Historians have identified two dominant currents in the Russian women

Question

Historians have identified two dominant currents in the Russian women's movement of the late tsarist period. "Bourgeois" feminism, so called by its more radical opponents, emphasized "individualist" feminist goals such as access to education, career opportunities, and legal equality."Socialist" feminists, by contrast, emphasized class, rather than gender, as the principal source of women's inequality and oppression, and socialist revolution, not legal reform, as the only road to emancipation and equality.

However, despite antagonism between bourgeois feminists and socialist feminists, the two movements shared certain underlying beliefs. Both regarded paid labor as the principal means by which women might attain emancipation: participation in the workplace and economic self-sufficiency, they believed, would make women socially useful and therefore deserving of equality with men. Both groups also recognized the enormous difficulties women faced when they combined paid labor with motherhood. In fact, at the First All-Russian Women's Congress in 1908, most participants advocated maternity insurance and paid maternity leave, although the intense hostility between some socialists and bourgeois feminists at the Congress made it difficult for them to recognize these areas of agreement. Finally, socialist feminists and most bourgeois feminists concurred in subordinating women's emancipation to what they considered the more important goal of liberating the entire Russian population from political oppression, economic backwardness, and social injustice.   1 
 1. The passage is primarily concerned with

(A) identifying points of agreement between two groups
(B) advocating one approach to social reform over another
(C) contrasting two approaches to solving a political problem
(D) arguing that the views espoused by one political group were more radical than those espoused by another group
(E) criticizing historians for overlooking similarities between the views espoused by two superficially dissimilar groups

2 
 2. The passage suggests that socialists within the Russian women's movement and most bourgeois feminists believed that in Russia

(A) women would not achieve economic equality until they had political representation within the government
(B) the achievement of larger political aims should take precedence over the achievement of women's rights
(C) the emancipation of women would ultimately bring about the liberation of the entire Russian population from political oppression
(D) women's oppression was more rooted in economic inequality than was the case in other countries
(E) the women's movement was more ideologically divided than were women's movements in other countries

3 
 3. According to the passage, Russian socialists within the women's movement and most bourgeois feminists disagreed about which of the following?

(A) Whether legal reform was central to the achievement of feminist goals
(B) Whether paid employment was important for the achievement of equality
(C) Whether maternity insurance was desirable for working mothers
(D) Whether working mothers faced obstacles
(E) Whether women's emancipation should be subordinated to the liberation of the Russian population

GMATNinja · Accepted Answer

Indeed, the passage mentions two approaches. But you need to think about the  purpose  of the passage, not just the  content  of the passage.

The first paragraph explains the differences between the two groups, as identified by historians. Then the author opens the second paragraph with, "However, despite antagonism between bourgeois feminists and socialist feminists, the two movements shared certain underlying beliefs." The rest of the second paragraph describes these shared beliefs.

So think about the structure of the passage:

Historians have identified two groups. Here's what separates those two groups. 
 However, despite some conflict between the two groups, they actually had a lot in common, such as...

Is the author just trying to tell us that the groups are different? No.. this is already know (i.e. by historians). The author wants us to realize that those two groups actually had things in common, despite their differences. The author's  primary purpose  is to to identify the "points of agreement" between the two groups. So (A) is the best answer.

The portion you highlighted in blue actually tells us why the answer is (B), not (C): "Finally, socialist feminists and most bourgeois feminists concurred in subordinating women's emancipation to what they considered the more important goal of liberating the entire Russian population from political oppression, economic backwardness, and social injustice."

Both groups agreed that women's emancipation should be made secondary (i.e. subordinated) to liberating the entire Russian population from...

In other words, the two groups agreed that liberating Russians from political oppression, economic backwardness, and social injustice ("larger political aims") was a more important goal than emancipating women ("achievement of women's rights").

The author does NOT say that the emancipation of women would LEAD TO the liberation of the entire Russian population from political oppression, so (C) should be eliminated.

Rumikido3 · Answer

6.5 min taken
2/3 correct questions.

The toughest question in this passage is the 2nd one (as stats shows). I got it incorrect, too. I choose C instead of B. Understanding the phrase " in subordinating " is key to answer this 2nd question:

"Finally, socialist feminists and most bourgeois feminists concurred  in subordinating women's emancipation to  what they considered the more important goal of liberating the entire Russian population from political oppression, economic backwardness, and social injustice."

This means that both groups agree that W's emancipation should be less important than liberating Russia from some big problems. So, The main goal should be liberating Russia, and indeed the efforts should be focussed on achieving this more important goal first. B is correct!

Answer choice C is incorrect because the passage never says that emancipation of W is a mean to achieve the big goal of Russia.

Hope this help guys!

Thanks

Rumi

GMATNinja · Answer

Passage breakdown 
In the first paragraph, the author:

Introduces two  contrasting  groups in the Russian women's movement of the late Tsarist period

In the second paragraph, the author:

Lists three beliefs that these groups actually had  in common . 
 Suggests that the "intense hostility" between some members of these groups made it difficult for them to recognize these common beliefs.

For more on the process of breaking down RC passages, check out  this article  and  our live RC videos .

Explanations for individual questions 
   Question 1  
 Question 2
 
  Part 1  
  Part 2    
 Question 3
 
  Part 1  
  Part 2

WoundedTiger · Answer

1. The passage is primarily concerned with
A. identifying points of agreement between two groups
B. advocating one approach to social reform over another
C. contrasting two approaches to solving a political problem
D. arguing that the views espoused by one political group were more radical than those espoused by another group
E. criticizing historians for overlooking similarities between the views espoused by two superficially dissimilar groups

The passage talks about 2 movements in a Russian period and what they believed in Para 1

Para 2 it talks about Common points of agreement and how in later stages they decided to focus on other Important goal than Woman's emancipation..
B,C,and D out...There is no Crticisim as well...So ans is A
 2. The passage suggests that  socialists  within the Russian women's movement and  most bourgeois feminists  believed that in Russia
A. women would not achieve economic equality until they had political representation within the government
B. the achievement of larger political aims should take precedence over the achievement of women's rights
C. the emancipation of women would ultimately bring about the liberation of the entire Russian population from political oppression
D. women's oppression was more rooted in economic inequality than was the case in other countries
E. the women's movement was more ideologically divided than were women's movements in other countries

Look how well they have masked the question... We need to find All Socialists and Most Bourgeois Feminists...If you capurted this well...Ans should not be a problem..or atleast i think it will not be a problem....Ans is B
A -Both Socialists and BF agreed
C: They did not agree
D: Only Socialists
E: Not even discussed

3. According to the passage, Russian socialists within the women's movement and most bourgeois feminists disagreed about which of the following?
A. Whether legal reform was central to the achievement of feminist goals
B. Whether paid employment was important for the achievement of equality
C. Whether maternity insurance was desirable for working mothers
D. Whether working mothers faced obstacles
E. Whether women's emancipation should be subordinated to the liberation of the Russian population

They disagreed....
B,C,D,and E------All agreed

A is the answer

avinashMisra · Answer

would be happy if someone explains why 'C' is incorrect answer choice for second question?

yysu08 · Answer

The second question is referred to this part of the passage "Finally, socialist feminists and most bourgeois feminists concurred in subordinating women's emancipation to what they considered the more important goal of liberating the entire Russian population from political oppression, economic backwardness, and social injustice."

So they believe liberating the entire Russian population is more important than women's emancipation. C is incorrect because it says the opposite of what they believe

Lucky2783 · Answer

Read this snippet of the 2nd passage , both socialist and bourgeois feminists agreed that women's emancipation is less important then the most important goal of liberating the entire Russian population from political oppression, economic backwardness, and social injustice.

Finally, socialist feminists and most bourgeois feminists concurred in  subordinating women's emancipation to what they considered the more important goal of liberating the entire Russian population from political oppression, economic backwardness, and social injustice.

adding  sujay25  as he has also raised the same question .

takeTWO · Answer

Hi All,

Sorry to reopen an old thread.

In the question:
3. According to the passage, Russian socialists within the women's movement and most bourgeois feminists disagreed about which of the following?
A. Whether legal reform was central to the achievement of feminist goals
B. Whether paid employment was important for the achievement of equality
C. Whether maternity insurance was desirable for working mothers
D. Whether working mothers faced obstacles
E. Whether women's emancipation should be subordinated to the liberation of the Russian population

A is correct as pointed in the above answers. But isn't the passage also suggesting a disagreement about C?
"at the First All-Russian Women's Congress in 1908, most participants advocated maternity insurance and paid maternity leave, although the intense hostility between some socialists and bourgeois feminists at the Congress made it difficult for them to recognize these areas of agreement"

AmoyV · Answer

takeTWO  Read the highlighted part in the 2nd para

"In fact, at the First All-Russian Women's Congress in 1908,  most participants advocated maternity insurance and paid maternity leave , although the intense hostility between some socialists and bourgeois feminists at the Congress made it difficult for them to recognize these areas of agreement"

This means that almost all the members of both the factions *agreed* on having "maternity insurance". The question asks us to identify a point of *disagreement*.

Lets look at the 1st paragraph:
 
Historians have identified two dominant currents in the Russian women's movement of the late tsarist period.  "Bourgeois" feminism , so called by its more radical opponents, emphasized  "individualist" feminist goals such as access to education, career opportunities, and legal equality.  "Socialist" feminists,  by contrast, emphasized class, rather than gender, as the principal source of women's inequality and oppression, and socialist revolution,  not legal reform,  as the only road to emancipation and equality.

BillyZ · Answer

Hi  GMATNinjaTwo , Could you help with question 3?

According to the passage, Russian socialists within the women's movement and most bourgeois feminists disagreed about which of the following?

A. Whether legal reform was central to the achievement of feminist goals
B. Whether paid employment was important for the achievement of equality
C. Whether maternity insurance was desirable for working mothers
D. Whether working mothers faced obstacles
E. Whether women's emancipation should be subordinated to the liberation of the Russian population

GMATNinja · Answer

In the first paragraph, we are told that "Bourgeois" feminists emphasized "individualist" feminist goals such as legal equality. This implies that the BFs wanted legal reform in order to attain legal equality. In other words, legal equality did not exist, so the BFs wanted changes (reform) to move towards legal equality.

"Socialist" feminists, by contrast, emphasized socialist revolution,   not legal reform  , as the only road to emancipation and equality. This implies that the SFs did not think legal reform was central to their goals as feminists.

So BFs wanted legal equality (i.e. legal reform), while the SFs did NOT emphasize legal reform. Thus, the two groups disagreed about whether legal reform was central to achievement of feminists goals.

(A) is the best answer.

adkikani · Answer

GMATNinja   GMATNinjaTwo

Can you please clarify my process in PoE?

1. The passage is primarily concerned with

We are not merely identifying points of agreement.

Yes , two approaches are mentioned in passage to solve women emancipation.

2. The passage suggests that socialists within the Russian women's movement and most bourgeois feminists believed that in Russia

Inferred from below part:
 Finally, socialist feminists and most bourgeois feminists concurred in subordinating women's emancipation to what they considered the more important goal of liberating the entire Russian population from political oppression, economic backwardness, and social injustice. 
 
Where is this mentioned in passage / how do I infer this?

soumya170293 · Answer

Would anyone please explain question 3 ; how can I be able to eliminate the option C for that despite getting notion from " In fact, at the First All-Russian Women's Congress in 1908, most participants advocated maternity insurance and paid maternity leave, although the intense hostility between some socialists and bourgeois feminists at the Congress made it difficult for them to recognize these areas of agreement. "

For question 2 ' Should ' - Extreme word but taken as correct.

Thanks in Advance.

For question 2 ' Should ' - Extreme word but taken as correct.

Thanks in Advance.

GMATNinja · Answer

soumya170293 , you are looking at the right part of the passage: "Both groups also recognized the enormous difficulties women faced when they combined paid labor with motherhood. In fact, at the First All-Russian Women's Congress in 1908,  most participants advocated maternity insurance  and paid maternity leave, although the intense hostility between some socialists and bourgeois feminists at the Congress made it difficult for them to recognize these areas of agreement."

This portion directly tells us that MOST participants (i.e. from both groups) advocated maternity insurance. This was one of the "areas of agreement". Although it was difficult for them to recognize that this was an area of agreement, both groups largely advocated maternity insurance. So they would NOT disagree about (C).

Since we are looking for a point of disagreement, (C) should be eliminated. For further explanation of this question, see  this post .

As for #2...

First of all, I wouldn't consider "should" to be very extreme. It is indeed an important word to notice, but something like "must" would be much stronger language.

Regardless, you should NOT be under the impression that strong/extreme language = wrong answer. This is a common misconception, but it is not valid at all. You should definitely  notice  strong language and think really hard about how it affects the meaning of the answer choice. However, an answer with strong language could very well be the correct answer.

For more on the topic of strong language, check out  this thread .

Gmat20201 · Answer

Passage Understanding ( just outlined) 
- Two currents in women movements in Russia- B and S
- B emphasis Individualism and S emphasis Class ( Para I talks about there difference)
- Para II - Talks about how these two groups even after being different were similar in certain belief.

Q 1. The passage is primarily concerned with

A. identifying points of agreement between two groups - Yes Para II talks about the common belief of both groups after initial introduction of two groups and their difference. Passage discusses similarity in their beliefs .
Option A - Correct
 
B. advocating one approach to social reform over another- Author does not advocate/ advice any one approach- So Eliminate B

C. contrasting two approaches to solving a political problem- Yes first para talks about contrasting things about two groups but does not talk any where about solving a political problem- So Eliminate C

D. arguing that the views espoused by one political group were more radical than those espoused by another group- Passage does not argue about views. Passage just puts forward difference and common beliefs.No argument about views- So Eliminate D

E. criticizing historians for overlooking similarities between the views espoused by two superficially dissimilar groups-- This trap ans looks tempting at first, but read carefully, does the passage criticize historians anywhere for overlooking similarities. Historians are not discussed anywhere except being mentioned in the first line. Dont fall in the trap. Eliminate E

Ans- A

Q 2. The passage suggests that socialists within the Russian women's movement and most bourgeois feminists believed that in Russia

Note- It is a inference question. We need to infer, information asked in this question will not be directly mentioned in the passage.

A. women would not achieve economic equality until they had political representation within the government-No where mentioned in the passage

B . the achievement of larger political aims should take precedence over the achievement of women's rights - Correct Refer the last three lines"Finally, socialist feminists and most bourgeois feminists concurred in subordinating women's emancipation to what they considered the more important goal of liberating the entire Russian population from political oppression, economic backwardness, and social injustice."
 
C. the emancipation of women would ultimately bring about the liberation of the entire Russian population from political oppression-- uses the trap to mention words similar to the passage but changes meaning.Passage talks about subordinating emancipation ( Giving less importance to liberation of women) here it says - other way round.So be careful of the trap .Eliminate C

D. women's oppression was more rooted in economic inequality than was the case in other countries--
 Not mentioned in the passage- Eliminate D

E. the women's movement was more ideologically divided than were women's movements in other countries=Not mentioned again-Straight away eliminate as there is no supporting to this statement in the passage. Eliminate E

Ans B

3. According to the passage, Russian socialists within the women's movement and most bourgeois feminists disagreed about which of the following?

Note :- This is a detail question. Look for reference directly in the passage.
  
 A. Whether legal reform was central to the achievement of feminist goals -YES Para I mentions this disagreement . CORRECT (REF:Socialist" feminists,  by contrast , emphasized class, rather than gender, as the principal source of women's inequality and oppression, and socialist revolution,  not legal reform, as the only road to emancipation and equality.
 )
 
B. Whether paid employment was important for the achievement of equality- Para II says both agreed to this belief ( ref:Both regarded paid labor as the principal means by which women might attain emancipation) . So Eliminate B

C. Whether maternity insurance was desirable for working mothers-- Para II says both agreed to this too (Ref:most participants advocated maternity insurance and paid maternity leave) so eliminate C

D. Whether working mothers faced obstacles-- Again both groups agreed to this too ( ref:Both groups also recognized the enormous difficulties women faced when they combined paid labor with motherhood) So we eliminate D

E. Whether women's emancipation should be subordinated to the liberation of the Russian population - Again both groups agreed too ( Ref:Finally, socialist feminists and most bourgeois feminists  concurred  (Concurred= to agree) in subordinating women's emancipation to what they considered the more important goal of liberating the entire Russian population from political oppression, economic backwardness, and social injustice.)

Ans A

Hope it helps !

M838TE · Answer

GMATNinja 
Read through the thread but only find two members talking about choice D in question 2. I got this right but only because B was addressed directly in the paragraph. I am not entirely sure why D is wrong as it almost seems like one or both of these two feminist groups would have touched on the economic inequality. I thought focusing on career opportunity* could have been a subtle hint dropped by the bourgeois feminist group, but not as strong of a case as in paraphrasing the subordination of women's emancipation to address the political aims.

GMATNinja · Answer

Question 2 
 
You're right that both groups agreed that the economic role of women was important. This is discussed near the beginning of the second paragraph: "Both regarded paid labor as the principal means by which women might attain emancipation: participation in the workplace and economic self-sufficiency, they believed, would make women socially useful and therefore deserving of equality with men."

But take a closer look at the exact language of (D):
 
The author never tells us what these groups believed about  other countries . Perhaps they thought that women's oppression in Russia was more rooted in economics, or perhaps they thought that the economic situation of women was much worse in other countries.

We really have no idea what the two groups thought about other countries, so (D) is out for question 2.

I hope that helps!

VerbalBot · Answer

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Historians have identified two dominant currents in the Russian women

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Historians have identified two dominant currents in the Russian women

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