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

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

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is b. Although feminist groups had existed for decades, it was the creation of the United Nations (UN) that brought groups from different countries together in a significant way. The UN’s charter declared its commitment to the “equal rights of men and women,” and just two years after its founding, the UN created a forum for global conversations with the Commission on the Status of Women.
Incorrect. The answer is b. Although feminist groups had existed for decades, it was the creation of the United Nations (UN) that brought groups from different countries together in a significant way. The UN’s charter declared its commitment to the “equal rights of men and women,” and just two years after its founding, the UN created a forum for global conversations with the Commission on the Status of Women.

Question

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?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is d. When the UN adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, its standards for justice for women went way beyond what most nations—including the United States—guaranteed women at the time. These raised standards pushed women’s expectations for what was possible and what was just when it came to women’s rights.
Incorrect. The answer is d. When the UN adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, its standards for justice for women went way beyond what most nations—including the United States—guaranteed women at the time. These raised standards pushed women’s expectations for what was possible and what was just when it came to women’s rights.

Question

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

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B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is b. When feminists from around the world gathered in meetings like those convened for the UN Decade for Women, Western feminists tended to focus most heavily on equal rights. Feminists from impoverished and developing countries resented this emphasis because they pointed out that there was no point discussing equal rights when women in their home countries were starving and had nowhere to live. This criticism helped draw Western feminists’ attention to their own blind spots when it came to women’s experiences.
Incorrect. The answer is b. When feminists from around the world gathered in meetings like those convened for the UN Decade for Women, Western feminists tended to focus most heavily on equal rights. Feminists from impoverished and developing countries resented this emphasis because they pointed out that there was no point discussing equal rights when women in their home countries were starving and had nowhere to live. This criticism helped draw Western feminists’ attention to their own blind spots when it came to women’s experiences.

Question

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?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is c. The United States trails behind other nations when it comes to women’s rights in many different ways. For example, unlike most industrialized nations, the United States does not give women paid maternity leave or publicly funded childcare. The United States has never had a female president, unlike more than thirty other countries, and the percentage of Congress that is female is lower than many other nations.
Incorrect. The answer is c. The United States trails behind other nations when it comes to women’s rights in many different ways. For example, unlike most industrialized nations, the United States does not give women paid maternity leave or publicly funded childcare. The United States has never had a female president, unlike more than thirty other countries, and the percentage of Congress that is female is lower than many other nations.

Question

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

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is a. The result of their interactions with feminists from countries across the world caused American feminists to reevaluate the scope of their concerns, and to expand the list of issues that they considered feminist issues. For example, American feminists began to realize that even issues that seemed gender-neutral, such as decolonization and economic development, were also feminist issues, especially in developing nations.
Incorrect. The answer is a. The result of their interactions with feminists from countries across the world caused American feminists to reevaluate the scope of their concerns, and to expand the list of issues that they considered feminist issues. For example, American feminists began to realize that even issues that seemed gender-neutral, such as decolonization and economic development, were also feminist issues, especially in developing nations.