Historians have long accepted the notion that women of English descent

How is it 6. B? Can someone explain?

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Hello srial





Hope it helps

New scholarship argument is that decline in colonial women's status is due to gender roles, the colonial economy, demographic patterns, religion, the law, and household organization whereas Dexter's argument is that decline in status is solely due to one factor (their economic function in society). So both of them are agreeing to the point that there is decline in women's status.
I don't understand how we can infer that Dexter and Practitioners agreed upon the fact that less complex social system necessarily confers higher status on women.

Can anyone please shed some light?

Note: I got question 3 wrong - and even though I have myself to blame - wondering if it should more accurately refer to the particular part of the passage? Just a pedantic comment.

If you enjoy reading any type of history this is an okay passage. If not, it can be challenging. Generally, women's issues appear to come up regularly on the GMAT and you might as well get used to dealing with them (the passages, not the issues; though feminist causes are great). I did sketch out a few notes for each para., which looked like this (and that were changed slightly as I continued reading the passage):

1. Women = men (colonial era) -> why
2. Golden Age -> 19th theory + other academics
3. GA -> simplistic -> why (+recent analysis)

I did not want to do the above "sketching" but it is an important habit in my opinion as it makes you focus on the passage and its content.

I will explain Question 3 (that I got wrong) and Question 6 (which people are concerned with).

Question 3: I picked E ("without merit"). The author criticizes the "Golden Age" scholars but probably with more depth and sophistication then simply labeling their arguments "without merit". "Paradoxical" would be a great way to describe the GA theorists because on the one hand such theorists label this era as "Golden Age", yet on the other it appears to contradict what the type of theories the authors sets out later on (I know this is not the biggest in-depth analysis, but I hope it helps someone). Vocabulary is important here and it is helpful if you have come across or used any of the words in the answer choices.

Question 6: This is challenging and narrowed it down to B and D. I think D is wrong as gender roles are not actually discussed - they are mentioned but not scrutinised. B is the more obvious one: Dexter's argument is criticized in that it is too "simplistic". Most recent academics have shown that social systems in the colonial era were actually more complex and changing - and that may have had an impact on the role of women.

Can someone please explain how is the view of historians(highlighted) is paradoxical? Is this question referring to the view of only Joan-Hoff Wilson?

The author mentions that the scholars dispute the notion of a “golden age” for colonial women in the 17th and 18th century, but at the same time they claim that colonial women were better off than the 19th-century women. So basically, they agree but don't agree with the theory, and this is described as paradoxical. Joan Hoff-Wilson was just one example of this.

P1

Here the author stresses a particular condition that women were subject to during the colonial age in America. They are considered better off than both the women living in England during the same period and their daughters and granddaughters. Then the author proceeds by explaining the Golden theory, a theory that explains the factors responsible for such particular condition: few women, no social constraints, survival of households....

Purpose: To explain why according to the golden age theory women benefitted of a special condition in America during the colonial age.





P2

In paragraph 2 the author highlights the importance of women during the colonial age. Such women were often compered to the middle class women of the 19th century and even the historians who did not believe in the Golden age recognized that there was a negative change in the condition of women between the mentioned periods.

Purpose: To stress the importance of colonial women for historians



P3

In the last paragraph the author claims that the view previously mentioned was too simplistic according to some scholars. Such scholars believed that there are many more factors that contributed to the conditions of women during the colonial age. Some examples are made to support this claim.

Purpose: The purpose of this paragraph is to claim that the previously adopted view was too simplistic, analyzing the work of scholars



Main point

The purpose of this passage is to highlight the condition of women during the colonial age and to claim that such conditions involve lots of factors, unlike some historians think.


























It's a great day to be alive!

Para1--- basically the golden age theory is meant to support as well as explain traditional historian’s view rather than refute it, I was wrong at this point when reading this passage at first, the theory functions as to give some plausible reasons why women “before 19 century=colonial area” live better than “19 century women”


Historians have long accepted the notion that women of English descent who lived in the English colonies of North America during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were better off than either the contemporary women in England or the colonists’ own nineteenth-century daughters and granddaughters.The “golden age” theory originated in the 1920s with the work of Elizabeth Dexter, who argued that there were relatively few women among the colonists, and that all hands—male and female—were needed to sustain the growing settlements. Rigid sex-role distinctions could not exist under such circumstances; female colonists could accordingly engage in whatever occupations they wished, encountering few legal or social constraints if they sought employment outside the home. The surplus of male colonists also gave women crucial bargaining power in the marriage market since women’s contributions were vital to the survival of colonial households.





Para2 — by using Dexter’s argument(colonial era--17&18 century women treat equal/ women in 19 century live poorer than the time before 19 century) to make the extension to the studies of 19 century middle-class women’s, this para is still within the scope of Dexter’s argument although it talks about another part of Dexter’s argument


Dexter’s portrait of female colonists living under conditions of rough equality(colonist era—women treat fairly) with their male counterparts was eventually incorporated into studies of nineteenth-century middle-class women. The contrast between the self-sufficient colonial woman and the oppressed nineteenth-century woman, confined to her home by stultifying ideologies of domesticity and by the fact that industrialization eliminated employment opportunities for middle-class women, gained an extraordinarily tenacious hold on historians(historians believe much more to Dexter’s theory) . Even scholars who have questioned the “golden age” view of colonial women’s status have continued to accept the paradigm of a nineteenth-century decline(decline in women's condition) from a more desirable past (strengthen golden age/historian’s view) .For example, Joan Hoff-Wilson asserted that there was no “golden age” and yet emphasized that the nineteenth century brought “increased loss of function and authentic status for” middle-class women (strengthen golden age’s view).




Para3—refute and extend/give a more broader picture to Dexter’s argument


Recent publications about colonial women have exposed the concept of a decline in status(19 century middle class women) as simplistic and unsophisticated, a theory that based its assessment of colonial women’s status solely on one factor (their economic function in society) and assumed all too readily that a relatively simple social system automatically brought higher standing to colonial women(Dexter’s view). The new scholarship presents a far more complicated picture, one in which definitions of gender roles, the colonial economy, demographic patterns, religion, the law, and household organization all contributed to defining the circumstances of colonial women’s lives. Indeed, the primary concern of modern scholarship is not to generalize about women’s status but to identify the specific changes and continuities in women’s lives during the colonial period. For example, whereas earlier historians suggested that there was little change for colonial women before 1800, the new scholarship suggests that a three-part chronological division more accurately reflects colonial women’s experiences. First was the initial period of English colonization (from the 1620s to about 1660); then a period during which patterns of family and community were challenged and reshaped (roughly from 1660 to 1750); and finally the era of revolution (approximately 1750 to 1815), which brought other changes to women’s lives.








1. Which one of the following best expresses the main idea of the passage?

(A) An earlier theory about the status of middle-class women in the nineteenth century has been supported by recent scholarship.
(B) Recent studies of middle-class nineteenth-century women have altered an earlier theory about the status of colonial women.
(C) Recent scholarship has exposed an earlier theory about the status of colonial women(Dexter’s) as too narrowly based and oversimplified.
…correct

(D) An earlier theory about colonial women has greatly influenced recent studies on middle-class women in the nineteenth century.
(E) An earlier study of middle-class women was based on insufficient research on the status of women in the nineteenth century.




2. The author discusses Hoff-Wilson (Highlighted) primarily in order to

(A) describe how Dexter’s theory was refuted by historians of nineteenth-century North America

...they support each other
(B) describe how the theory of middle-class women’s nineteenth-century decline in status was developed

...not meant to offer an reason to this phenomenon
(C) describe an important influence on recent scholarship about the colonial period
(D) demonstrate the persistent influence of the “golden age” theory.

…..correct
Even scholars who have questioned the “golden age” view of colonial women’s status have continued to accept the paradigm of a nineteenth-century decline from a more desirable past.For example, Joan Hoff-Wilson asserted that there was no “golden age” and yet emphasized that the nineteenth century brought “increased loss of function and authentic status for” middle-class women.

(E) provide an example of current research one the colonial period




3. It can be inferred from the passage that the author would be most likely to describe the views of the scholars (Highlighted) as

(A) unassailable
(B) innovative
(C) paradoxical .....correct
(D) overly sophisticated
(E) without merit

Even scholars who have questioned the “golden age” view of colonial women’s status have continued to accept the paradigm of a nineteenth-century decline from a more desirable past. For example, Joan Hoff-Wilson asserted that there was no “golden age” and yet emphasized that the nineteenth century brought “increased loss of function and authentic status for” middle-class women.





4. It can be inferred from the passage that in proposing the “three-part chronological division” (Highlighted), scholars recognized which one of the following?

(A) The circumstances of colonial women’s lives were defined by a broad variety of social and economic factors.

….correct

Recent publications about colonial women have exposed the concept of a decline in status as simplistic and unsophisticated, a theory that based its assessment of colonial women’s status solely on one factor (their economic function in society) and assumed all too readily that a relatively simple social system automatically brought higher standing to colonial women. The new scholarship presents a far more complicated picture, one in which definitions of gender roles, the colonial economy, demographic patterns, religion, the law, and household organization all contributed to defining the circumstances of colonial women’s lives………. For example, whereas earlier historians suggested that there was little change for colonial women before 1800, the new scholarship suggests that a three-part chronological division more accurately reflects colonial women’s experiences. First was the initial period of English colonization (from the 1620s to about 1660)......


(B) Women’s lives in the English colonies of North America were similar to women’s lives in seventeenth-and eighteenth-century England.

…not compare the English colonies of North America and seventeenth-and eighteenth-century England


(C) Colonial women’s status was adversely affected when patterns of family and community were established in the late seventeenth century.


(D) Colonial women’s status should be assessed primarily on the basis of their economic function in society.

….totally opposite, the aim to propose “three-part chronological division” is that the author want to presents a far more complicated picture rather than focus only on economic function

(E) Colonial women’s status was low when the colonies were settled but changed significantly during the era of revolution.

(C)&(E) is wrong for the same reason, in para 3 the author doesn’t concern about status
see sentence in the passage:
Indeed, the primary concern of modern scholarship is not to generalize about women’s status but to identify the specific changes and continuities in women’s lives during the colonial period.







5. According to the author, the publications about colonial women mentioned in the third paragraph had which one of the following effects?

(A) They undermined Dexter’s argument on the status of women colonists during the colonial period.

…correct, the author thought Dexter's argument is too simplistic and unsophisticated

(B) They revealed the tenacity of the “golden age” theory in American history.
(C) They provided support for historians, such as Hoff-Wilson. Who study the nineteenth century.
(D) They established that women’s status did not change significantly from the colonial period to the nineteenth century.

in Para3 the new scholarship not talk about status
Indeed, the primary concern of modern scholarship is not to generalize about women’s status but to identify the specific changes and continuities in women’s lives during the colonial period.

(E) They provided support for earlier theories about women colonists in the English colonies of North America.

(B)(C)(E) is wrong for the same reason, the main purpose of the publication in third paragraph is to refute(in some degree)Dexter’s argument—golden theory rather than strengthen it






6. Practitioners of the new scholarship discussed in the last paragraph would be most likely to agree with which one of the following statements about Dexter’s argument?


Because a relatively simple social system automatically brought higher standing to colonial women.
---->>extend to the result
The new scholarship presents a far more complicated picture


Recent publications about colonial women have exposed the concept of a decline in status(in 19century) as simplistic and unsophisticated, a theory that based its assessment of colonial women’s status solely on one factor (their economic function in society)--Dexter and assumed all too readily that a relatively simple social system automatically brought higher standing to colonial women. The new scholarship presents a far more complicated picture, one in which definitions of gender roles, the colonial economy, demographic patterns, religion, the law, and household organization all contributed to defining the circumstances of colonial women’s lives. Indeed, the primary concern of modern scholarship is not to generalize about women’s status but to identify the specific changes and continuities in women’s lives during the colonial period.


(A) It makes the assumption that women’s status is determined primarily by their political power in society.

Indeed, the primary concern of modern scholarship is not to generalize about women’s status but to identify the specific changes and continuities in women’s lives during the colonial period.


(B) It makes the assumption that a less complex social system necessarily confers higher status on women. …. correct

(C) It is based on inadequate research on women’s economic role in the colonies.

….the author thought Dexter is too focus on economic function, thus new practitioner won't agree Dexter's argument on this point

a theory that based its assessment of colonial women’s status solely on one factor (their economic function in society)--Dexter and assumed all too readily that a relatively simple social system automatically brought higher standing to colonial women.


(D) It places too much emphasis on the way definitions of gender roles affected women colonists in the colonial period.

…although gender role is being mentioned by new scholarship, its only one factor among all the other factors in this passage




(E) It accurately describes the way women’s status declined in the nineteenth century.

….status not discuss here
Indeed, the primary concern of modern scholarship is not to
generalize about women’s status but to identify the specific
changes and continuities in women’s lives during the colonial
period.

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