Chapter 10 Test Bank

KNOWLEDGE OF KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS

Multiple Choice

1. Why did Liberian rebel soldiers cross-dress during the civil war in the 1990s?

a) The rebels were homosexual.

b) They were the only clothes they had access to.

c) They were misogynistic.

d) It distinguished them from the government’s soldiers.

2. Feminist anthropologists have argued that egalitarian male-female relations have existed throughout human history. Inequality exists because of historical processes including

a) colonialism.

b) democratic state-building.

c) anthropological intervention.

d) second-wave feminism.

3. Anthropologists commonly refer to the ideas and social patterns a society uses to organize males, females, and those who do not fit either category as

a) gender roles.

b) biological sex.

c) gender/sex systems.

d) transgender.

4. Sexual dimorphism refers to the

a) different sexual forms, hormones, and chromosomal structures in men and women.

b) similarities in hormones in men’s and women’s bodies.

c) similarities in chromosomal structures for men and women.

d) different sex organs present in men and women.

5. Individuals who diverge from the male–female norm and exhibit sexual organs and functions somewhere between, including both male and female, are called

a) transsexual.

b) transgender.

c) intersex.

d) cisgender.

6. A misconception about hormones in society is that

a) certain hormones are linked to both sexes.

b) they are not important for sexual functioning.

c) sex-specific hormones cause particular behaviors.

d) they are irrelevant.

7. French existentialist philosopher Simone de Beauvoir argued in her book The Second Sex that

a) throughout history women have been treated as inferior.

b) women are biologically inferior to men.

c) women are more capable than men to be in leadership roles.

d) women could do without men in society.

8. After emerging as an important term for activists in the 1990s, “trans” has become a catch-all term to describe a wide variety of people including all of the following except

a) transvestites.

b) drag queens.

c) cisgender people.

d) transsexual.

9. Which term refers to expressions of sex and gender that diverge from the male and female norms that dominate in most societies?

a) sexuality

b) intersexed

c) transgender

d) gender variance

10. People everywhere establish their gender/sex identities, including normative categories like “man” or “woman,” through

a) birth.

b) sexual preferences.

c) sexual practices.

d) social performances.

11. Biologist Dr. Alfred Kinsey conducted a series of sexuality studies during the 1940s and found that

a) sexuality is either straight or queer.

b) most people are homosexual.

c) most people are heterosexual.

d) sexuality exists on a continuum.

12. Hijras in India are characterized by all of the following except

a) they are devout Hindus.

b) they give blessings at weddings and at births.

c) they may have sex with men, but they are not considered gay.

d) they live in communes amongst other hijras.

Fill in the Blank

13. The reproductive forms and functions of the body are referred to as our ____________________.

sex

14. ____________________is the set of cultural expectations for how males and females should behave.

Gender

15. The ____________________ refers to the ideas and social patterns a society uses to organize males, females, and those who do not fit either category.

gender/sex system

16. The anthropological study of ____________________ includes looking at the ideas and practices of manhood and how gender/sex identities are constructed.

masculinity

17. Some societies allow for ____________________, which refers to people who are neither male nor female.

gender variance

18. Sexual preferences, desires, and practices are encompassed in the study of ____________________.

sexuality

True/False

19. As children get older, cultural influences on behavior become much stronger, and as a result, it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to isolate biological influences on what it means to be male or female.

a) True

b) False

20. Sex is a simple product of nature and biology.

a) True

b) False

21. The dichotomy between males and females is not two distinct categories but a continuum of sexual possibilities in the human species.

a) True

b) False

22.All feminist anthropologists agree that women’s subordination is a human universal.

a) True

b) False

23. In many societies, some people live their lives as neither male nor female.

a) True

b) False

COMPREHENSION OF FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS

Multiple Choice

24. All societies differentiate between male and female, but one way Americans are unique in how we do it is that we link gender to

a) numbers.

b) colors.

c) body shapes.

d) sounds.

25. Sex-assignment surgery is important because it

a) improves the biological functions of intersexed people.

b) shows that “sex” is a biological phenomenon.

c) shows that “sex” is constructed upon cultural assumptions.

d) is performed only on girls.

26. Sherry Ortner, a feminist anthropologist, observed that the roots of female subordination lay in the distinction all societies make between

a) men and women.

b) public and domestic.

c) strength and weakness.

d) nature and culture.

27. According to some, a critical limitation of “second-wave” feminism is that it

a) ignores differences among women in different cultural groups.

b) failed to acknowledge gender inequalities in a historical perspective.

c) assumes the fight for gender equality was not a global priority.

d) acknowledged the expansive experiences of women around the globe.

28. Anthropologists understand that in order to understand gender/sex inequalities one must study

a) women.

b) men.

c) both men and women.

d) sexual dimorphism.

29. Which of the following is not an example of state control of sexuality?

a) the China one-child policy

b) Malta’s ban on abortion

c) previous US government bans on openly gay people serving in the military

d) India’s 2014 supreme court decision to officially recognize a third gender

30. To understand aggression in society, we have to understand which of the following factor(s)?

a) the availability of weapons and cultural attitudes toward violence

b) fixed and innate notions of violent behavior

c) the absence of the state in promoting or preventing conflicts

d) the biological basis of violence

31. A key finding of anthropologist Matthew Gutmann’s fieldwork on masculinity in Mexico is that

a) women cause their own subordination by being submissive.

b) women support machismo by supporting domineering men.

c) women challenge men’s domination over them by arguing and issuing ultimatums.

d) women prefer macho men.

32. Hijras interest anthropologists mainly because they are

a) exotic.

b) increasingly acting as prostitutes.

c) homosexual.

d) a reflection of a gender/sex system that sees meaning in combining male and female.

33. Anthropologists reject the idea that same-sex sexuality is a fixed and exclusive condition because

a) gender is biologically determined.

b) of the research of Dr. Bronislaw Malinowski.

c) of cross-cultural research that shows sexual practices and sexuality is variable throughout a lifetime.

d) sexuality is established at birth and remains the same throughout the lifespan.

34. One of the reasons it is important to develop culturally sensitive campaigns to address a health crisis like HIV/AIDS is that

a) gay sex causes the disease.

b) what some people think is gay sex is not considered to be the case by others.

c) gay sex is about passivity and activity.

d) gay sex is a reflection of a permanent condition.

35. Cross-dressing rebel soldiers in Liberia is an excellent illustration of what?

a) the fact that gender identities are rooted in local concepts and practices

b) the strange perversions of certain soldiers

c) the inequality between male and female

d) how hormones shape human behavior

36. What is not a finding of the anthropology of masculinity?

a) Cultural ideals of masculinity do not always lead to male dominance.

b) Masculinity changes with time.

c) Male initiation rites are of relative unimportance globally.

d) Masculinity is something to be attained in many societies.

Fill in the Blank

37. The central point of anthropological arguments about ____________________ is that they are not sex-specific and they do not by themselves cause aggression and violence.

hormones

38. Biologist Alfred Kinsey conducted a series of sexuality studies that demonstrated that sexuality exists along a ____________________ and that most people do not fall into absolute categories.

continuum

39. ____________________ performed on intersex people demonstrates clearly how cultural assumptions about sexual dichotomy shape ideas about the biological basis of sex.

Sex-assignment surgery

40. The ____________________ epidemic prompted anthropologist Richard Parker to underscore that local understandings of sexuality are essential to account for in designing public health programs.

HIV/AIDS

True/False

41. One of the reasons intersex individuals interest anthropologists is how unusual and strange they are in a sexually dimorphic species.

a) True

b) False

42. The notion of “ritualized homosexuality” developed by Gilbert Herdt is problematic because Western notions of homosexuality do not easily apply cross-culturally.

a) True

b) False

43. In nearly all societies with any degree of social stratification, more men are in leadership roles than women, not only in political roles but also in economic and social roles involving trade, exchange, kinship relations, ritual participation, and dispute resolution.

a) True

b) False

44. The debate over male and female inequality was never adequately resolved because there was not enough evidence to prove either side.

a) True

b) False

APPLICATION OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL CONCEPTS

Multiple Choice

45. Which of the following is not an example of the naturalization of gender?

a) the assumption that girls are nurturing and domestic

b) the assumption that all boys like sports

c) the assumption that people are heterosexual

d) the assumption that men are aggressors in relationships

46. Why is it often so difficult for Euro-American anthropologists to understand same-sex sexuality in other societies?

a) There are much higher rates of intersex births in other societies.

b) They do not have adequate language to describe what they are studying.

c) They cannot adequately account for the environmental factors at play in the formation of sexual desire.

d) Same-sex sexuality is often pushed to the margins of society and so it is difficult to access information.

47. Which of the following observations would be least likely to come from an anthropologist who shares Simone de Beauvoir’s notion of “second sex”?

a) Gender inequality is universal.

b) Men subordinate women.

c) Western models of male–female relations cannot be universalized.

d) Egalitarian relations between male and female are rare, if not impossible.

48. An anthropologist interested in the cultural construction of gender would be most interested in

a) sexual dimorphism.

b) hormone regulation.

c) genetic causes of intersex.

d) learned behavioral differences between men and women.

49. An anthropologist who studies how societies control sexuality would likely be most interested in which of the following situations?

a) obstacles in access to birth control

b) the activities in a club or bar whose clientele is gay or lesbianc) how the research of Dr. Alfred Kinsey was immoral

d) the political activities of transgender activists

Short Answer

50. Using one example, explain the state’s role in regulating its population’s sexuality.

51. How might an advocate of using the new terminology “gender/sex system” analyze the example of cross-dressing Liberian rebel soldiers that opens the chapter?

52. How did colonialism alter the social role of Hijras in India?

53. What, do some anthropologists argue, is the link between the nature/culture distinction and global inequality between men and women?

Essays

54. How would you apply the insights about human sexuality in this chapter to a study of the LGBTQ community on your campus?

55. If you were working on a campaign for sexual equality, what role do you think anthropological insights about relations between women and men should play in your work?

56. If you were asked to study the sexuality of US college students, what anthropologically informed concerns and perspectives would you bring to the issue?

OPPORTUNITIES FOR ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS

Essays

57. How is gender different from sex?

58. Gender/sex inequalities are reproduced and performed in everyday life. How? Discuss using examples.

59. Why are anthropologists skeptical of biological determinism as it relates to human sex and sexuality? How do they study these matters without falling into its opposite, cultural determinism?