ThatQuiz Test Library Take this test now
The Second Sex - Quiz
Contributed by: Holland
  • 1. Which book inspired Betty Friedan's 'The Feminine Mystique'?
A) The Second Sex
B) The First Sex
C) The French Woman
D) The Political Woman
  • 2. In what year was 'The Second Sex' originally published?
A) 1963
B) 1967
C) 1949
D) 1953
  • 3. What was the profession of H. M. Parshley, the original translator of 'The Second Sex'?
A) Political scientist
B) Zoologist
C) Philosopher
D) Novelist
  • 4. Which company holds the English publication rights to 'The Second Sex'?
A) Penguin Books
B) HarperCollins
C) Alfred A. Knopf, Inc
D) Simon & Schuster
  • 5. What did the French Parliament decide to legalize in 1967 under strict qualifications?
A) Abortion
B) Suffrage
C) Divorce
D) Contraception
  • 6. Who specifically requested a more faithful and complete translation of her work in 1985?
A) Constance Borde
B) Betty Friedan
C) Simone de Beauvoir
D) Toril Moi
  • 7. When was the new, more complete translation of 'The Second Sex' published?
A) November 1990
B) November 1985
C) November 2000
D) November 2009
  • 8. According to the text, which individual is noted as a vocal critic of the original 1953 translation?
A) Sheila Malovany-Chevallier
B) H. M. Parshley
C) Betty Friedan
D) Toril Moi
  • 9. What was a major concern for the French regarding the expansion of equality?
A) It was considered detrimental to French morals
B) It would cause economic instability
C) It would lead to excessive tax burdens
D) It would decrease the population
  • 10. Social feminists stressed which concept as opposed to simple equality?
A) Gender differences
B) Economic isolation
C) Complete assimilation
D) Total uniformity
  • 11. How did European women's political representation compare to the United States by the 1990s?
A) They held fewer seats
B) They held six to seven times more legislative seats
C) They held equal seats
D) They held twice as many seats
  • 12. What was a common belief regarding the historical context of the times?
A) A society designed for men harmed the interests of society
B) A society designed for men was the only way to ensure order
C) A society designed for men was irrelevant to women
D) A society designed for men was the most efficient model
  • 13. What did critics complain about regarding the 1953 translation?
A) It was too long and verbose
B) It was published in the wrong country
C) It contained excised text and mistranslated philosophical concepts
D) It was written in an outdated dialect
  • 14. Who were the translators of the 2009 edition of 'The Second Sex'?
A) Simone de Beauvoir and Toril Moi
B) Alfred A. Knopf and a team of zoologists
C) H. M. Parshley and Betty Friedan
D) Constance Borde and Sheila Malovany-Chevallier
  • 15. What did the 2009 translation successfully restore according to literary critics?
A) The publisher's original marketing notes
B) The original French language introduction
C) Sections of the text missing from the Parshley edition
D) The author's personal diary entries
  • 16. In which country was the Spanish-language translation of The Second Sex printed?
A) Mexico
B) Spain
C) France
D) Argentina
  • 17. In what year was The Second Sex banned in Francoist Spain?
A) 1955
B) 1998
C) 1966
D) 1949
  • 18. When was a full Castilian Spanish translation of The Second Sex finally published?
A) 1966
B) 1955
C) 1998
D) 1980
  • 19. Which religious organization added The Second Sex to its list of prohibited books?
A) The Lutheran Church
B) The Orthodox Church
C) The Church of England
D) The Catholic Church
  • 20. What is the name of the Catholic Church's list of prohibited books?
A) Index Librorum Prohibitorum
B) The Vatican Archives
C) The Forbidden Ledger
D) The Papal Edicts
  • 21. In what year was the policy of prohibition for the Index Librorum Prohibitorum abolished?
A) 1998
B) 1966
C) 1975
D) 1955
  • 22. How many copies of The Second Sex were sold in the first week of its French publication?
A) 50,000
B) 5,000
C) 10,000
D) 22,000
  • 23. Into how many languages has The Second Sex been translated?
A) 60
B) 100
C) 20
D) 40
  • 24. Which institution placed The Second Sex on its List of Prohibited Books?
A) The Sorbonne
B) The French Academy
C) The Vatican
D) The United Nations
  • 25. Who famously reacted to The Second Sex with what Beauvoir called 'typical Mediterranean machismo'?
A) Sartre
B) Camus
C) Francis Jeanson
D) Kinsey
  • 26. Which author of The Feminine Mystique was influenced by Beauvoir's attack on psychoanalysis?
A) Betty Friedan
B) Stevie Smith
C) Germaine Greer
D) Kate Millett
  • 27. Who wrote The Female Eunuch in 1970?
A) Kate Millett
B) Germaine Greer
C) Betty Friedan
D) Camille Paglia
  • 28. What is the famous formulation attributed to Beauvoir in The Second Sex?
A) Gender is a biological destiny
B) One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman
C) Equality is a natural state of human existence
D) Women are born, not made
  • 29. How did Borde and Malovany-Chevallier translate the famous formulation in their English version?
A) One is not born, but rather becomes, a female
B) One is born, not made, a woman
C) One is not born, but rather becomes, woman
D) Woman is a construct of nature
  • 30. Which British poet remarked that Beauvoir wrote an enormous book about women but did not like them?
A) C. B. Radford
B) Stevie Smith
C) Kate Millett
D) Francis Jeanson
  • 31. According to David M. Halperin, what does Beauvoir idealize in The Second Sex?
A) Psychoanalytic practices
B) The role of the mother
C) Sexual relations between women
D) Traditional marriage
  • 32. Which book did Camille Paglia write that was inspired by Beauvoir's sweep through time?
A) The Female Eunuch
B) Sexual Personae
C) Sexual Politics
D) Free Women, Free Men
  • 33. In how many volumes was 'The Second Sex' originally published?
A) Four
B) Two
C) One
D) Three
  • 34. Which term does Beauvoir use to describe how men define women in relation to themselves?
A) The Other
B) The Superior
C) The Neutral
D) The Equal
  • 35. Which author's claims about the historical defeat of the female sex due to private property does Beauvoir reject?
A) Sigmund Freud
B) Friedrich Engels
C) Auguste Comte
D) Alfred Adler
  • 36. Beauvoir notes that in which ancient society were there no restraints on women's freedom?
A) Sparta
B) Rome
C) Athens
D) Susa
  • 37. What is described as 'holding away death but also refusing life'?
A) Housecleaning
B) Childbirth
C) Prostitution
D) Teaching
  • 38. According to the text, what is the 'highest form of freedom' a woman-parasite can achieve?
A) Total financial independence
B) Stoic defiance or skeptical irony
C) Political activism
D) Marriage
  • 39. How long did Beauvoir research and write 'The Second Sex'?
A) About 6 months
B) About 14 months
C) About 5 years
D) About 2 years
  • 40. What does Beauvoir identify as a key concept of the female universe, implying perfection of immobility?
A) Immanence
B) Evolution
C) Transcendence
D) Harmony
  • 41. Which historical event does Beauvoir note promised equality but did not deliver?
A) The French Revolution
B) The American Revolution
C) The Soviet revolution
D) The Industrial Revolution
Created with That Quiz — the math test generation site with resources for other subject areas.