While ultimately we each decide what's important in life, the media certainly plays a huge role in shaping our opinions and producing role-models to whom we should aspire. So it's great to see such an entertaining show as Ugly Betty which has a positive underlying message and a great role model like Betty. But the media certainly can be a fickle-minded beast - on the heels of the recent Esquire magazine poll ranking the sexiest women alive, comes Maxim magazine's "unsexiest women" poll. At the top of this list of "unsexiest" women was none other than Sarah Jessica Parker, star of long-running hit show and upcoming movie Sex and the City. Rounding out the top five were singer Amy Winehouse, Grey's Anatomy's Sandra Oh, Madonna and Britney Spears. Even if these women are ugly (which many would contest), they certainly are successful and most likely don't pay attention to such pathetic polls. They are probably too busy with their fabulous careers, or looking after their children, or enjoying life, because ugly or not, they are all successful women.
　　虽然我们最终都会认识到生活中什么才是最重要的，但是媒体在影响我们的价值观和塑造榜样模范上的确起着很重要的作用。所以很欣慰能够看到《丑女贝蒂》这样一部既有趣又有积极深意，能够塑造像贝蒂一样榜样的电视节目。但是媒体的心思总是变幻莫测——《绅士》杂志刚刚评出当今世界最性感的女性排行榜不久，《风度》就推出了一个“最不性感女人”调查。而高居这个“最不性感女人”调查榜首的不是别人，正是莎拉?杰西卡?帕克，长篇热播电视节目和即将上映的电影版《欲望都市》的女主角。排名前五位的另外四人分别是歌手艾米?怀恩豪斯、《实习医生格雷》的吴珊卓、麦当娜和布兰妮?斯皮尔斯。如果这些女人都丑（当然会有很多人不同意），可她们绝对算是功成名就了，根本不会在意这些无聊的调查榜单。她们可能正忙于自己蒸蒸日上的事业，或者是照看自己的子女，或者是享受生活，因为不管丑陋与否，她们都是成功的女性。

　　In many ways, the publishing of this poll highlights society's sad obsession with beauty - the fact that we can take five successful women and try and make them feel bad because they are "ugly", instead of highlighting their great achievements. Also, why is thereonly an "unsexiest women" poll? Why not "unsexiest men"? Is itonly women who have to be beautiful to be successful? Alternately, we can look at this poll as highlighting the fact that no matter how "ugly" you are, you can still be successful and famous and star on a hit TV show! Who wouldn't want to be as famous as Sarah Jessica Parker and star inone of TV's most popular shows, not to mention have her great wardrobe of clothes?
　　这个民意调查其实从很多方面都反映出这个社会对外表可悲的盲崇——我们选了5名成功的女性，不为彰显她们的成就，只是竭力想让她们因为自己长得丑而难过悲伤。此外，为什么只有“最不性感女人”的调查而非“最不性感男人”？是不是只有女性才必须靠美艳的外表获得成功？换个角度看这次调查，我们也可以认为，无论你的相貌多么平凡无奇，你都有机会成功、出名，以及主演热播电视节目！有谁不想像莎拉?杰西卡?帕克那样有名呢，有谁不想出演最火热的电视节目呢，更不用说拥有她满橱柜的流行时装了！

　　At different periods in history and in different parts of the world, beauty does not have the same definition - because beauty is subjective. Even fromone person to the next, we do not all agree on who is beautiful. So why should we chase after an ideal that is constantly changing? It is the luck of our genes that we are born the way we are, and it's our responsibility to make the most of the opportunities that come our way. Being born "beautiful" is simply luck - there are about 20 supermodels in the whole world and over 6 billion of us "non-supermodels", so the chances of being born a true "beauty" are pretty slim. But the chances of being successful at what you want to do are much higher, and certainly don't rely on whether you are beautiful or not.
　　在历史上不同时期，世界各地对于美的定义也不尽相同——因为美本身就是很主观的东西。即使是身边的人，我们对于谁比较美丽这个问题也不是总能达成一致。那么我们为什么要追逐一个不断变化的观念呢？身体发肤，受之父母。我们能做的就是充分利用我们身边的各种机会。“天生丽质”只是运气而已——全世界也不过只有大约20个超级名模，可像你我这样的普通人却有60亿。所以，生来就是美女的几率太小。但是在自己的事业上做出些成就的几率可要大得多，而且和你的外表美丽与否没有关系。

　　There are many sayings about beauty such as "beauty isonly skin deep" and "beautiful on the inside" which help to remind us that being beautiful is really a state of mind. Don't let society's narrow definition of beauty fool you - you are beautiful, you just need to believe it and keep telling yourself so. Now that you know you are beautiful, that'sone less thing to worry about, so relax!
　　有很多关于美丽的说法，比如“美貌止于外表”和“内在美”，这些都提醒我们，美丽其实是一种精神面貌——不要被社会对于美丽的狭隘观点所蒙蔽——你很美丽，对此，你只需要深信不疑。既然你已经意识到自己是美丽的了，那就没必要再担忧，所以轻松点吧！