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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What name did early feminists use to describe radical, or revolutionary, feminists?

2. What potential effect can feminism have on the family, in the author's view?

3. What is the social and racial dynamic described by the author at the beginning of the Preface to the first edition of the book?

4. How does the author characterize the aims of the feminist movement in relationship to other movements?

5. What assertion does the author make (once again) about who benefits from the current feminist movement?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the traditional view on motherhood that the author relates in Chapter Ten?

2. Is the lack of solidarity mainly an issue between black women and white women?

3. Describe the author's central criticism of feminist theory in Chapter One, "Black Women - Shaping Feminist Theory."

4. In Chapter Eleven, why does the author disagree with early feminist concepts of sexual liberty?

5. Compare the Preface to the second edition with Ch. 12: What similarities do you see regarding the author's vision for the future of the feminist movement? List two to three examples.

6. What is unique about black women's perspectives?

7. What does the author say about feminist writer Betty Friedan's book The Feminine Mystique?

8. Does the author encourage a particular attitude towards manifesting change?

9. Describe the particular perspective that the author offers throughout her work. What position does she claim to write from and why?

10. How does the title of Chapter One, "Black Women - Shaping Feminist Theory," relate to the content of the chapter?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Essay on Ch. 7: Women and work.

The author claims that bourgeois feminist's idealization of work alienated many women of color and working class women.

1) How is the early feminist view of work defined by race and class?

2) What were the experiences of many women of color and working class women? What alternatives do they have when the workplace turns out to be a place of discrimination and hierarchy?

3) Do you feel that we live in an equal opportunity society, or are opportunities still affected by a person's gender, race, and class? Provide examples for your argument.

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. 5: Men and feminism.

In Ch. 5, the author looks at the relationship between men and the feminist movement.

1) Describe and discuss early feminist views of men as "the enemy."

2) What is the author's critique of this early view? How do race and class figure into her argument?

3) The author also makes the potentially controversial statement that "all men support and perpetuate sexism and sexist oppression in one form or another...."

What does she mean by this statement? Do you think that it is in conflict with her call to see men as comrades in the feminist struggle? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

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