Feminism
The statistics I’ve cited and the living examples are all too familiarto you. But what may not be so familiar will be the increasingnumber of women who are looking actively for advancement offer a new job in your offices. This woman may be equipped withprofessional skills and perhaps valuable experience, She will notbe content to be Executive Assistant to Mr. Seldom Seen of theAssistant Vice President’s Girl Friday, who is the only one whocomes in on Saturday.
She is the symbol of what I call the Second Wave of Feminism. She is the modern woman who isdetermined to be.
Her forerunner was the radical feminist who interpreted her trapped position as a female asoppression by the master class of men. Men, she believed, had created a domestic, servile role forwomen in order that men could have the career and the opportunity to participate in making thegreat decisions of society. Thus the radical feminist held that women through history had beenoppressed and dehumanized, mainly because man chose to exploit his wife and the mother of hischildren. Sometimes it was deliberate exploitation and sometimes it was the innocence of neverlooking beneath the pretensions of life.
The radical feminists found strength in banding together. Coming to recognize each other for thefirst time, they could explore their own identities, realize their own power, and view the male and hissystem as the common enemy. The first phases of feminism in the last five years often took on thismilitant, class-warfare tone. Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, Germaine Greer, and many othershammered home their ideas with a persistence that aroused and intrigued many of the brightestand most able women in the country. Consciousness-raising groups allowed women to exploreboth their identities and their dreams—and the two were often found in direct conflict.
What is the stereotyped role of American women? Marriage. A son. Two daughters. Breakfast.Ironing. Lunch. Bowling, maybe a garden club of for the very daring, non-credit courses inceramics. Perhaps an occasional cocktail party. Dinner. Football or baseball on TV. Each day thesame. Never any growth in expectations—unless it is growth because the husband has succeeded.The inevitable question: “Is that all there is to life?”
The rapid growth of many feminist organizations attests to the fact that these radical feminists hadtouched some vital nerves. The magazine “Ms.” was born in the year of the death of the magazine“Life.” But too often the consciousness-raising sessions became ends in themselves. Too oftensexism reversed itself and man-hating was encouraged. Many had been with the male chauvinist.
It is not difficult, therefore, to detect a trend toward moderation. Consciousness-raising increasinglyis regarded as a means to independence and fulfillment, rather than a ceremony of fulfillment itself.Genuine independence can be realized through competence, through finding a career, through theuse of education. Remember that for many decades the education of women was not supposedto be useful.
1. What was the main idea of this passage?
[A] The Second Wave of Feminist. [B] Women’s Independent Spirits.
[C] The Unity of Women. [D] The Action of Union.
2. What was the author’s attitude toward the radical?
[A] He supported it wholeheartedly. [B] He opposed it strongly.
[C] He disapproved to some extent. [D] He ignored it completely.
3. What does the word “militant” mean?
[A] Aggressive. [B] Ambitions. [C] Progressive. [D] Independent.
4. What was the radical feminist’s view point about the male?
[A] Women were exploited by the male.
[B] Women were independent of the male.
[C] Women’s lives were deprived by the male.
[D] The male were their common enemy.
答案详解（反白可见）：
1. A. 第二次女权运动的浪潮。在第一段，一般性描述之后（见难句译注1），作者画龙点睛的指明“她就是我所指的第二次女权运动浪潮的象征。她是决心要成为的现代妇女的代表。”以后的文章就是围绕女权运动而写的。见文章大意。
B. 妇女的独立精神。这只是女权运动中部分内容。 C. 妇女团结。第三段一开始就提到“激进女权主义者发现了紧密团结在一起的力量。”也是女权运动的部分内容。
D. 团结运动。
2. C. 有点不赞成。这在最后两段表现的最为明显：“许多女权运动组织迅速发展证明这些激进争取女权的人触到了某些活跃的神经。（非常活跃）。 Ms 杂志就在《生活》停刊那年诞生。可是唤起觉醒的会议常常成为这些活动的目的'。性别歧视（歧视妇女）也常常颠倒过来并且提倡憎恨男人。许多人曾是男权至上主义者。”“因此，察觉向平和中的趋向发展并不难。提高觉悟的做法越来越被认为是独立与成就的方式，而不是庆贺成就本身的仪式。真正的独立是能够通过能力，通过寻找一份事业，通过应用教育加以实现。要记住，几十年来，妇女教育被认为是无用的。”如果是倒数第二段是作者对激进分子有点批评，不满的态度的表现，那么最后一段就是作者的观点：独立是靠塌实工作，提高妇女自身的能力来实现的。
A. 他全心全意的拥护。 B. 他强烈反对。不完全如此。 D. 他完全忽视不顾。
3. A. 好斗的。（斗争性强的）。第三段第三句：“在最近5年中女权运动首要方面常常具有这种好斗的阶级斗争调子。”
B. 野心的。 C. 进步的。 D. 独立的。
4. D. 男人是她们共同的敌人。第三段：“激进女权运动分子在紧密团结中找到了力量。第一次她们认识了自己，她们可以探索自我，意识到她们的力量，把男人及其制度视为她们共同的敌人。”
A. 妇女为男人们所剥削。这在第三段中讲到，见难句译注3。这是妇女观点中具体内容之一。也是为什么说男人及制度是她们共同敌人的原因之一。 B. 妇女不受男人支配。 C. 男人剥夺了女人生活。
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