Simone de Beauvoir's work greatly influenced Betty Friedan'sindeed,

Question

Simone de Beauvoir's work greatly influenced Betty Friedan's—indeed, made it possible. Why, then, was it Friedan who became the prophet of women's emancipation in the United States? Political conditions, as well as a certain anti-intellectual bias, prepared Americans and the American media to better receive Friedan's deradicalized and highly pragmatic The Feminine Mystique. published in 1963, than Beauvoir's theoretical reading of women's situation in The Second Sex. In 1953 when The Second Sex first appeared in translation in the United States, the country had entered the silent, fearful fortress of the anti-communist McCarthy years (1950-1954), and Beauvoir was suspected of Marxist sympathies. Even The Nation, a generally liberal magazine, warned its readers against " certain political leanings " of the author. Open acknowledgement of the existence of women's oppression was too radical for the United States in the fifties, and Beauvoir's conclusion, that change in women's economic condition, though insufficient by itself, "remains the basic factor" in improving women's situation, was particularly unacceptable.   1 
 1. According to the passage, one difference between The Feminine Mystique and The Second Sex is that Friedan's book

(A) rejects the idea that women are oppressed 
(B) provides a primarily theoretical analysis of women's lives 
(C) does not reflect the political beliefs of its author 
(D) suggests that women's economic condition has no impact on their status 
(E) concentrates on the practical aspects of the question of women's emancipation

2 
 2. The author quotes from  The Nation  most probably in order to

(A) modify an earlier assertion 
(B) point out a possible exception to her argument 
(C) illustrate her central point 
(D) clarify the meaning of a term 
(E) cite an expert opinion

3 
 3. It can be inferred from the passage that which of the following is not a factor in the explanation of why The Feminine Mystique was received more positively in the United States than was The Second Sex?

(A) By 1963 political conditions in the United States had changed. 
(B) Friedan's book was less intellectual and abstract than Beauvoir's. 
(C) Readers did not recognize the powerful influence of Beauvoir's book on Friedan's ideas. 
(D) Friedan's approach to the issue of women's emancipation was less radical than Beau-voir's. 
(E) American readers were more willing to consider the problem of the oppression of women in the sixties than they had been in the fifties.

4 
 4. According to the passage, Beauvoir's book asserted that the status of women

(A) is the outcome of political oppression 
(B) is inherently tied to their economic condition 
(C) can be best improved under a communist government 
(D) is a theoretical, rather than a pragmatic, issue 
(E) is a critical area of discussion in Marxist economic theory

Gladiator59 · Accepted Answer

4 mins 8 secs... to all correct! Thrilled to get them all right given the tricky nature of some of the questions

Betty Friedan's "The Feminine Mystique (1963)" is highly influenced by Simone de Beauvoir's "The Second Sex (1953)" and was received much better than the latter and the author goes on to explain why is it the case. First, the author suggests that by 1960's the US was more accepting of the "deradicalized and pragmatic" approach that BF took to explain the woes of women due to " Political conditions, as well as a certain anti-intellectual bias". Also, a decade earlier when the second sex was translated into English, the American media did not receive it as nicely as they feared (and suspected)political overtures (of communism)in it. Moreover, the latter was theoretical and had "political leanings" which lead to its basic argument -"change in women's economic condition, though insufficient by itself, "remains the basic factor" in improving women's situation" being unacceptable. Requires an understanding of the main difference between the two According to the passage, one difference between The Feminine Mystique and The Second Sex is that Friedan's book (A) rejects the idea that women are oppressed No, in fact, both revolve around the same (B) provides a primarily theoretical analysis of women's lives Opposite, the other guy does it. (C) does not reflect the political beliefs of its author Can not be said so, maybe even BF has political beliefs (D) suggests that women's economic condition has no impact on their status TRAP - just because SdB had political leanings and was rejected does not mean that BF did not have political leanings (and that is why she was accepted) she may have made them more palatable and the times too had changed - so this is definitely not the difference between the two writings (E) concentrates on the practical aspects of the question of women's emancipation Perfect - the word "pragmatic" is used to describe her writings which is a textbook synonym for "practical" TRICKY STUFF Think like Critical reasoning - why does the author quote a magazine? - To substantiate his or her claim that the suspected "political leanings" led to the rejection of the book The author quotes from The Nation most probably in order to (A) modify an earlier assertion nothing is modified (B) point out a possible exception to her argument Not an exception - if anything, the magazine was quoted to substantiate (C) illustrate her central point Fits perfectly - correct (D) clarify the meaning of a term Not a clarification and definitely not for the meaning of a term (E) cite an expert opinion TRAP - could be the case, but the magazine would rarely classify as "expert opinion" leave alone a suspected warning for possible "communist leaning" EXCEPT type - need to figure out what all has been mentioned and eliminate those It can be inferred from the passage that which of the following is not a factor in the explanation of why The Feminine Mystique was received more positively in the United States than was The Second Sex? (A) By 1963 political conditions in the United States had changed. Mentioned in the passage (B) Friedan's book was less intellectual and abstract than Beauvoir's. Again, it was pragmatic and deradicalized, mentioned. (C) Readers did not recognize the powerful influence of Beauvoir's book on Friedan's ideas. By elimination, as well as - the point raised here is what the author of the passage is trying to explain and not a pointer to the differences between the two texts (D) Friedan's approach to the issue of women's emancipation was less radical than Beau-voir's. Mentioned (E) American readers were more willing to consider the problem of the oppression of women in the sixties than they had been in the fifties. Changing times - also mentioned Finally an easy detail question

According to the passage, Beauvoir's book asserted that the status of women (A) is the outcome of political oppression TRAP - real-world trap not mentioned by SdB (B) is inherently tied to their economic condition Perfectly fits - this is from the closing lines of the passage. (C) can be best improved under a communist government TRAP - this is a long shot inference kind of way at looking at it, maybe SdB was intending to convey this if his "Political leanings" were correctly recognized by "The Nation" but cannot be inferred (D) is a theoretical, rather than a pragmatic, issue TRAP - the passage states that the text was theoritical and not the issue discussed in the text Classic play of words! (E) is a critical area of discussion in Marxist economic theory Out of scope Hope my answers help!

laborumitaque · Answer

may i ask you a question?
i cant able to understand what author is saying
indeed, now only im getting a phase for reading 
any suggestions to me

miag · Answer

Hi, so when I studied for the GMAT FE I used a couple of strategies:
i) Make sure to take down notes, wherein you are focusing on writing down the gist of each paragraph in a couple of words.
ii) Follow the author's train of thought and whether he is playing an active or passive role in the passage (active meaning he is expressing his opinion vs passive - just reporting on facts or objectively stating someone else's opinion)
iii) Bringing these 2 together will help you identify the main idea of the passage

I think if you practice such passages enough with the intent of breaking them down and following the author's thought process, it will help. I would advise not to focus on timing initially till you are able to get a hold on this part.

For example, in this passage the author is openly expressing his opinions which should give you some hint towards the main idea of the passage -
Why did Betty Friedan become famous for women’s liberation in the U.S., and not Simone de Beauvoir, who actually influenced her?

Hope this helps!

laborumitaque

may i ask you a question?

i cant able to understand what author is saying
indeed, now only im getting a phase for reading
any suggestions to me

12NamNN · Answer

Hi, could someone explain Q3 again? 
I'm confused between B and C. 
C. Can we confidently infer that the "readers did not recognize the powerful influence of Beauvoir's book on Friedan's ideas"?
B. Friedan's book was less intellectual and abstract than Beauvoir's - it is only mentioned that SdB's book was more theoretical.

Please help me understand better. Thanks in advance.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Hello 12NamNN

According to the passage Beauvoir’s work influenced Friedan’s, but Friedan became the prophet in the US.

The following reasons are given:

Political conditions, Anti-intellectual bias, Timing (by 1963, things had changed from the 1950s.), and  Beauvoir’s conclusion  about economic change being the basic factor was  “particularly unacceptable”  in the 1950s.

The question ask which is  not a factor  in explaining why  The Feminine Mystique  was received more positively than The Second Sex?

(B)  This is a factor.
 (C)  readers not recognizing Beauvoir’s influence on Friedan is irrelevant to why Friedan’s book was better received; the passage doesn’t say this was a reason. So this is not a factor.

Answer: C

Simone de Beauvoir's work greatly influenced Betty Friedan'sindeed,

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GMAT Reading Comprehension (RC) Questions

Simone de Beauvoir's work greatly influenced Betty Friedan'sindeed,

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