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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. According to the author, how are joint analyses of race, class, and gender seen today?

2. What change to the language expressing involvement in feminism does the author advocate?

3. In Chapter Four, what does the author give as the broad definition of "sisterhood" from the early feminist movement?

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

5. How does the author describe Betty Friedan in Chapter 1?

Short Essay Questions

1. Overall, what do Chapters Two and Three develop for the reader with regard to feminism?

2. What are the universal definitions of feminism that the author disagrees with? List several.

3. Does the author see feminism as aligned with other struggles, and if so why?

4. Describe the kind of power that the author sees in communities of economically disadvantaged women.

5. In the author's view, are feminists ambivalent about power?

6. What is the author's approach to discussing feminism in Chapter Two, "Feminism - A Movement to End Sexist Oppression;" i.e. how does she structure the chapter?

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

8. Describe the early feminist view on parenting stated in Chapter Ten, "Revolutionary Parenting."

9. Describe the author's personal experiences with feminists from the same background as Friedan. How did they initially respond to her attempts to contribute to the conversation around feminist theory?

10. In the author's view, is idealism enough to enact needed changes?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Essay on Ch. 6: Consumerism.

Analyze how resisting consumerism is, in the author's view, a positive manifestation of women's alternative uses of power. Please include quotations from the book to support your argument.

1) Begin by defining consumerism.

2) What kind of system does consumerism support, according to the author?

3) How does the author advise women to deal with consumerism? What strategies of resistance can they use?

4) Following the author's analysis, how is resisting consumerism a positive manifestation of women's alternative use of power?

5) Do you feel that consumerism distracts us from more important things? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

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 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

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