GMAT阅读资料第54篇
Two modes of argumentation have been used on behalf of womens emancipation in Western societies. Arguments in what could be called the "relational" feminist tradition maintain the doctrine of "equality in (5) difference," or equity as distinct for equality. They posit that biological distinctions between the sexes result in a necessary sexual division of labor in the family and throughout society and that womens pro- creative labor is currently undervalued by society, to (10) the disadvantage of women. By contrast, the individual- ist feminist tradition emphasizes individual human rights and celebrates womens quest for personal autonomy, while downplaying the importance of gender roles and minimizing discussion of childbearing and its attendant (15) responsibilities.
Before the late nineteenth century, these views coexisted within the feminist movement, often within the writings of the same individual. Between 1890 nd 1920, however, relational feminism, which had been the (20) dominant strain in feminist thought, and which still pre- dominates among European and non-Western feminists, lost ground in England and the United States. Because the concept of individual rights was already well estab- lished in the Anglo-Saxon legal and political tradition, (25) individualist feminism came to predominate in English- speaking countries. At the same time, the goals of the two approaches began to seem increasingly irreconcil- able. Individualist feminists began to advocate a totally gender-blind system with equal rights for all. Relational (30) feminists, while agreeing that equal educational and economic opportunities outside the home should be avail- able for all women, continued to emphasize womens special contributions to society as homemakers and mothers. they demanded special treatment (35) including protective legislation for women workers, state-sponsored maternity benefits, and paid compensa- tion for housework.
Relational arguments have a major pitfall: because they underline womens physiological and psychological (40) distinctiveness, they are often appropriated by political adversaries and used to endorse male privilege. But the individualist approach, by attacking gender roles, deny- ing the significance of physiological difference, and condemning existing familial institutions as hopelessly (45) patriarchal, has often simply treated as irrelevant the family roles important to many women. If the individu- alist framework, with its claim for womens autonomy, could be harmonized with the family-oriented concerns of relational feminists, a more fruitful model for con- (50) temporary feminist politics could emerge.
1. The author of the passage alludes to the well- established nature of the concept of individual rights in the Anglo-Saxon legal and political tradition in order to
(A) illustrate the influence of individualist feminist thought on more general intellectual trends in English history
(B) ar
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