Passage Fifteen (The Second Wave of Feminism)

   The statistics I’ve cited and the living examples are all too familiar to you. But what may not be so familiar will be the increasing number of women who are looking actively¹ for advancement² of for a new job in your offices. This woman may be equipped with professional skills and perhaps valuable experience, She will not be content to be Executive Assistant to Mr. Seldom Seen of the Assistant Vice³ President’s Girl Friday, who is the only one who comes in on Saturday.

   She is the symbol of what I call the Second Wave of Feminism. She is the modern woman who is determined⁴ to be.

   Her forerunner⁵ was the radical⁶ feminist⁷ who interpreted her trapped position as a female as oppression by the master class of men. Men, she believed, had created a domestic, servile role for women in order that men could have the career and the opportunity to participate in making the great decisions of society. Thus the radical feminist held that women through history had been oppressed and dehumanized, mainly because man chose to exploit his wife and the mother of his children. Sometimes it was deliberate exploitation and sometimes it was the innocence⁹ of never looking beneath the pretensions¹⁰ of life.

   The radical feminists¹¹ found strength in banding together. Coming to recognize each other for the first time, they could explore their own identities, realize their own power, and view the male and his system as the common enemy. The first phases of feminism in the last five years often took on this militant¹², class-warfare tone. Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, Germaine Greer, and many others hammered home their ideas with a persistence¹³ that aroused and intrigued¹⁴ many of the brightest and most able women in the country. Consciousness-raising groups allowed women to explore both their identities and their dreams—and the two were often found in direct conflict.

What is the stereotyped¹⁵ role of American women? Marriage. A son. Two daughters. Breakfast. Ironing. Lunch. Bowling¹⁶, maybe a garden club of for the very daring, non-credit courses in ceramics¹⁷. Perhaps an occasional cocktail¹⁸ party. Dinner. Football or baseball on TV. Each day the same. Never any growth in expectations—unless it is growth because the husband has succeeded. The inevitable¹⁹ question: “Is that all there is to life?”

The rapid growth of many feminist organizations attests²⁰ to the fact that these radical feminists had touched 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 often sexism reversed itself and man-hating was encouraged. Many had been with the male chauvinist²¹.

It is not difficult, therefore, to detect a trend toward moderation. Consciousness-raising increasingly is regarded as a means to independence and fulfillment, rather than a ceremony of fulfillment itself. Genuine independence can be realized through competence²², through finding a career, through the use of education. Remember that for many decades the education of women was not supposed to be useful.

 

1.        What was the main idea of this passage?

[A]. The Second Wave of Feminist.           [B]. Women’s Independent Spirits.

[C]. The Unity⁸ 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 disapproved²³ 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.

 

Vocabulary

1.   trapped                      被诱入圈套的，陷阱

2.   servile                       屈从的，奴隶的，奴性的

3.   dehumanized                  使失去人/个性的

4.   pretension                    要求，权利，借口

5.   look beneath                  看到下面

6.   band together                  紧密团结在一起

7.   explore                      探索，考察

8.   phase                        阶段，方面，形式

9.   class-warfare                  阶级斗争

10.  hammer home                 硬性灌输

              hammer home an idea into sb.    硬向某人灌输某种观念

11.  intrigue                      使着迷，密谋，用诡计取得

12.  stereotype                    固定不变的，陈规旧习的

13.  attest                        证明，证实，表明

14.  chauvinist                    沙文主义者，男子至上主义这

15.  moderation                   （政治，宗教上）稳健中庸，缓和

16.  fulfillment                    臻于完善，发挥潜在能力

17.  sexism                       性别歧视（常指其实妇女）

18.  be independent of              独立于……之外，不受……控制/支配

 

难句译注

1.       She will not be content to be Executive Assistant to Mr. Seldom Seen of the Assistant Vice President’s Girl Friday, who is the only one who comes in on Saturday.

这是作者杜撰的名字，含有讽刺内涵。Mr. Seldom Seen 很少见到的先生。说明公司很难见到他。那么做他的助手就是她替他干一切活。星期五姑娘。星期五是《鲁滨逊漂流记》中的一个人物，是鲁滨逊的仆人。这位星期六休假日来上班的姑娘，当然得干主人的一切活。

[参考译文]  她不会满意做“很少见”先生的助手，也不愿做助理副主席的星期五姑娘，那位姑娘是唯一的一个星期六来上班的人。

2.       Men, she believed, had created a domestic, servile role for women in order that men could have the career and the opportunity to participate in making the great decisions of society.

[结构简析]  she believed 形式上插入语，实际 Men 句是它的宾语从句。In order that 义：为的是。目的状语。

[参考译文]  她认为男人为妇女创制了一个持家操劳的奴隶角色，为的是男人可以获得事业和机遇参与决定重大的社会抉择。

3.       Thus the radical feminist held that women through history had been oppressed and dehumanized, mainly because man chose to exploit his wife and the mother of his children. Sometimes it was deliberate exploitation and sometimes it was the innocence of never looking beneath the pretensions of life.

[结构简析]  两句句子。前一句的宾语为主从句，后为并列句。

[参考译文]  于是，激进女权主义者认为综观历史，妇女一直是被压迫被奴役，被非人化，主要原因就是因为男人就是想剥削他的妻子，孩子们的母亲。有时是有意的剥削；有时是由于没有透过生活的假象看到问题的实质，是无知所致。

4.       Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, Germaine Greer, and many others hammered home their ideas with a persistence that aroused and intrigued many of the brightest and most able women in the country.

[参考译文]  Betty Friedan， Gloria Steinem，Germaine Greer，以及其他许多激进女权主义者坚持不懈的强行灌输（推行）他们的思想，幻想并吸引了国内无数最聪容，最能干的妇女。

 

写作方法与文章大意

文章论述“争取女权运动的妇女”，也可以说是女权运动的第二次浪潮。作者从历史上的女权运动激进分子观点谈起：妇女为男人所奴役，剥削。因为男的想独揽决策社会的大权，到女子觉醒，认识自己和自己的力量，把男人视作她们共同的敌人。最后是目前向缓冲发展的趋势，也是作者观点。

 

答案祥解

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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