28. Reform, Rebellion, and Reaction, 1960

Chapter Chronology

Quiz for Beyond America’s Borders: Transnational Feminisms

Select the best answer for each question. Click the “submit” button for each question to turn in your work.

Question 28.11

1. Feminist organizations across the globe began connecting with each other more than ever in the 1940s as a result of

the Allied victory in World War II, which brought the Allied nations closer together.

the creation of the United Nations and its emphasis on equal rights for women.

a massive expansion of communication networks into developing countries.

Franklin D. Roosevelt's well-circulated speeches about the rights of women.

Question 28.12

2. How might the United Nations’ (UN) Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948, have spurred women in nations like the United States to demand their governments do more to help women?

The Declaration outlined specific measures that nations were required to take if they wanted to avoid foreign intervention, and women pushed their governments to adopt them.

Many women who were involved in drafting the Declaration returned to their home countries energized, and became even more zealous activists for women’s rights.

The UN had decided to adopt Sweden’s standards as its universal standards for human rights, and American women wanted to make the United States the paragon of women’s rights.

The Declaration set standards for women’s rights and opportunities that were much higher than what most countries guaranteed their women citizens at the time.

Question 28.13

3. Why did many feminists from impoverished countries criticize feminists from Western nations in the 1970s?

They were frustrated that virtually all the meetings that the UN convened as part of its Decade for Women were held in countries in the Western Hemisphere, such as Mexico.

They argued that the main concern for women in their countries was basic survival (like food and water), and that the Western focus on equal rights ignored those concerns.

They pointed out how, when feminists from around the world gathered for meetings, the publications, workshops, and speeches were always conducted in English.

They resented the assumption by American feminists that because the UN headquarters were in New York, American women should be the leaders of UN women’s meetings.

Question 28.14

4. Although many American feminists in the 1970s and 1980s assumed that the United States was superior to most nations in the realm of women’s welfare, which of the following is one way in which the United States lagged behind other countries in regard to women's rights?

Fewer than 10 percent of all students who study engineering in the United States are female.

Most state governments do not allow married women to have their own credit cards.

The United States does not provide women with publicly funded childcare.

Women are exponentially more likely to be poor in the United States than men are.

Question 28.15

5. How did the exchanges between American feminists and feminists in other countries in the 1970s and beyond affect the American feminist movement?

These exchanges made American feminists realize that they needed to broaden the scope of issues they focused on to reflect the needs of women across the whole world.

The number of American families who adopted children born in impoverished nations increased significantly after the 1970s as a result of these exchanges.

These exchanges radicalized American feminists, causing many to disavow the United States’ two-party political system, and join the Green Party instead.