Chapter 1 Sex, Gender, and Social Construction Test Bank

Chapter 1 Test Bank Questions

Long Answer

1. Explain how psychologist Sandra Bem’s theory of gender polarization emphasizes how Western cultures perceive of sex and gender as interchangeable and gender categories as fixed and oppositional. (Answer on pp. 8-11)

2. How does the theory of intersectionality compel us to understand how the complex interaction between sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, class, and sex in particular instances shape people’s experiences and ideas about gender? (Answer on pp. 19-20)

3. Why does understanding the term “sexual orientation” involve attaining complex knowledge that extends beyond the traditional binary of heterosexual and homosexual? (Answer on pp. 20-21)

4. Explain how contemporary Native Americans who identify as “two-spirit” inhabit a gender and gender role away from traditional ideas of feminine and masculine? (Answer on pp. 24-25)

5. How can Lois Gould’s story of Baby X encourage public discussion on whether raising children androgynously and without the limitation of rigid binary gender roles allow them greater freedom to develop healthy bodies, encourage creativity, and foster positive mental health? (Answer on p. 19)

6. Why do many cultures worldwide utilize sex and gender as major cognitive schemas in their interpretation of the world? (Answer on p. 16)

7. Why did Sandra Bem contend that it remains very useful to view femininity and masculinity as autonomous characteristics? (Answer on p. 11)

8. How does R.W. Connell and James Messerschmidt’s research on multiple masculinities explain why diverse expectations about masculinity are linked with numerous contexts and identities? (Answer on pp. 16-17)

9. Why does scholarly research focused on sex and gender within and between cultures expands our knowledge on how sex and gender categories work globally? (Answer on pp. 12-13)

10. Why did the evolution of modern women’s studies scholarship and activism provide academic and public credibility to the notion that categories of sex and gender are not distinct as previously articulated in traditional perspectives? (Answer on p. 9)

Short Answer

1. What socio-economic and cultural forces influences the creation of virgjinesha in Albania? (Answer on pp. 23-24)

2. Why do the INSA (Intersex Society of North America) emphasize that intersex represents a socially constructed category? (Answer on pp. 5-6)

3. Why did Sandra Bem contend that it remains more useful to understand femininity and masculinity as autonomous characteristics? (Answer on p. 11)

4. How have expectations regarding gender roles changed over time in the United States? (Answer on p. 12)

5. What are some global cross-cultural similarities regarding gender roles? (Answer on p. 12)

6. How does the concept of intersectionality broaden our knowledge of the multiple factors that shape people’s lives? (Answer on pp. 19-20)

7. Explain how contemporary studies on gender variant or gender nonconformity underscore the idea that gender is merely a choice between feminine and masculine? (Answer on pp. 17-18)

8. How does the modern Native American term “two-spirit” encompass a definition that perceives gender beyond the traditional binaries? (Answer on pp. 24-25)

9. What does the term “cognitive schema” mean when applied to the world of pre-school children’s perception of gender differences? (Answer on p. 16)

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In X: A Fabulous Child’s Story, what colors were Baby X’s favorite school outfit? (C is correct. Answer on p. 2)

a. Blue and white

b. Green and yellow

c. Red and white

d. Red and teal

e. Blue and silver

2. What word is currently regarded as anachronistic for the term intersex? (A is correct. Answer on pp. 4-5}

a. Hermaphrodite

b. Epicene

c. Androgyne

d. Gynandromorph

e. Bisexual

3. What term has now replaced the traditional phrase “biological sex”? (B is correct. Answer on p. 6)

a. Sex at Birth

b. Assigned Sex

c. Neuter at birth

d. Common at birth

e. Sex Determined by Doctor

4. Which trait is not associated with traditional notion of gender? (E is correct. Answer on p. 7)

a. Hairstyles

b. Clothes

c. Physical activities

d. Colors

e. Coughing

5. Who developed the theory of “gender polarization”? (D is correct. Answer on p. 10)

a. Deborah Tannen

b. Lois Gould

c. Sandra Bem

d. Deborah Best

e. Anne Fausto-Sterling

6. The Hua people live on the following island? (E is correct. Answer on p. 13)

a. Hawaii

b. Madagascar

c. Comoros

d. Pemba

e. Papua New Guinea

7. Which scholar articulated the notion of “alternative ways” of being gendered? (B is correct. Answer on p. 17)

a. James Messerschmidt

b. Jack Halberstam

c. Myra M. Ferree

d. Judith Halberstam

e. Eve Sedgwick

8. Which phrase best describes the modern Native American term two-spirit? (A is correct. Answer on p. 24)

a. Third Gender

b. Blithe Spirit

c. Fourth Gender

d. Second Sex

e. Shared Spirit

9. Which sentence best describes the term asexual? (A is correct. Answer on p. 20)

a. A person who experiences little or no sexual attraction to other people.

b. A person who experiences little sexual attraction to one person.

c. A person who experiences little or no sexual attraction to one person of the opposite assigned sex.

d. A person who experiences no sexual attraction to anyone.

e. A person who experiences little sexual attraction to two people.

10. Who is regarded today as a contemporary gender nonconforming celebrity? (E is correct. Answer on p. 17)

a. Reed Erickson

b. Holly Woodlawn

c. Lee Brewster

d. Albert Cashier

e. Laverne Cox

11. What term defines a person whose gender identity is in traditional alignment with their assigned sex at birth? (A is correct. Answer on p. 17)

a. Cisgender

b. Agender

c. Bigender

d. Genderqueer

e. Androgynous

12. Which one of these norms is measured within The Femininity Ideology Scale? (C is correct. Answer on p. 15)

a. Happiness

b. Athletic abilities

c. Caretaking

d. Rationality

e. Ingenuity

13. Which one of the following nations have the most conservative gender role ideologies? (B is correct. Answer on p. 12)

a. Iceland

b. Japan

c. Finland

d. The Netherlands

e. Belgium

14. How many sex and gender categories do the Bugis of Indonesia recognize? (D is correct. Answer on p. 13)

1. Seven
2. Four
3. Eight
4. Five
5. Nine

15. Which scholar pioneered studies exploring gender ideology in Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies? (E is correct. Answer on p. 14)

a. Sigmund Freud

b. Christine Gailey

c. Susan Bennett

d. John E. Williams

e. Ronald Levant

16. In X: A Fabulous Child’s Story, what factor confused other parents who couldn’t ascertain the assigned sex of Baby X? (B is correct. Answer on p. 7)

a. Baby X likes to dance to jazz and reggae music.

b. Baby X plays ball and house equally well.

c. Baby X loves pureed bananas and carrots.

d. Baby X sleeps with fuchsia and azure blankets.

e. Baby X uses cloth diapers and Pampers.

17. What does the acronym ISNA stand for? (Answer is a. See p. 5)

a. Intersex Society of North America

b. Intersex Society of North Anglia

c. Intersex Society of Northern Australia

d. Intersex Society of New Americans

e. Intersex Society of Northern Austria

18. Which sociologist said that a good descriptor of sex is that it’s related to “our chromosomal, chemical, anatomical organization?” (Answer is d. See p. 7)

1. Judith Butler
2. Naomi Wolf
3. Susan Bordo
4. Michael Kimmel
5. J.W. Scott

19. In which nation do men support conventional masculinity more than women? (B is correct. Answer on p. 13)

a. China

b. United States

c. Pakistan

d. Vietnam

e. Russia

20. In which nation do women now earn the majority of college degrees at all levels---associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate? (C is correct. Answer on p. 12)

1. Argentina
2. India
3. United States
4. Chile
5. Estonia

21. Which one of the following factors is not related to the term gender expression? (B is correct. Answer on p. 8)

a. The length of one’s hair

b. The number of a person’s eyelashes

c. The way one acts

d. The way one dresses

e. The way one wears or does not wear makeup

22. Which gender identity category best describes the Hijras? (E is correct. Answer on p. 24)

a. Cisgender

b. Bisexual

c. Agender

d. Two-spirit

e. Third sex/third gender

23. According to scholar and activist Will Roscoe, what is the primary feature of a male berdache? (D is correct. Answer on p. 24)

a. Leadership

b. Warfare

c. Hunting

d. Productive specialization in crafts and domestic work

e. Divination

True-False Questions

1. Tony Briffa became the first openly intersex mayor of Brisbane, Australia. (False. Answer on p. 6)

2. Historically, many intersex persons were sometimes called Hermaphrodites after the Greek myth of Hermaphroditus. (True. Answer on p. 4)

3. Transitioning is a process by which transgender people’s bodies are brought into biological alignment with their sex identity, through hormone therapy and/or gender affirmation surgery. (True. Answer on p. 17)

4. Western culture traditionally viewed gender nonconformity as problematic and unconventional. (True. Answer on p. 8)

5. The Male Role Norms Inventory Revised measures 8 norms of traditional masculinity. (False. Answer on pp. 14-15)

6. In gay and lesbian subcultures, women who are gender nonconforming are called butch. (True. Answer on p. 8)

7. The number of fathers who stay at home with their children has doubled since 2000. (False. Answer on p. 12)

8. We’wha was a Hopi Indian berdache who lived during the first half of the nineteenth century in what is now Arizona. (False. Answer on p. 22)

9. At the conclusion of Lois Gould’s feminist tale X: A Fabulous Child’s Story, the Psychiatrist had been crying right before coming into the room to tell everyone the results of the tests Baby X underwent. (True. Answer on p. 19)

10. The Virgjinesha originate from Macedonia and reside their entire lives in Catholic convents. (False. Answer on pp. 23-24.)