[双语] The Sex-Housework Link

老迷

Housework may seem like the ultimate romance-killer. But guess what?
家务活或许看起来是终极浪漫杀手。但你猜怎么着？
A new study shows that for husbands and wives alike, the more housework you do, the more often you are likely to have sex with your spouse.
一项新调查显示，对丈夫和妻子们而言，家务活做得越多，与配偶发生性爱的次数可能就越频繁。
Earlier studies have hinted at this connection for men; the sight of a husband mopping the floor or doing dishes sparks affection in the hearts of many wives. But the more-housework-equals-more-sex link for wives, documented in a study of 6,877 married couples published online recently in the Journal of Family Issues, is a surprise.
此前的调查已经暗示了家务与男士的这种联系；看到丈夫俯身拖地或是洗刷碗筷可能会引发很多妻子们的心头爱意。但美国《家庭问题杂志》(Journal of Family Issues)网站近期公布的这项调查显示
，主妇们中也存在家务活越多性爱越频繁的关系，这真是令人意外。该杂志对6,877对夫妇进行了这项调查。
Scrubbing the floor is no aphrodisiac, and seeing your spouse doing it usually isn't either. 'My husband loves doing laundry, yet I don't get any thrill out of his doing it,' says Chicago writer Julie Danis. And 'I don't think he thinks it's sexy when I go around gathering the detritus of his daily life.'
擦地板并不会挑逗情欲，看到你的爱人这么做通常也不会有催情效果。芝加哥撰稿人茱丽•达尼斯(Julie Danis)说，我丈夫喜欢洗衣服，但他这么做无法撩动我的一丝“性”致。而且，我不觉得他看到我四处收拾他日常生活垃圾的时候会觉得我性感。
But for some high achievers who take a 'work hard, play hard' approach to life, researchers say, working hard in one domain produces more energy for others. The study also found a correlation between hours spent on paid work and the frequency of sex in marriage.
但研究人员说，对一些信奉“努力工作，尽情享受”的事业有成人士来说，在一个领域的努力工作会带来对其他领域的更多精力。调查还发现，花在有偿工作上的小时数和婚内性爱的频率之间存在着关联。
'Rather than compromise their sex life' because of time demands at work or at home, 'this group of go-getters seems to make sex a priority,' says Constance Gager, lead researcher and an assistant professor of family and child studies at Montclair State University, Montclair, N.J. The study doesn't measure what proportion of spouses fall into this group, but she believes 'they are on the leading edge of couples we expect to see more of in the future.'
新泽西州蒙特克莱尔州立大学(Montclair State University)的家庭和儿童研究首席研究员、助理教授康斯坦斯•加杰(Constance Gager)说，这群实干家似乎并没有因为工作和家庭的时间需要而在性生活上有所牺牲，他们反而将性视为一项头等大事。调查并没有统计有多少夫妇属于这个群体；但加杰认为，他们是处于领先地位的人，我们预计未来会看到更多这样的夫妇。
Many husbands and wives I interviewed offered an additional explanation -- that housework may be a proxy for a general willingness to invest in shared interests, a symbol of commitment to home and hearth. Perhaps 'working on the same task . . . makes the couple remember why they married -- to be on the same team, to build a life,' Ms. Danis says.
我采访过的很多丈夫和妻子给出了又一个解释──做家务可能代表着一种投资共同利益的意愿，是一种对家和家人的奉献象征。达尼斯说，或许做同一件事会让两口子回想起当初为什么结婚──风雨同舟，共创生活。

Tom Doran, a Plymouth, Mich., engineer, says doing housework 'promotes friendship and intimacy' for him and his wife, an executive assistant. And John Rogitz, a San Diego attorney who has been married for 30 years, says, 'If you're both around doing housework, that also means you are alone together, and in a place where both are relaxed and comfortable.' He adds, 'It's pretty hard to have sex when you're not together in a place that permits it.'
汤姆•多兰(Tom Doran)是密歇根州普利茅斯的一名工程师。他说，做家务能够增进他和妻子的友情和亲密感。他妻子是一名行政助理。约翰•罗吉斯(John Rogitz)是美国圣地亚哥一名结婚30年的律师。他说，如果夫妇俩一起做家务，这也意味着你们单独相处，呆在一个两人都感到放松舒适的地方。他补充说，当你们呆的地方条件不允许时，那要发生性爱会非常困难。
Another husband, a St. Paul, Minn., accountant who describes himself as happily married for 20 years, says housework reflects a deeper bond. Although he does plenty of housework, 'to me it's not the dishes, laundry, vacuuming (or Viagra) that matters,' he writes. Sharing chores reflects a 'willingness to hold my wife's needs and wants on a par with my own. For us, the key to intimacy is the sharing and minimization of selfishness.' His wife, a nurse, agrees, saying that 'doing the household chores is certainly part of the sharing.'
另一位来自明尼苏达州圣保罗的会计师说他自己结婚20年来一直很快乐。他说，做家务反映了两人更深的关系。他在信中说，虽然他做了大量的家务活，但对他来说，重要的并不是洗碗、洗衣、用吸尘器清扫，也不是伟哥药片。他说，分担家务事反映了我愿意将妻子的需求和想法视为我自己的。对我们来说，保持亲密的关键就是分享，并将自私降到最低。他的妻子是一名护士，对此表示认同；她说，做家务活肯定是分享的一部分。
It's also possible that one reward of doing chores -- a serene, well-tended home -- can be conducive to intimacy. Tracy Evans, New York, says she and her husband 'definitely can relax better if the house is clean,' she says -- to a point.
也有可能，做家务的一个回报──一个静谧整洁的家──有益于亲热。来自纽约的翠西•伊文斯(Tracy Evans)说，如果家里整洁，自己和丈夫肯定会更加放松。她说到点上了。
But plunging too deeply into chores also can have the opposite effect, she says, if it is linked to 'this perfectionistic type of thing where you want to get everything done' -- for example, deciding you can't rest until your entire spice rack is in alphabetical order. 'Before you know it, it's one in the morning and you haven't spent any time with your spouse,' Ms. Evans says. Researchers didn't explore whether housework reached a point of diminishing returns -- where time on chores expanded so much that it choked off intimacy.
但她说，过度置身于家务活也会适得其反，如果这与希望事事到位的完美主义心理联系起来的话──比方说，决定非要按照字母顺序排列好调味品架子之后才能休息。伊文斯说，可能一个上午一眨眼功夫就在忙碌中过去了，你都没有花时间陪伴爱人。研究人员没有研究是否做家务到了某个临界点之后就会回报递减，花在家务上的时间太多是否就会妨碍夫妻亲热。