In this excerpt, the phrase "female folly and vice" refers to

A the view that women are weak and ignorant.

B the mistreatment and disrespect of women in society.

C the oppression of women by the church and the state.

D the refusal of women to seek out an education.

The correct answer is A) the view that women are weak and ignorant.

In this excerpt, the phrase "female folly and vice" refers to "the view that women are weak and ignorant."

We are talking about the book "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman" of 1792, by Mary Wollstonecraft. In her excerpt, she writes: "The grand source of female folly and vice has never appeared to me to arise from narrowness of mind, and the very constitution of civil governments has put almost insuperable obstacles in the way to prevent the cultivation of the female understanding - yet virtue can be built on no other foundation."