Feminism is an essentially pluralist movement. Early historians of the

Question

Feminism is an essentially pluralist movement. Early historians of the feminist movement claim that the movement was borne from the experiences of every woman who has resisted or tried to resist domination. From this proposition, three major premises follow. First, feminism places great importance on subjective experience. This implies that much of feminist theory is inductive, moving from the particularities of an individual’s perception of the world to general statements about the nature of the world. Second, feminism is not easily reducible to generalities. The diversity of viewpoints incorporated into the movement resists systematization, but the difficulty of forming a coherent whole from the parts of the theory should be viewed as detrimental. Third, feminism attempts to transform the personal into the political. The individual’s experiences of gender domination transcend the typical boundaries that divide the public and private sphere. Predictably, feminist political theory assumes the intermingling of these domains.

Differences among feminist theories arise from two major sources. The first is from the differences inherent in various interpretations of events and the second is from the differences in the nature and character of experiences. Varieties of interpretations led to the establishment of several major schools of feminist thought, including liberal feminists, radical feminists, and socialist feminists, while the diversity of experiences accounts for the cultural feminist, psychoanalytic feminist, and black feminist movements. These experiential movements should not be seen as complete, for as the feminist ethos takes root in other countries with different traditions, new theoretical perspectives will develop.   1 
 1. The passage is primarily concerned with

A. evaluating a theory
B. tracing the history of a movement
C. suggesting the likely progression of an idea
D. describing a perspective
E. rejecting a criticism
 2 
 2. Which of the following would most undermine the author’s conclusion in the final paragraph?

A. Although the traditions in other countries may differ, the experiences of women in those countries are fairly similar.
B. The societal structure of some countries will make it difficult for feminism to take hold.
C. Most feminist scholars identify themselves with interpretationbased schools of feminism.
D. Because women’s experiences in society are always changing, so too will the theoretical perspectives gained from them.
E. Many other countries already have the seeds of a feminist movement.
 3 
 3. The author implies which of the following about feminism?

A. It offers a systematic and coherent view of the world.
B. Its primary characteristic is its rejection of male hierarchical structures.
C. It seeks to intertwine the political and theoretical worlds.
D. It values diversity.
E. It uses the experiences of women to attempt to transform the world.

Source: McGraw-Hill's GMAT

honneeey · Answer

8:29 MINUTES, ALL CORRECT!

1. The passage is primarily concerned with

A. evaluating a theory-No, actually one school of thoughts is described in first para and difference of various school of thoughts is mentioned in second para.
B. tracing the history of a movement-No, historical chronology is of no significance here.
C. suggesting the likely progression of an idea-Likely progression is jus the crux of last 2 lines of passage. Partial scope.
D. describing a perspective- Yes,  it describes a perspective of author in which the author explains a theory as it was and its interpretations in para 1 and then his take on different school of thoughts regarding Feminism
E. rejecting a criticism-No, OFS

2. Which of the following would most undermine the author’s conclusion in the final paragraph?

A. Although the traditions in other countries may differ, the experiences of women in those countries are fairly similar.-True, refer "These experiential movements should not be seen as complete, for as the feminist ethos takes root in other countries with different traditions, new theoretical perspectives will develop.". If the choice is correct, it will break author's conclusion that new perspectives will be developed.
B. The societal structure of some countries will make it difficult for feminism to take hold.-No, not mentioned anywhere.
C. Most feminist scholars identify themselves with interpretationbased schools of feminism.-No, not mentioned anywhere.
D. Because women’s experiences in society are always changing, so too will the theoretical perspectives gained from them.-OFS
E. Many other countries already have the seeds of a feminist movement.-OFS

3. The author implies which of the following about feminism?

A. It offers a systematic and coherent view of the world.-Opposite, refer "The diversity of viewpoints incorporated into the movement  resists systematization" 
B. Its primary characteristic is its rejection of male hierarchical structures.-Umm, can be inferred thru this "experiences of every woman who has resisted or tried to resist domination."but not specifically implied by author. It mentions that they resisted domination not that they were against "patriarchy"
C. It seeks to intertwine the political and theoretical worlds.-One of the points of one school of thought mentioned by author in first para.
D. It values diversity.- Winner,  , refer "the diversity of viewpoints incorporated into the movement resists systematization,"
E. It uses the experiences of women to attempt to transform the world.- It does uses experience of women but " to transform the world"(or their (women's)world) is not mentioned anywhere.

Source: McGraw-Hill's GMAT

Cinematiccuisine · Answer

hi honneeey , workout , question 1 - choices are kind of tricky. I selected choice A based on the last line of second para. These experiential movements should not be seen as complete, for as the feminist ethos takes root in other countries with different traditions, new theoretical perspectives will develop. I thought author is evaluating the theories. But it's not the case, Author is just evaluating the movements

Good passage. Thanks for your help. ---- Give kudos if you agree

jareen · Answer

hi honneeey,
In Q3, i chose option C as the ans.
as you mentioned that option C is "One of the points of one school of thought mentioned by author in first para".
option D is also One of the points of one school of thought...

so how can choice D be correct? please explain..

pandeyashwin · Answer

Option C states political and theoretical worlds but only public and private are mention in the passage. There's nothing regarding theoretical

"Third, feminism attempts to transform the personal into the political. The individual’s experiences of gender domination transcend the typical boundaries that divide the public and private sphere. Predictably, feminist political theory assumes the intermingling of these domains."

ShankSouljaBoi · Answer

Hi all,
Not able to eliminte B in Q1.
Can someone please help.

u1983 · Answer

B states :  tracing the history of a movement .............................. No historical sequences of the subject in contention was discussed in the piece.

Rather the authors discussed the subject from his own viewpoint and then discussed an alternate viewpoint.Hope this helps

GAngstA · Answer

correct me if i am wrong about it, that final sentence of second para is author conclusion....

VerbalBot · Answer

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Feminism is an essentially pluralist movement. Early historians of the

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Feminism is an essentially pluralist movement. Early historians of the

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