prep2-essay3-11

rainbowmanutd

Ethnohistoric documents from sixteenth-century Mexico suggesting thatweaving and cooking were the most common productive activities for Aztec women may lead modern historians tounderestimate the value of women's contributions to Aztec society.  Since weaving and cooking occurred mostly(but not entirely) in a domestic setting, modern historians are likely to applyto the Aztec culture the modern Western distinction between "private"and "public" production.  Thus,the ethnohistoric record conspires with Western culture to foster the view thatwomen's production was not central to the demographic, economic, and politicalstructures in sixteenth-century Mexico.

A closer examination of Aztec culture indicates that treating Aztecwomen's production in Mexico in such a manner would be a mistake.  Even if the products of women's labor did notcirculate beyond the household, such products were essential to populationgrowth.  Researchers document a tenfoldincrease in the population of the valley of Mexico during the previous fourcenturies, an increase that was crucial to the developing Aztec politicaleconomy.  opulation growth--which couldnot have occurred in the absence of successful household economy, in whichwomen's work was essential--made possible the large-scale development oflabor-intensive chinampa (ridged-field) agriculture in the southern valley of Mexicowhich, in turn, supported urbanization and political centralization in theAztec capital.

But the products of women'slabor did in fact circulate beyond the household.  Aztec women wove cloth, and cloth circulatedthrough the market system, the tribute system, and the redistributive economyof the palaces.  Cotton mantles served asa unit of currency in the regional market system.  Quantities of woven mantles, loincloths, blouses,and skirts were paid as tribute to local lords and to imperial tax stewards andwere distributed to ritual and administrative personnel, craft specialists,warriors, and other faithful servants of the state.  In addition, woven articles of clothingserved as markers of social status and clothing fulfilled a symbolic function inpolitical negotiation.  The cloth thatwas the product of women's work thus was crucial as a primary means oforganizing the flow of goods and services that sustained the Aztec state.The passage is primarily concerned with


(A) using modern understanding of cultural bias to challenge ethnohistoricdocuments
(B) evaluating competing descriptions of women's roles in Aztec society
(C) comparing the influence of gender on women's roles in Aztec societyand in modern society
(D) remedying a potential misconception about the significance of women'sroles in Aztec society
(E) applying new evidencein a reevaluation of ethnohistoric documents

选D,我在A,D之间纠结，最后选的A..
因为文章没有提到potential这个词呀。