Reading Comprehension (30%) I.
Students of United States history, seeking to identify the circumstances that
encouraged the emergence of feminist movements, have thoroughly investigated the
mid-nineteenth-century American economic and social conditions that affected the
status of women. These historians, however, have analyzed less fully the development
of specifically feminist ideas and activities during the same period. Furthermore, the
ideological origins of feminism in the United States have been obscured because,
even when historians did take into account those feminist ideas and activities
occurring within the United States, they failed to recognize that feminism was then a
truly international movement actually centered in Europe. American feminist activists
who have been described as “solitary” and “individual theorists” were in reality
connected to a movement—utopian socialism—which was already popularizing
feminist ideas in Europe during the two decades that culminated in the first women’s
rights conference held at Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848. Thus, a complete
understanding of the origins and development of nineteenth-century feminism in the
United States requires that the geographical focus be widened to include Europe and
that the detailed study already made of social conditions be expanded to include the
ideological development of feminism.
The earliest and most popular of the utopian socialists were the Saint-Simonians.
The specifically feminist part of Saint-Simonianism has, however, been less studied
than the group’s contribution to early socialism. This is regrettable on two counts. By
1832 feminism was the central concern of Saint-Simonianism and entirely absorbed
its adherents’ energy; hence, by ignoring its feminism, European historians have
misunderstood Saint-Simonianism. Moreover, since many feminist ideas can be
traced to Saint-Simonianism, European historians’ appreciation of later feminism in
France and the United States remained limited.
Saint-Simon’s followers, many of whom were women, based their feminism on an
interpretation of his project to reorganize the globe by replacing brute force with the
rule of spiritual powers. The new world order would be ruled together by a male, to
represent reflection, and a female, to represent sentiment. This complementarity
reflects the fact that, while the Saint-Simonians did not reject the belief that there
were innate differences between men and women, they nevertheless foresaw an
equally important social and political role for both sexes in their utopia.
Only a few Saint-Simonians opposed a definition of sexual equality based on
gender distinction. This minority believed that individuals of both sexes were born
similar in capacity and character, and they ascribed male-female differences to
socialization and education. The envisioned result of both currents of thought,
however, was that women would enter public life in the new age and that sexual
equality would reward men as well as women with an improved way of life.
【題組】45. It can be inferred from the passage that the author believes that study of
Saint-Simonianism is necessary for historians of American feminism because such
study
(A) would clarify the ideological origins of those feminist ideas that influenced
American feminism
(B) would increase understanding of a movement that deeply influenced the
utopian socialism of early American feminists
(C) would focus attention on the most important aspect of Saint-Simonian thought
before 1832
(D) promises to offer insight into a movement that was a direct outgrowth of the
Seneca Falls conference of 1848
(E) could increase understanding of those ideals that absorbed most of the energy
of the earliest American feminists