Print
Word
PDF
|
| Name: _________________________ | Period: ___________________ |
This test consists of 5 short answer questions and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. How does the author present education in the title of Chapter Eight
2. What group of women are left out but really stand to benefit more from feminist thought?
3. What has happened as a result of the form taken by the majority of feminist writing?
4. Which of the following ideas does not appear in the author's discussion of long accepted views of motherhood?
5. What do early feminist concepts of sexual liberty represent for the author?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Essay on Ch. 3: Struggle against oppression.
In Ch. 3 the author argues against prioritizing struggles against different forms of prejudice and oppression.
1) Present some of the arguments by other writers that the author engages with and refutes regarding the prioritization of one struggle over another. What holes does she find in their logic?
2) Next, outline the authors ideas on this subject, paying attention to specific connections she makes in the text. How does the author link all these struggles together?
Essay Topic 2
Essay on Ch. 7: Women and work.
From the beginning of the feminist movement, work has been an important issue in feminism. In this paper you will discuss early feminist views of work, as well as the idea of a gendered division of labor (e.g. housework as women's work, and therefore as devalued).
1) Describe traditional beliefs about work and gender. What kind of work was seen as men's work and what kind of work was seen as women's work? Do we still see these ideas reflected in contemporary society?
2) Quoting the text, discuss early feminist views of housework and of work outside the home. Does the rejection of housework by women reflect society's devaluation of so-called "women's work."
3) What is the author's critique of this early view, e.g. how is the early feminist idealization of work outside the home connected to traditional beliefs about success?
4) How can changing attitudes about work in and outside of the home assist in addressing the imbalances perpetuated by traditional, gender-biased beliefs?
Essay Topic 3
Essay on Ch. 9: The nature of violence against women.
One of the author's critiques of mainstream feminism is that it was sometimes unable to focus on transforming traditional views on gender, but instead reacted against them. For example, in her discussion of sisterhood in Ch.4, the author notes how early feminists built a notion of sisterhood around a shared sense of victimization. This view did not necessarily rethink the patriarchal dichotomy of victim and aggressor. In Ch. 9, the author notes something similar when she analyzes early feminist views on the nature of violence against women.
1) Discuss what the author means when she says that the practice of violence against women is a manifestation and perpetuation of traditional patriarchal thought, i.e. views on gender. What qualities do men and women possess according to this view. Does this view appear to make violence against women seem normal?
2) How did early feminists perceive the problem of violence against women, and what is the author's critique of their view?
3) Is violence limited to men, in the author's view? Whose problem is violence and how must the phenomenon be addressed in our society?
|
This section contains 647 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) |
|
