GWD29-Q4

wanghonglia

plz XDJM help me to figure out why the answer is C not BIn a 1984 book, Claire C, Robertson argued that, before colonialism, age was a more important indicator of status and authority than gender in Ghana and in Africa generally. British colonialism imposed European- style male dominant notions upon more egalitarian local situations to the detriment of women generally, and gender became a defining characteristic that weakened women’s power and authority.



Subsequent research in
            Kenya convinced Robertson that she had overgeneralized about Africa. Before colonialism, gender was more salient in central Kenya than it was in Ghana, although age was still crucial in determining authority. In contrast with Ghana, where women had traded for hundreds of years and achieved legal majority (not unrelated phenomena), the evidence regarding central Kenya indicated that women were legal minors and were sometimes treated as male property, as were European women at that time. Factors like strong patrilinearity and patrilocality, as well as women’s inferior land rights and lesser involvement in trade, made women more dependent on men than was generally the case in Ghana. However, since age apparently remained the overriding principle of social organization in central Kenya, some senior women had much authority. Thus, Robertson revised her hypothesis somewhat, arguing that in determining authority in precolonial Africa age was a primary principle that superseded gender to varying degrees depending on the situation.

7. GWD29-Q4:

The passage indicates that Robertson’s research in Kenya caused her to change her mind regarding which of the following?


A.
Whether age was the prevailing principle of social organization in Kenya before colonialism

B.
Whether gender was the primary determinant of social authority in Africa generally before colonialism

C.
Whether it was only after colonialism that gender became a significant determinant of authority in Kenyan society

D.
Whether age was a crucial factor determining authority in Africa after colonialism

E.
Whether British colonialism imposed European-style male-dominant notions upon local situations in Ghana


TKS

voleroiseau

原文：
CCR原来认为：殖民前，age比gender重要，只是殖民后，gender才变

得重要。
Kenyan事实：殖民前，age比gender高的不是一点点。（However,

since age apparently remained the overriding principle of

social organization in central Kenya, some senior women had

much authority）
CCR修改结论：殖民前，age是第一重要的，gender基本不算什么。


B：谈论的是gender，且说是“是否是primary”的问题，但是CCR最

后认为age是最最最重要的，其他忽略不计。所以根本不关心gender

的问题。
C：因为自始至终CCR认为gender在殖民前是不重要的，所以也就是探

究是不是确实是这样：殖民前不重要，殖民后才变得重要。

gdboy8888

这个文章观点交错在一起，又有overgeneralize迷惑，但是关键是后面的“However, since age apparently remained the overriding principle of social organization in central Kenya, some senior women had much authority”，表明了CCR的最终态度。

supercury

楼上观点有误。
原来作者认为殖民前age重要，殖民后gender重要。但后来的研究发现在K地区，殖民前gender也非常重要，因此出于考虑：whether it was only after colonialism that….. 使作者改变了她的观点。选C。

Isabella1006

我开始选的B，读了几遍终于懂了。
文章第一段讲：
1.CCR提出殖民前age比gender更重要，不仅是Ghana地区，而且还普遍到整个非洲。
2.然后说英国殖民以后，gender才变得重要。
第二段讲：
1.首先提出她意识到自己overgeneralize了
2.其次说殖民前gender在central Kenya比在Ghana更重要（照应文章最后的varing degrees）,然后就说gender如何如何重要。
3.接着however，age在central Kenya还是保持着overriding principle的。因此她修正了她的假设，提出殖民前的非洲age取代gender作为primary principle的不同程度取决于不同情况。

所以是根据“in Kenya society”是否殖民后gender才成为权力的重要决定因素才修正看法的。
答案是C