美国人的仪容与个人卫生

     Grooming and personal hygiene have been around for ages. It's hard to imagine a time when people weren't concerned with taking care of their appearance and their bodies. Perhaps these practices started when Adam first took a bath and combed his hair before going on a date with Eve. Or maybe they began when Eve put on some herbal makeup to make herself more beautiful. No matter where they started, grooming and personal hygiene have become an important part of everyone's daily routine.

    There used to be an old joke in America that people should take a bath once a week, whether they need or not. In fact, though, Americans generally take a bath — or more commonly, a shower — every day. But in contrast to some cultures, most Americans get their shower in the morning, so they can start the day fresh. And instead of going to a beauty parlor for a shampoo, many Americans prefer to wash and style their own hair. So if Americans have a “ bad hair day ” , they have no one to blame but themselves. But most people in America do head for the beauty parlor or barber shop occasionally for a haircut, a perm or just some friendly conversation.

    Some of the cultural variations in grooming practices result from physical differences between races. Whereas many Asian men have little facial hair, Westerners have a lot. As a result, most American men spend some time each day shaving or grooming their facial hair. Beards and mustaches are common sights in America, although their popularity changes from generation to generation. Most American men who wear facial hair try to keep it nicely trimmed.

    Americans put great value on both grooming and personal hygiene. For some people, taking care of themselves has become almost a religion. As the old saying goes, “ Cleanliness is next to godliness. ” Whether or not being clean and well-groomed brings one closer to God, it certainly brings one closer to others. Americans look down on people who don't take care of themselves, or who “ let themselves go ” . To Americans, even if we don't have much to work with, we have to make the best of what we've got.

    仪容整洁和个人卫生的讲究已经行之有年了。很难想像一个人们不在乎打理外表和身体清洁的时代。或许这些卫生习惯始于亚当第一次洗澡梳头去赴夏娃的约；也可能始于夏娃第一次搽上青草制的化妆品使自己更美丽。无论是从何时开始的，仪容整洁与个人卫生已经成为每个人生活例行事务中重要的一部分。

    以前在美国有一个老笑话，说不管人们需不需要，他们至少每个礼拜要洗一次澡。不过事实上，美国人每天都会洗一次澡，或者更普遍的做法是每天淋浴一次。但是不同于某些文化习惯的是，大多数美国人在清晨淋浴，以使他们展开清新的一天。而且美国人不上美容院去洗头，他们宁可自己洗头和整理发型。所以美国人如果有一天头发很丑，除怪自己之外就没什么好抱怨的了。然而大部分的美国人偶尔会到美容院或理发厅去，剪头发、烫头发，或是

    去跟人聊聊天。

    有些仪容整洁方面的文化差异是源自于种族间生理条件的不同。亚洲男性面部的胡髭长得并不多，但西方人却长得多，因此美国的男性每天得花些时间去刮除或整理他们的胡髭。在美国，男人在下巴部分或嘴唇上方留胡子是很普遍的，不过不同时代胡子受欢迎的样式不相同。在美国大部分留胡子的男性都会试着将胡子修剪整齐。

    美国人非常看重仪容整洁与个人卫生。对某些人而言，打理自己几乎成了一种信仰，如一句古老的谚语说的：清洁是仅次于圣洁第二重要的事。不管整齐清洁是不是能使人更接近上帝，但它的确能拉近人与人的距离。美国人轻视那些不在乎打理自己或让自己随随便便就好的人。对美国人而言，就算我们没有非常好的先天条件，但至少该尽力将已有的好好发挥。