於活動，而不是——比如說，勾搭，或者那些認同服裝展示的力量和功能性（或謹慎感），而非用於誘惑的人。

Also children.

還有兒童。

Ms. Hutchinson and Ms. Lee are not, as it happens, the only emoji users who have taken note of the limited bathing suit options available to those who like to send messages via pictograms.

碰巧的是，注意到那些喜歡通過圖畫文字發送信息的人可以選擇的泳衣表情符有限的用戶不只是哈欽森和李競。

Still, not everyone is convinced. Now that the swimsuit emoji has been shortlisted for inclusion in the 2019 lexicon and is awaiting a verdict, Michael Everson and Andrew West, members of the International Organization for Standardization (and the two typographers who became famous for their campaign against last year’s frowning poop emoji), have expressed skepticism about the need for an additional swimsuit.

儘管如此，並不是每個人都感到信服。這款泳衣表情符號現在已經被列入2019年版圖庫的候選名單，正在等待最後的決定，國際標準化組織(International Organization for Standardization)成員邁克爾·埃弗森(Michael Everson)和安德魯·韋斯特(Andrew West)——因反對去年皺着眉頭的便便表情符號而出名的兩位印刷商——對增加泳衣符號的必要性表示懷疑。

“Why? Mr. Everson asked in a comment to the emoji subcommittee. “A person wanting to indicate the use of swimwear can’t use the existing BIKINI? Is this really necessary? What about a Victorian bathing costume? Or a wet suit? Or water wings?”

“爲什麼？”埃弗森先生在給表情符小組委員會的評論中問道。“一個想要表達泳裝含義的人不能用現有的比基尼嗎？這真的有必要嗎？維多利亞時代的泳衣怎麼樣？或者潛水服？或者浮圈？”

“Do not encode,” was his recommendation. Mr. West simply wrote that he saw “no need.”

他的建議是“不要編入”。韋斯特則直接寫道，他認爲“沒有必要”。

Ms. Hutchinson said: “I was flabbergasted. It seemed like a very archaic response to me.” One that, she said, reflected the dominance of “male coders, male feedback providers, men who sit on the committee.”

哈欽森說：“我聽得目瞪口呆。對我來說，這似乎是一個非常過時的迴應。”她說，這反映出“男性程序員、男性反饋者、委員會成員”的主導地位。

(It should be said that not every man involved with the subcommittee is against the swimsuit.)

（應該說明，並不是所有參與小組委員會的男性都反對這件泳衣。）

Ms. Lee wrote in an email: “One could say it’s simply a failure of “theory of mind” with regard to emoji: How could anyone want an emoji that ‘I’ find useless or redundant? But I think it’s a subtle sign of the dearth of empathy in part of society that is manifesting itself in other social fissures right now.”

李競在一封電子郵件中寫道：“人們可以說這只是‘心智理論’在表情符號方面的失敗：怎麼會有人想要一個‘我’覺得無用或多餘的表情符號呢？但我認爲這是社會中缺乏同理心的一個微妙跡象，這種現象正在其他的社會裂縫中表現出來。”

It’s also a relic of the early years of emojis, and the fact that, as she pointed out, “until 2016, the only roles you could play as a woman were princess, bride, dancer and Playboy bunny.”

這也是表情符早期歷史的遺物，事實上，正如她所指出的，“直到2016年，作爲一個女人，你只能扮演公主、新娘、舞者和花花公子兔女郎。”

That has changed now. There are more than 2,500 different emojiscurrently available, with more being added each year, though the wardrobe options are still relatively limited and notably retrograde, especially for women. Of note: Up for inclusion in 2019, along with the maillot, is a sari.

現在那已經改變了。目前有2500多種不同的表情符可供選擇，每年都有更多符號加入，儘管服裝選擇仍然相對有限甚至發生了倒退，尤其是對女性來說。值得注意的是：等待進入2019年表情符圖庫的，除了女士泳衣，還有一款紗麗。

Still, there is a way to go, as both women are well aware. Ms. Lee mentions the poncho and the kurta as good future candidates. Ms. Hutchinson has another idea for an icon that could use a more modern option.

儘管如此，正如這兩名女士都很清楚的那樣，還有一條路要走。李競提到，斗篷和無領長袖襯衫都是未來不錯的候選符號。哈欽森認爲可以使用更現代的選擇的還有一個表情符。

“The coin purse!” she said, referring to the silk pouch with the gold closure that looks exactly like the sort of purse used a prop in old MGM movies. “It’s like something out of the 1920s. It drives me bonkers.”

“零錢包！”她說，指的是帶有金色封口的絲綢口袋，看起來和米高梅(MGM)老電影中使用的道具一模一樣。“這就像是20世紀20年代的東西。它簡直讓我發瘋。”