Let us consider whether women as a group have unique, politically

Question

Let us consider whether women as a group have unique, politically relevant characteristics, whether they have special interests to which a representative could or should respond. Can we argue that women as a group share particular social, economic, or political problems that do not closely match those of other groups, or that they share a particular viewpoint on the solution to political problems? Framing the working definition of ―representable interests‖ in this fashion does not mean that the problems or issues are exclusively those of the specified interest group, any more than we can make the same argument about other types of groups more widely accepted as interest groups. 
 
The fact that there is a labour interest group, for example, reflects the existence of other groups such as the business establishment, consumers, and government, which in a larger sense share labour‘s concerns, but often have viewpoints on the nature of, or solutions to, the problems which conflict with those of labour. 
 
Nor does our working definition of an interest group mean that all of the potential members of that group are consciously allied, or that there is a clear and obvious answer to any given problem articulated by the entire group that differs substantially from answers articulated by others. Research in various fields of social science provides evidence that women do have a distinct position and a shared set of problems that characterize a special interest. 
 
Many of these distinctions are located in the institution in which women and men are probably most often assumed to have common interests, the family. Much has been made of the ―sharing‖ or ―democratic‖ model of the modern family, but whatever democratization has taken place, it has not come close to erasing the division of labour and, indeed, stratification, by sex. Time-use studies show that women spend about the same amount of time on and do the same proportion of housework and child care now as women did at the turn of the century. To say that women are in a different social position from that of men and therefore have unique interests to be represented is not, however, the same as saying that women are conscious of these differences, that they define themselves as having special interests requiring representation, or that men and women as groups now disagree on policy issues in which women might have a special interest. 
 
Studies of public opinion on the status and roles of women show relatively few significant differences between the sexes, and do not reveal women to be consistently more feminist than men. On the other hand, law and public policy continue to create and reinforce differences between women and men in property and contract matters, economic opportunity, protection from violence, control over fertility and child care, educational opportunities, and civic rights and obligations. The indicators generally used to describe differences in socioeconomic position also show that the politically relevant situations of women and men are different. Women in almost all countries have less education than men, and where they achieve equivalent levels of education, segregation by field and therefore skills and market value remains.   1 
 1. According to the passage, which of the following experiences do modern women have most nearly in common with women who lived in 1900?

A. they are represented only as individuals and not as a group. 
B. they spend about the same amount of time on housework. 
C. they experience significant discrimination in employment. 
D. the proportion of women among those designated as representatives is lower than among the represented. 
E. they are still not considered the equal of men.

2 
 2. Based on the passage, of the following issues the author is most concerned about the problem of:  
 
A. the history of women‘s demands for representation as a group. 
B. recent changes in the status of women in society. 
C. opposing views concerning women‘s awareness of their own special interests. 
D. the criteria that would justify group representation for women. 
E. uplifting the status of women in modern society

3 
 3. The passage offers the most support for concluding that which of the following is an important problem confronting women today?

A. women are in a different socioeconomic position from that of men. 
B. men differ greatly from women in the answers they propose for women‘s problems. 
C. women do not qualify as an interest group, because they have not all banded together to pursue common goals. 
D. a lack of educational opportunities has inhibited women from voicing their concerns 
E. sexual harassment at the workplace

4 
 4. What is the main function of Paragraphs 1 -3?

A. to assert that women should be treated as the equal of men 
B. to discuss the legitimate definition of a political interest group 
C. to state that women qualify as a political interest group 
D. to debate whether women have any unique, politically relevant characteristics 
E. to applaud the proponents of the feminist movement

Gmatsaiyan · Answer

Topic and Scope  - discusses the question of whether women should be represented as their own political group.
 Mapping the Passage 
¶s 1-3 provide the author‘s definition of a legitimate political interest group.
¶4 cites research supporting the idea that women as a group fit this definition. The author provides evidence on the amount of housework and childcare.
¶5 argues that despite these differences, women may not be generally conscious of them and then goes on to cites further evidence in support the idea fit the definition of a political interest group.

Gmatsaiyan · Answer

Answers and Explanations OE 
1)Where does the author mention the year 1900? Though it‘s not specifically stated, author mentions the turn of the century in ¶4. Review the context: evidence shows
that women spend about the same amount of time working around the house as they did around 1900. (B) matches up.
(A): Distortion. This distorts the point made in the first sentence. There‘s no point of comparison on this point with the turn of the century.
(B): The correct answer
(C): Out of Scope. This is never mentioned in the context of the turn of the century.
(D): Out of Scope. Another choice that has no relation to the turn of the century.
(E): Out of Scope. The passage never states this.

2) Predict by reviewing the author‘s purpose in writing the passage. The author wants to discuss whether women constitute a politically representative group; (D) summarizes this.
(A): Out of Scope. The author only discusses history in passing, and only to support arguments in favour of the main focus: political representation for
women.
(B): Distortion. Though the author alludes to the changing status of women in ¶5, it‘s again less a concern than the appropriateness of political representation.
(C): Out of Scope. The author never mentions opposing views.
(D): The correct answer
(E): Out of Scope. The author isn‘t really concerned with uplifting the status of women in modern society.

3) Most of the support that the author provides is in the form of evidence listed in ¶s 3-5; keep this in mind when evaluating the answer choices. Socioeconomic position is discussed in ¶5. The author suggests that the socioeconomic status of women and men is different, and provides a list of evidence supporting this at the beginning of the paragraph.
(A): The correct answer
(B): Opposite. This contradicts the author‘s suggestion in ¶5 that women and men have few differences in their degree of feminism.
(C): Opposite. The author argues in ¶3 that it‘s not necessary that the members of an interest group be ―consciously allied.‖
(D): Out of Scope. The author never suggests that a lack of education is getting in the way of voicing concerns.
(E): Out of Scope. While this could actually be true, the author never really mentions this in the passage.

4)These three paragraphs are primarily concerned with describing the characteristics of a political interest group. ‗B‘ captures this very well.
(A): Incorrect as described above.
(B): The correct answer.
(C): This doesn‘t happen in the first three paragraphs
(D): ‗Debate‘ is the wrong word as the author never debates anything
(E): Incorrect as described above.

dabaobao · Answer

Took 10 min in total including 5:15 to read! Took some time to get my head around this unique topic.

Passage Map: 
1) women as a group have unique, politically relevant characteristics?
2) labour group
3) working definition of an interest group
4) distinctions between men and women
5) policy continue to create and reinforce differences between women and men

TheAdmissionHub · Answer

Paragraph 1: 
 The author introduces the main question: whether women can be considered a group with  specific political interests . These interests do not have to be exclusive to women, but they can be problems that affect women in particular ways.
 Paragraph 2: 
 The author uses  labour groups  as an example to explain what an interest group is. Other groups may share workers’ concerns, but they can have different opinions about how these problems should be solved. In the same way, women can have specific interests even when those interests also affect other people.
 Paragraph 3: 
 The author explains that being part of an interest group does  not mean that everyone in the group is aware of it or agrees on everything . Women can share similar experiences and problems without having exactly the same political opinions. Social-science research nevertheless shows that women have a distinct social position.
 Paragraph 4: 
 The author focuses on the  family  and the division of work between men and women. Even though modern families are considered more equal, women still do more housework and childcare. This shows that women and men continue to have different social positions.
 Paragraph 5: 
 The author makes an  important distinction : having different social conditions does not necessarily mean having different political opinions. Studies show that men and women often have similar opinions about women’s roles. However, laws and socioeconomic conditions still create differences between women and men in areas such as education, work, property, and rights.
 Overall: 
 The author argues that women can have  politically relevant interests as a group , even if they do not all recognize these interests or share exactly the same political views.
 1. According to the passage, which of the following experiences do modern women have most nearly in common with women who lived in 1900? 
 (A) they are represented only as individuals and not as a group — Wrong:  The passage discusses women as a group and considers whether they have shared interests that can be politically represented.
 (B) they spend about the same amount of time on housework — Correct: The author  states that women today spend about the same amount of time on housework and childcare as women did at the turn of the century, around 1900.
 (C) they experience significant discrimination in employment — Wrong:  The author mentions differences in economic opportunities, but does not specifically say that women today experience the same employment discrimination as women in 1900.
 (D) the proportion of women among those designated as representatives is lower than among the represented — Wrong:  The passage does not discuss the proportion of women serving as political representatives.
 (E) they are still not considered the equal of men — Wrong:  The author discusses differences between men and women in society and law, but does not specifically state that women are still considered unequal to men.

2. Based on the passage, of the following issues the author is most concerned about the problem of: 
 (A) the history of women’s demands for representation as a group — Wrong:  The author does not focus on the historical development of women’s demands for political representation.
 (B) recent changes in the status of women in society — Wrong:  The author mentions changes in women’s status, but this is not the main concern of the passage.
 (C) opposing views concerning women’s awareness of their own special interests — Wrong:  The author discusses whether women are aware of having special interests, but this is only part of the broader argument.
 (D) the criteria that would justify group representation for women — Correct: The author  is mainly concerned with determining whether women can be considered a distinct interest group with shared social, economic, or political interests that justify group representation.
 (E) uplifting the status of women in modern society — Wrong:  The author describes differences between men and women but does not primarily argue for improving women’s status.

3. The passage offers the most support for concluding that which of the following is an important problem confronting women today? 
 (A) women are in a different socioeconomic position from that of men. — Correct: The author  states that women and men have different politically relevant socioeconomic positions. Women generally have less education, and even when they reach similar educational levels, they may be separated by fields of study, skills, and economic value.
 (B) men differ greatly from women in the answers they propose for women’s problems. — Wrong:  The author actually says that studies show relatively few significant differences between men’s and women’s opinions on the status and roles of women.
 (C) women do not qualify as an interest group, because they have not all banded together to pursue common goals. — Wrong:  The author argues the opposite: women can have shared interests even if they are not consciously united or pursuing identical goals.
 (D) a lack of educational opportunities has inhibited women from voicing their concerns — Wrong:  The author mentions differences in educational opportunities, but does not say that this prevents women from expressing their concerns.
 (E) sexual harassment at the workplace — Wrong:  The passage does not specifically discuss sexual harassment in the workplace.

4. What is the main function of Paragraphs 1–3? 
 (A) to assert that women should be treated as the equal of men — Wrong:  The author does not argue directly that women should be treated as equal to men.
 (B) to discuss the legitimate definition of a political interest group — Wrong:  The author discusses the idea of an interest group, but the main focus is specifically on whether women can be considered one.
 (C) to state that women qualify as a political interest group — Wrong:  The author does not simply state this as a fact; instead, the author examines and develops the argument.
 (D) to debate whether women have any unique, politically relevant characteristics — Correct: The author  uses the first three paragraphs to question whether women share distinct social, economic, or political interests that could justify considering them a political interest group.
 (E) to applaud the proponents of the feminist movement — Wrong:  The feminist movement is not the focus of these paragraphs.

Let us consider whether women as a group have unique, politically

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Let us consider whether women as a group have unique, politically

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