Reading Comprehension

GMAT-Prep RC: Final solution at one place:

The identification of femininity with morality and a belief in the innate moral superiority of women were fundamental to the cult of female domesticity in the nineteenth-century United States. Ironically, this ideology of female benevolence empowered women in the realm of social activism, enabling them to escape the confines of their traditional domestic spheres and to enter prisons, hospitals, battlefields, and slums. By following this path, some women came to wield considerable authority in the distribution of resources and services in their communities.
The sentimentalized concept of female benevolence bore little resemblance to women's actual work, which was decidedly unsentimental and businesslike, in that it involved chartering societies, raising money, and paying salaries. Moreover, in the face of legal limitations on their right to control money and property, women had to find ingenious legal ways to run and finance organized philanthropy. In contrast to the day-to-day reality of this work, the idealized image of female benevolence lent a sentimental and gracious aura of altruism to the very real authority and privilege that some women commanded-which explains why some women activists clung tenaciously to this ideology. But clinging to this ideology also prevented these women from even attempting to gain true political power because it implied a moral purity that precluded participation in the messy world of partisan politics.

Information in the passage suggests that the author would be most likely to agree with which of the following statements concerning the cult of female domesticity?
(A) The cult of female domesticity developed independently of the concept of female benevolence.
(B) The cult of female domesticity was incompatible with women's participation in social activism.
(C) The cult of female domesticity incorporated ideological elements that actually helped some women to escape from their traditional domestic roles.
(D) The original motivation behind the promotion of the cult of female domesticity was to exclude women from partisan politics.
(E) The growth of organized philanthropy in the nineteenth-century United States is ultimately attributable to the cult of female domesticity.

Key Takeaways from the passage..
1. The author does not provide an opinion
2. The author merely states facts on how the cult of female domesticity led to women's influence on non-domestic spheres as well
3. The only realm that was out of reach for women was partisan politics

"this ideology of female benevolence empowered women in the realm of social activism, enabling them to escape the confines of their traditional domestic spheres"

Option (C) is a clear word-justification of the above and is hence the right answer.

Hi,
i thought the answer was C. is it not the correct one ?

regards
eshwar

For this same pasage, there was the question:

According to the passage, the ideology of female benevolence was consistent with women taking part in each of the following spheres of activity EXCEPT:

a. organized philanthropy
b. domestic life
c. electoral politics
d. fund-raising for worthy causes
e. social work

women's actual work consisted of chartering societies, raising money, paying salaries, run and finance organized philanthropy. it shows that female benevolence led them to "ESCAPE the domestic spheres" and enter "prisons, hospitals, etc" So it is against domestic life .. why is the answer not B?

fangtray wrote:For this same pasage, there was the question:

According to the passage, the ideology of female benevolence was consistent with women taking part in each of the following spheres of activity EXCEPT:

a. organized philanthropy
b. domestic life
c. electoral politics
d. fund-raising for worthy causes
e. social work

women's actual work consisted of chartering societies, raising money, paying salaries, run and finance organized philanthropy. it shows that female benevolence led them to "ESCAPE the domestic spheres" and enter "prisons, hospitals, etc" So it is against domestic life .. why is the answer not B?

The identification of femininity with morality and a belief in the innate moral superiority of women were fundamental to the cult of female domesticity

fangtray wrote:For this same pasage, there was the question:

According to the passage, the ideology of female benevolence was consistent with women taking part in each of the following spheres of activity EXCEPT:

a. organized philanthropy
b. domestic life
c. electoral politics
d. fund-raising for worthy causes
e. social work

women's actual work consisted of chartering societies, raising money, paying salaries, run and finance organized philanthropy. it shows that female benevolence led them to "ESCAPE the domestic spheres" and enter "prisons, hospitals, etc" So it is against domestic life .. why is the answer not B?

actually, the answer is C
But clinging to this ideology also prevented these women from even attempting to gain true political power....