Question

I heard echoes of the problem in college dormitories and semiprivate maternity wards, at PTA meetings and luncheons of the League of Women Voters, at suburban cocktail parties, in station wagons waiting for trains, and in snatches of conversation overheard at Schrafft's. The groping words I heard from other women, on quiet afternoons when children were at school or on quiet evenings when husbands worked late, I think I understood first as a woman long before I understood their larger social and psychological implications. Based on the underlined words and phrases, what is Friedan most likely trying to express?

Answer 1

Clarification:

I found the complete instructions for the exercise online:

"Based on the underlined words and phrases, what is Friedan most likely trying to express?

A: It was unacceptable for women to show displeasure, and many feared being punished by law.

B: The ideas of a minority of women were not understood by the majority of women.

C: Women did not yet understand that they were dissatisfied, so they had difficulty explaining themselves.

D: Feelings of discontentment among women were growing but still could not be expressed openly."

Answer:

D. Feelings of discontentment among women were growing but still could not be expressed openly.

Explanation:

To complete this exercise, you have to select the correct option after reading the excerpt from Betty Friedan's "The feminine mystique". The correct option is "D" because the excerpt explains how women started talking to each other about all the problems and situations they noticed related to being a woman in that society but also how it was secretly.