爲什麼同志羣體喜歡奧運會大綱

RIO DE JANEIRO — Since before the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, has been covering gay issues in sports. The site is filled largely with coming-out stories, news analysis and slideshows of good-looking athletes.

里約熱內盧——從2000年悉尼夏季奧運會開始之前，網站就開始報道體育界的同性戀話題。網站內容基本上是出櫃故事、新聞分析以及長得好看的運動員的圖集。

And every two years, during the Winter and Summer Olympics, its audience traffic rises to new heights — quantifiable evidence of something often generalized and stereotyped. “Gay men love the Olympics,” Cyd Zeigler, a founder of Outsports, said in an email.

每隔兩年，在冬季和夏季奧運會期間，它的讀者流量都會達到新高——這是某種經常被籠統化、類型化的東西的量化證據。“男同性戀喜歡奧運會，”Outsports的一位創始人錫德•齊格勒(Cyd Zeigler)在接受郵件採訪時說。

It did not take a record number of publicly out athletes competing at the Rio Games to draw the gay community’s attention. It did not take a shirtless and lubed flag-bearer from Tonga, or photographs of gymnasts on the beach, or divers taking post-plunge showers.

並不是因爲參加里約奧運會公開出櫃的運動員人數達到歷史新高，才引起同性戀羣體的注意。也不是因爲上身赤裸、塗了油的湯加旗手，或者沙灘上的體操運動員的照片，或者在跳水後淋浴的運動員。

Those things only helped draw interest from audiences, both gay and straight. But gay men were already a reliable demographic, as demonstrated across the web, from Outsports to other sites targeted to gays that are now filled largely with photos and posts about the Olympics.

那些東西只能幫助吸引觀衆的興趣，這既包括同性戀，也包括異性戀。但是，男同已經是一個可靠的目標用戶。這一點在很多網站上都得到了體現——從Outsports到其他以同性戀爲目標用戶的網站。這些網站現在大多充滿關於奧運會的照片和文章。

The question is why gay men love the Olympics. Theories are as varied as the gay community itself.

問題是，爲什麼男同性戀喜歡奧運會。關於這一點有很多說法，就像同性戀羣體本身一樣複雜。

Bruce Hayes, a 1984 gold medalist in swimming who is gay, cautioned against stereotypes.

布魯斯•海斯(Bruce Hayes)是1984年游泳項目的金牌得主。他是一名同性戀。他告誡大家不要囿於固有觀念。

“Gay people like sports as much as any other group of people,” said Hayes, now the managing director of health for the New York office of Edelman, a public relations firm. “There’s this perception that we don’t. Or that if we’re watching the Olympics, it’s for a reason other than watching the sports and the athletic achievements.”

“同性戀和其他羣體一樣喜歡運動，”海斯說。他現在是公關公司Edelman紐約分部的健康部總經理。“有人以爲我們不喜歡運動。或者認爲我們看奧運會不是爲了看比賽或者看運動員取得的成績。”

But the Olympics have some unique qualities that attract gay men, several others said. Many closeted gays participated in individual sports to avoid the discomfort of team-sport culture, and the Olympics is the biggest showcase of individual sports. Hayes, too, said that being gay was a reason he gravitated toward swimming as a boy.

不過也有個別人說，奧運會具有某種吸引男同性戀的獨特氣質。很多沒有出櫃的同性戀參加個人運動項目，以避免團隊運動文化給他們帶來的不適，而奧運會是個人運動最大的舞臺。海斯也說，身爲同性戀也是他少年時被游泳吸引的一個原因。

Also, many Olympic sports possess an outsider’s sensibility that gay men can appreciate. Many sports are filled with artistry often missing from the usual weekend sports selection on television. And, for some, admittedly, the attraction is physical.

另外，很多奧運會項目擁有邊緣人的感性，這一點是男同能夠欣賞的。很多項目很有藝術性，這是電視上常見的週末體育賽事所沒有的。不可否認，對有些人來說，它的吸引力在於體形。

“A big part of it is the skin factor, for sure,” Zeigler said.

“外貌是一個很重要的因素，這是肯定的，”齊格勒說。

That happens across the spectrum. People gaze at the physiques of the divers in small Speedos. They marvel at the tiny bikinis on the women of beach volleyball.

這是普遍存在的現象。人們會盯着身穿緊身小泳褲的跳水選手的體形看。也會爲沙灘排球賽的女運動員穿的小比基尼驚歎。

What has changed is who is doing the ogling. More than ever, and more openly than ever, it seems to be everyone.

所不同的是誰在色眯眯地觀看。似乎所有人都比以前更開放了。

“The mainstream media is finally catching up to the gays in their public admiration of athletes’ bodies, male and female,” said Jim Buzinski, the other Outsports founder. “Now everyone is doing the ‘hottest bods’ post, encroaching on what had been our turf. Plus, men are more and more open about showing off, especially on social media, and don’t care who’s looking.”

“主流媒體終於開始追隨同性戀，對運動員身體表示公開欽慕了，不管是男運動員還是女運動員，”Outsports的另一位創始人吉姆•布津斯基(Jim Buzinski)說。“現在大家都在發佈關於‘最火辣身材’的帖子，侵佔我們曾經的地盤。另外，男人們越來越公開地炫耀身材，尤其是在社交媒體上，他們可不在乎誰在看。”

Outsports found that, at last count, 49 athletes are publicly out. That is about twice as many as at the 2012 London Games. Eleven of them, none from the United States, are male.

Outsports的最新統計發現，此次奧運會共有49名公開出櫃的運動員。這個數字大約是2012年倫敦奧運會時的兩倍。其中的11名男性都不是美國人。

British diver Tom Daley, a two-time medalist, is a popular gay icon, and his boyfriend is a bit of a celebrity, too. Brazil’s Rafaela Silva, who won a gold medal in judo, came out publicly two days later. A female Brazilian rugby player proposed to her girlfriend at the medal stand.

英國跳水運動員湯姆•戴利(Tom Daley)曾兩次獲得獎牌。他是一位很受歡迎的同性戀代表。他的男友也算是個名人。巴西的拉斐拉•席爾瓦(Rafaela Silva)在柔道比賽中獲得金牌。兩天後公開出櫃。一位巴西女橄欖球運動員在領獎臺上向女友求婚。

“There is something cool happening with this Olympics,” Hayes said. “There are quite a few out gay athletes competing. You used to never hear about that or see that. There were gay people competing, but they weren’t out or written about. Slowly, there’s starting to be a realization that gays are interested in sports, that they’re actually good at sports, and they can excel and achieve like anyone else.”

“本屆運動會正在發生很酷的事，”海斯說。“有不少出櫃的同性戀運動員在比賽。這是你過去從沒聽過或見過的事情。過去也有同性戀運動員在比賽，但他們沒有出櫃或被報道。慢慢地，人們意識到同性戀也對體育感興趣，他們其實擅長體育，他們能和其他人一樣出類拔萃，取得成就。”

Add all that context — more open athletes, a culture gaining acceptance and traction in a growing number of countries — and it is suddenly difficult for many to keep their eyes off these Olympics, the ultimate sports spectacle.

把所有這些背景加起來——更多運動員公開出櫃、同性戀文化在越來越多的國家得到接受和推動——很多人突然之間很難把眼睛從奧運會這項頂級體育賽事上移開。

The shirtless, well-lubed flag-bearer from Tonga became an instant sensation and has since made the news media rounds, including at NBC’s “Today” show. (Interview with Al Roker? Oil rub from Matt Lauer? Does it get more mainstream than that?)

上身赤裸、塗着油的湯加旗手迅速走紅，登上各大新聞媒體，包括NBC頻道的《今日秀》(Today)（接受阿爾•羅克[Al Roker]的採訪？馬特•勞爾[Matt Lauer]爲他抹的油？還有比這更主流的嗎？）。

Members of the U.S. men’s gymnastics team suggested in The Wall Street Journal that they want to be objectified, perhaps by competing shirtless.

美國男子體操隊成員在接受《華爾街日報》(The Wall Street Journal)採訪時表示，他們希望被物化——也許是通過比賽不穿上衣。

Social media lapped up the “accidental censorship” of divers taking showers between dives as television graphics covered their tiny suits, giving the illusion of full-fledged nudity.

社交媒體欣然接受對跳水選手在跳水之間沖淋浴時的“意外審查”——圖形遮住了他們的小泳褲，給人一種全身赤裸的錯覺。

“For some people, the Olympics is the greatest soft porn ever,” said Eric Marcus, an expert on gay history and co-writer of the autobiography of the Olympic champion diver Greg Louganis, who came out after retiring. “What’s changed is that the mainstream press is interested in these things, that gay people are comfortable talking about them, that it is now OK to objectify the bodies of men in a way that I don’t think that most news outlets would be comfortable objectifying women.”

“對有些人來說，奧運會是最大的軟色情，”同性戀史學家埃裏克•馬庫斯(Eric Marcus)說。他是奧運會跳水冠軍格雷格•洛加尼斯(Greg Louganis)自傳的合著者。洛加尼斯在退役後出櫃。“現在的變化是，主流媒體也對這些事情有了興趣，同性戀人士願意談論它們，現在可以物化男性的身體，不過我覺得大部分新聞門戶還不敢物化女性。”

In a twist from the past, the one news media taboo seems to be ogling women, though that does not stop it from happening.

在此重大轉變之際，新聞媒體似乎還保持着一項禁忌，那就是色眯眯地注視女性，雖然這並未阻止這樣的事情發生。

Even most lesbian sites do not have the same type of photocentric posts that those catering to gay men have. A beautiful woman carrying the Tongan flag is probably not booked on the “Today” show, and certainly not getting rubbed by the hosts.

就連絕大多數的女同網站也沒有像迎合男同的網站那樣發佈以照片爲主的帖子。一位舉着湯加國旗的美麗女子很可能上不了《今日秀》，而且主持人肯定不會給她身上抹油。

“The objectification of women was tied to the subordination of women,” Marcus said. “There’s a different dynamic involved.”

“女性的物化是與女性的從屬性聯繫在一起的，”馬庫斯說。“那是另外一個問題。”

That doesn’t keep some in the Olympic audience from seeing obvious objectification in some female uniforms, especially the bikinis worn by most beach volleyball players. Such revealing amounts of skin are not required; many women cover up on cool days and nights. One athlete from Egypt wore leggings, long sleeves and a head-covering hijab.

那也沒有阻止有些奧運觀衆從某些女性運動服上看出明顯的物化，尤其是大部分沙灘排球運動員穿的比基尼。這種程度的暴露是不必要的，很多女運動員在涼爽的比賽日裏穿更多衣服。有一位來自埃及的女運動員穿上打底褲和長袖，用頭巾把頭遮住。