StudentsofUnitedStateshistory,seekingtoidentifythecircumstancesthatencouragedtheemergenceoffeministmovements,havethoroughlyinvestigatedthemid-nineteenth-centuryAmericaneconomicandsocialconditionsthataffectedthestatusofwomen.Thesehistorians,however,haveanalyzedlessfullythedevelopmentofspecificallyfeministideasandactivitiesduringthesameperiod.Furthermore,theideologicaloriginsoffeminismintheUnitedStateshavebeenobscuredbecause,evenwhenhistoriansdidtakeintoaccountthosefeministideasandactivitiesoccurringwithintheUnitedStates,theyfailedtorecognizethatfeminismwasthenatrulyinternationalmovementactuallycenteredinEurope.Americanfeministactivistswhohavebeendescribedas“solitary”and“individualtheorists”wereinrealityconnectedtoamovement—utopiansocialism—whichwasalreadypopularizingfeministideasinEuropeduringthetwodecadesthatcachinnatedinthefirstwomen’srightsconferenceheldatSenecaFalls,NewYork,in1848.Thus,acompleteunderstandingoftheoriginsanddevelopmentofnineteenth-centuryfeminismintheUnitedStatesrequiresthatthegeographicalfocusbewidenedtoincludeEuropeandthatthedetailedstudyalreadymadeofsocialconditionsbeexpandedtoincludetheideologicaldevelopmentoffeminism. TheearliestandmostpopularoftheutopiansocialistsweretheSaint-Simonians.ThespecificallyfeministpartofSaint-Simonianismhas,however,beenlessstudiedthanthegroup’scontributiontoearlysocialism.Thisisregrettableontwoaccounts.By1832feminismwasthecentralconcernofSaint-Simonianismandentirelyabsorbeditsadherents’energy;hence,byignoringitsfeminism,EuropeanhistorianshavemisunderstoodSaint-Simonianism.Moreover,sincemanyfeministideascanbetracedtoSaint-Simonianism,Europeanhistorians’appreciationoflaterfeminisminFranceandtheUnitedStatesremainedlimited. Saint-Simon’sfollowers,manyofwhomwerewomen,basedtheirfeminismonaninterpretationofhisprojecttoreorganizetheglobebyreplacingbruteforcewiththeruleofspiritualpowers.Thenewworldorderwouldberuledtogetherbyamale,torepresentreflection,andafemale,torepresentsentiment.Thiscomplementarityreflectsthefactthat,whiletheSaint-Simoniansdidnotrejectthebeliefthattherewereinnatedifferencesbetweenmenandwomen,theyneverthelessforesawanequallyimportantsocialandpoliticalroleforbothsexesintheirUtopia. OnlyafewSaint-Simoniansopposedadefinitionofsexualequalitybasedongenderdistinction.Thisminoritybelievedthatindividualsofbothsexeswerebornsimilarincapacityandcharacter,andtheyascribedmale-femaledifferencestosocializationandeducation.Theenvisionedresultofbothcurrentsofthought,however,wasthatwomenwouldenterpubliclifeinthenewageandthatsexualequalitywouldrewardmenaswellaswomenwithanimprovedwayoflife. ItcanbeinferredfromthepassagethattheauthorbelievesthatstudyofSaint-SimonianismisnecessaryforhistoriansofAmericanfeminismbecausesuchstudy_____.
A.would clarify the ideological origins of those feminist ideas that influenced American feminism
B.would increase understanding of a movement that deeply influenced the Utopian socialism of early American feminists
C.would focus attention on the most important aspect of Saint-Simonian thought before 1832
D.promises to offer insight into a movement that was a direct outgrowth of the Seneca Falls conference of 1848
正确答案是A