WOMEN, MEN, AND SOCIETY
STUDY GUIDE - FIRST MIDTERM
1. What is oppression? How does the birdcage symbolize women’s oppression for Marilyn Frye? What are current
examples of women’s oppression that might be representative of the wires on the cage? Why does Frye believe that the
act of a man opening a door for a woman is problematic? According to Marilyn Frye, do you have to feel oppressed to be
oppressed? Why or why not?
2. What was the key point made by Sojourner Truth in her speech entitled "Ain't I A Woman?" How does she
challenge her listener’s notions of woman? How are her race and class important to the argument she makes?
3. How have images of masculinity changed in the history of the West? What images of "ideal masculinity" prevailed in
different epochs? For instance, what was the idealized image of the epic male? The spiritual male? The chivalric male?
The renaissance male? The bourgeois male? How have images of femininity changed over time, especially in the U.S.?
4. What are the different aspects of biological sex? Which aspect do we typically rely upon in determining another person's
sex? What distinction do sociologists make between biological sex and gender? Do these two notions necessarily
correspond? Why or why not?
Fausto-Sterling article -- What are the "five sexes"? What is a hermaphrodite? What is a "merm"? What is a "ferm"?
What percentage of babies are born as intersexed individuals? How are they typically treated? How do doctors justify this
"treatment"? Does historical evidence support their justifications?
Lorber article -- How do people "do gender" in their everyday lives and interactions? When does the social construction
of gender begin? Why do most people conform to gender roles? What is "gender bending?" What are some examples of
this? What does Lorber mean when she says “gender means sameness” and “gender means difference”? How does
gender create differences between men and women? How does gender create sameness among all women and among
all men? How are the genders ranked in a way that privileges men over women? What does this mean for our daily lives?
Kessler article -- How many sexes do most people in Western societies believe there are? How do cultural understandings
about gender affect the medical and parenting decisions regarding intersex children? What do doctors believe guides their
decision about what the sex of the baby should be? On what do physicians actually base their decision regarding the sex
of the child? How does this help explain the reasons people believe gender is a natural system of differences? How do
physicians normalize the intersex condition of a child to the parents? What are the effects of these practices? In the end,
why are ambiguous genital conditions "corrected"?
5. What are the key arguments and conclusions of "Man the Hunter" theory? What are some of the limitations and/or biases
of this theory? What alternative theory has been proposed by feminists? What are its key arguments and conclusions?
What are some of the limitations and/or biases of this theory? What have theorists more recently concluded regarding
the roles of prehistoric men and women and their relative contributions to the evolution of our species?
6. What were Margaret Mead’s major findings in her studies of gender roles in three different New Guinea societies? What
have other anthropologists found when analyzing gender relations in "foraging societies?" For example, what types of
"foraging societies" are most patriarchal? Based on cross-cultural studies, what have anthropologists concluded about the
nature of gender differences? Do all cultures view gender as dichotomous and permanent? Have "multiple genders" been
found in some cultures? If so, how are people who fit into these genders viewed and treated? What rights and
responsibilities do they have?
Allen article -- What are the dominant female images in Western culture? What is a Native American woman primarily
defined by? What images of women are common in American Indian tribes? What traits are expected of women in the
author's tribe (i.e., the Laguna)? What do Native American taboos and traditional beliefs regarding menstruation
reflect?
Abu-Lughood article -- Do Muslim women need to be saved by Western nations? Why or why not? What are the
"politics of the veil?" Is the veil merely a form of oppression? Do Muslim women exercise any "agency" (or experience
any freedom) through their use of the veil? What should Westerners and Western feminists focus upon if they want to
improve the situation of Muslim women?
7. What is socialization? What is gender socialization? Who are the primary agents of this type of socialization? How do
these various agents promote and reinforce "masculinity" and "femininity" in children? Do peer groups serve as a powerful
agent of gender socialization? If so, how and why? How do teachers, children's books, and the mass media serve as
agents of gender socialization? What is gendercide? In what societies or countries is it most likely to be practiced?
Thorne and Luria article - How does the interaction and socialization of boys and girls differ in grade schools? What kinds
of groups do they play in? What kinds of games do they play? What do they talk about? How do they "bond" with one
another? Who controls more space on the playground? Why? What happens to the status of a boy or girl who plays in the
space controlled by the other gender? What happens during "chase games?" What function do these games play?
Kimmel article -- What is the “boy crisis?” Is this a real crisis? Is it new? What do boys learn through the "Boy Code"
and the "culture of cruelty"? Why do some people criticize or blame feminism for boys’ violent behavior? According
to Kimmel, why are these criticisms misguided? What does he see as the benefits of feminism in handling the “boy crisis”?
8. What is a sex/gender system? What are its key components? What is patriarchy? What is a stereotype? What is a gender
stereotype? What gender stereotypes have persisted in the U.S. over time? How do these stereotypes influence cross-
gender interactions and perpetuate patriarchy in our society?
9. How are gender stereotypes reproduced through language? What is linguistic sexism? What is semantic derogation?
What is symbolic annihilation? Why does sexist language matter? How are gender differences and inequalities reflected
in language patterns? How are these differences and inequalities reflected in the ways that men and women express
themselves through language? Which gender typically exercises more power in cross-gender conversations?
Sattel article -- Why are men so often "inexpressive" in their interactions with women? What might enable men to
become more "expressive?" Should women try to help men learn to become more expressive? Why or why not?
Richardson article -- What
English words for a woman does Richardson find to be demeaning? Why? What
other words
for woman have negative connotations?
What is pejoration? What are some examples of this process? How does language
reinforce differing expectations for men than for women? How can non-sexist language change the gendered expectations
of occupations and other aspects of culture? How do sexist language and linguistic stereotyping affect people?
10. What were Gimlin's key findings in her study of women and cosmetic surgery? Why did most of these women decide to
undergo cosmetic surgery? That is, how did their justify their decisions? If most of the surgeons Gimlin interviewed
believed that their patients were “obsessed and impossible to please” or that the flaws they saw in themselves were
“insignificant,” why would they perform these surgeries? How is cosmetic surgery similar to and different from going to the
gym or getting a new hairstyle? According to Gimlin, how are the women who go through cosmetic surgery different from
others? Have these women internalized sexist standards of beauty? Have they also internalized racist or ageist standards?
Does having cosmetic surgery typically fail to improve a woman's self-concept? Why or why not?
WOMEN, MEN, AND SOCIETY
STUDY GUIDE -- 2ND EXAM
1. How are gender differences reflected in the nonverbal communication engaged in by men and women (e.g., in their
clothing, facial expressions, eye contact, and their use of space and touch)?
2. What is love? How is the expression of love gendered in American society? That is, how do men and women differ in their expressions of love? What type of love is predominant in American society? What are some of the negative consequences of this? What are the key components of love (according to the “triangle” theory of love)?
3. What are the key social “filters” that guide people in the process of selecting dates and mates? What is homogamy? What is the “principle of least interest? What are the key sources of power for men and women in dating relationships? What are the major dilemmas women and men face in their short-term and enduring dating relationships? What are the most prominent dating dilemmas experienced by women? Do they differ for men? If so, how?
4. What “codes of masculinity” do boys typically learn in the culture of the U.S.? How do they typically bond with one another? What types of friendships do men commonly have in our society? What is intimacy? Why is it difficult for men to find intimacy in their friendships? That is, what are some of the key obstacles they face in forming and sustaining intimate friendships? Why is it so difficult for men and women in the U.S. to achieve intimacy in their relationships with one another?
5. What is the “traditional” family? What are some of the key arguments for and against this family form? What family forms are growing most rapidly in the U.S.? Why?
6. Why do people choose to become parents? That is, what are the major motives people have for becoming parents? How are parenting roles changing in our society, especially for fathers? What are the most common dilemmas that parents experience in families? What are the three key types of parenting styles? What are three major variations in fathering styles? How do fathers and mothers differ in terms of the types and levels of involvement they have with their children?
7. What is emotion work? What is the "third shift"? Who typically bears the burden of this work in families? Why? What are the three types of work typically engaged in by married couples?
8. What types of paid work do most women do? Why? What are the major obstacles or forms of discrimination they encounter in the workplace? What types of paid work do most men do? What difficulties and burdens do many men encounter in the workplace? What are the emotional effects of these difficulties and burdens? For instance, how do they affect men’s relationships with their wives and families? What kind of “wage gap” exists between men and women in the U.S.? What are some of the key causes of this gap/ For instance, what is occupational sex segregation and how does it contribute to pay inequities? What is the “glass ceiling” encountered by many women workers? Are men or women more are more likely to be hired for temporary work and/or minimum wage jobs? Why? What is sexual harassment? In what contexts is it most likely to occur?
Bose and Whaley article (#19) -- How do women become segregated into different occupations than men? What keeps people from attaining jobs outside those that are traditionally assigned to their gender? What types of jobs tend to be dominated by women? By men? What is the most fundamental reason that jobs become "resegregated" and shift from being male-dominated to female-dominated? While women are gaining some access to white-collar occupations, how does sex segregation still limit them in these occupations? According to the authors, is sex segregation in the contemporary U.S. workplace better explained by structural barriers or by human capital explanations? Why? What are the negative consequences of occupational sex segregation?
Reskin reading (on "affirmative action") -- What is affirmative action? Does research that it has been a form of "reverse discrimination" as whites have feared? Has affirmative action led to the hiring and promotion of "less qualified" workers/ What are some of the key social benefits of affirmative action programs?
Enloe article (#42) -- Who makes most of the athletic shoes worn by Americans? What factors hide our awareness of this situation? What global companies do these employees work for? How do these companies respond to charges that they are exploiting their workers? What happened to the women who worked in the "sneaker capital of the world" when they tried to join the pro-democracy movement and challenge their exploitation? What occupations have women been pushed into by the globalization of trade, particularly after companies leave a country and relocate to cheaper locations?
Questions on the Hochshild Book
1. What is a gender ideology? What three types of ideologies did Hochschild find among the various couples she interviewed? How do these ideologies differ from one another? What is a gender strategy? What is a family myth? How are these concepts relevant in understanding the experiences of the couples that Hochschild interviewed? (Be sure to know the gender ideologies, gender strategies, and family myths of the Holts, the Delacortes, the Tanagawas, the Livingstons, and the Alstons!)
2. What is the “speed up” taking place in family life? What consequences is it having for marriages and families? What is the “cultural cover-up?” Who is most affected by it? Why and how are they affected?
3. How is gender inequality reflected in the division of family work which characterizes the marriages and families highlighted in Hochshild’s book? What are the gender strategies that husbands use to cope with the demands of marriage, children, and housework? What are the gender strategies that women commonly use to cope with the demands of marriage, children, and housework?
4. How does a “father’s influence” and involvement make a difference in the lives of children? For example, how does it affect their emotional well-being and self-esteem? How does it affect their social and intellectual development? According to Hochschild, what historic shift do men need to make in response to women’s increased involvement in work outside the home?
WOMEN, MEN, AND SOCIETY
STUDY GUIDE - FINAL EXAM
Comprehensive Questions
1. What is the difference between sex and gender? What does it mean to say that gender is a “social construction”?
2. How have images of masculinity changed in the history of the West? What images of “ideal masculinity” prevailed in
different epochs? How have images of femininity changed in the history of the U.S.?
3. What are the key arguments and conclusions of “Man the hunter” theory? What are some of the limitations and/or
biases of this theory? What alternative theory has been proposed by feminists? What are its key arguments and
conclusions? What are some of the limitations and/or biases of this theory?
4. What is linguistic sexism? How are gender inequalities reflected in language patterns (e.g., the phrase “you guys”)?
Why is it important to challenge sexist language? What differences exist in the communication styles and patterns of
men and women? Which gender typically exercises more power in cross-gender conversations? How do they exercise
this power?
5. What is gender socialization? Who are the primary agents of this type of socialization? How do these various agents
promote and reinforce “masculinity” and “femininity” in children?
6. What are the three types of family work that people engage in? Who typically bears the burden of this work in
families? How and why do they bear this burden?
Hochshild Book
1. What is a gender ideology? What three types of ideologies did Hochschild find among the various couples she
interviewed? How do these ideologies differ from one another? What is a gender strategy? What is a family
myth? How are these concepts relevant in understanding the experiences of the couples that Hochschild
interviewed?
2. What is the “cultural cover-up?” Who is most affected by it? Why and how are they affected?
3. How is gender inequality reflected in the division of family work which characterizes the marriages and families
highlighted in Hochshild's book? What are the gender strategies that husbands use to cope with the demands of
marriage, children, and housework? What are the gender strategies that women commonly use to cope with the
demands of marriage, children, and housework?
Questions from Last Course Unit
1. Why is violence in intimate relationships so prevalent in our culture? How is this violence related to masculine
gender scripts? Why do abused spouses often remain in violent relationships? What makes it difficult for them
to leave?
Allen and Kivel reading, “Men Changing Men”
Why do men batter? What must happen in order for battering to stop? That is, what steps do we need to take in
to reduce and prevent battering? What role can and should men play in these efforts?
2. What is rape? What is consent? What factors limit one's ability to give consent? What percentage of women
experience an incident of rape or attempted rape? How many rape victims/survivors report their assaults to
legal authorities? Why are rates of reporting so low? How and why does our society often “blame the victim”
in cases of rape”? (Hint: What are some of the rape myths that prevail in our society? How do these myths blame
the victims/survivors of rape?) Also, how is rape an outcome of the code of masculinity?
Martin and Hummer article, "Fraternities and Rape on Campus" (#38)
What has been neglected in most social scientific research on rape and sexual assault? What percentage of gang
rapes on campus involve fraternity men? What are the central concerns of fraternities? How do they promote
and enforce the "code of masculinity"? How does this code tend to promote rape and sexual assault? What are
the key precipitating conditions for gang rape?
3. What types of paid work do most men do? What difficulties do many men encounter in the workplace? What
is the "glass escalator?" What experiences do men have when they enter a female-dominated occupation? What
hidden advantages do they experience in these professions?
4. What are the prominent social meanings given to sex in our society? What is a sexual script? How do these scripts
vary by gender? What are the key components of the male sexual script? What are the key components of the
female sexual script?
Risman and Schwartz, “After the Sexual Revolution” (#29)
Is there a teenage sexual counterrevolution taking place? Why or why not? What trends are occurring in teenage
pregnancy rates? What declines have taken place in teenage sexual activity? For instance, which group of teens
has experienced the most significant decline of sexual activity? Has sexual activity increased or decreased among
teenaged girls? Why? What is abstinence-based education? What is an abstinence pledge? Do abstinence-based
approaches to sex tend to work? Why or why not? How did the
sexual revolution change Americans' views of sex?
Messner, "Becoming 100% Straight” (#32)
According to the author, do most people grow up "100% straight?" Why or why not? Did the author grow up this
way? How did he deal with the homosexual attraction he experienced? Why did he act this way? What is the
Freudian theory of bisexuality? What is the institution of compulsory heterosexuality? What is the Kinsey scale?
Is human sexuality fixed at birth or is it fluid and changeable in nature? How do men typically "do
heterosexuality"? How is heterosexuality a social performance?
5. What is sexual harassment? What are the two key forms of sexual harassment? How do they differ?
AAUW reading, “Hostile Hallways”
Is sexual harassment a problem in schools? Why or why not? What types of harassment do students most
commonly experience? What is the most likely educational consequence of students who have been sexually
harassed?
6. How and why do the health and life expectancy rates of men and women differ in the U.S.? Why do men have
higher rates of accidental death? Why do men have higher rates of suicide? How does the mental health of
married men compare to that of unmarried men? What are the primary concerns of women who get breast cancer?
What treatment options are available to them? What is medical sexism? How is it manifested in the diagnosis
and treatment of women with heart disease? How does this form of sexism harm women who suffer from
heart problems? What is HIV? What is AIDS? Which groups in the U.S. are most affected by HIV/AIDS? What
are current trends regarding U.S. women and HIV/AIDS?
Ehrenreich article,“Welcome to Cancerland” (#37)
What process or steps do women go through when getting diagnosed with cancer? Do breast cancer treatments
typically "cure" the disease? Why or why not? Who are the key supporters of breast cancer 'awareness"? What
are the key aims of the mainstream breast-cancer movement? How and why does Ehrenreich criticize this
movement? What key causes of cancer does this movement tend to overlook? How did Ehrenreich feel about
having breast cancer? Were these feelings accepted by most other breast cancer "survivors"? Why not? What
feelings were emphasized by breast-cancer survivors? Why were they emphasized?
Fausto-Sterling article, “Hormonal Hurricanes”(#33)
What facts challenge the biogenic arguments that women suffer from “hormonal hurricanes?” What beliefs were
used to justify the 19th-century idea that women and men should receive different kinds of education? What is
PMS? Why is it a problematic diagnosis? For instance, what are its key symptoms? How is it typically treated?
Is this treatment effective? Does it work better than placebos, such as sugar pills? Should menopause be defined
as disease? Who tends to define it that way? Why? What is the standard medical treatment for menopausal
problems? According to feminist studies (such as Dr. Madeleine Goodman's research), do most postmenopausal
women suffer from "traditional menopausal problems," such as hot flashes, sweats, and depression? According
to Fausto-Sterling, are biological or social/contextual factors more important in explaining emotional changes that
take place in menopause? What are the limits of her arguments?
7. What is anorexia? What is bulimia? What are the limitations of the prevailing theoretical explanations of eating
disorders? What factors make women more vulnerable to eating disorders? How can eating problems also be seen
as a form of resistance to “femininity”? What steps can we take to prevent eating disorders?
Thomson article, “A Way Outa No Way: Eating Problems…” (#34)
What are some of the biases or limitations of the existing research on women and eating disorders? Based on
Thomson's research, do most women have a single eating problem or a combination of problems? According to
the author, what are the causes or triggers of eating problems for most women? Does she see eating problems as
being caused primarily by a "culture of thinness"? Why or why not? In what sense do eating problems serve as
"survival strategies" for some women?
8. What is feminism? What are the key goals of the feminist movement? How are these goals conveyed in the "4th
World Conference on Women Beijing Declaration" (see pp. 557-9)?
Aronson, “Feminists or Postfeminists?”(#48)
Based on Aronson's research, is feminism dead? Why or why not? Were most of the young women that
Aronson interviewed aware of the persistence of gender discrimination and gender-based obstacles? Had most
of these women experienced some gender discrimination? What percentage of the women in Aronson's study
defined themselves as feminists? How did they define feminism? What led these women to see themselves
as feminists? What percentage of Aronson's interviewees distanced themselves from feminism or "never thought
of feminism"? Why did they view feminism negatively or see it as irrelevant? Do young women tend to support
feminist goals regardless of whether they call themselves feminists?
9. What is oppression? Identify and discuss FIVE ways that women experience and suffer from oppression in our
society. That is, what are the key "wires" that keep them in the birdcage of gender oppression? What are THREE
ways that men suffer from gender inequality? Finally, what are THREE ways that we could create more just and
liberating relationships between men and women in our society? (Be sure to draw upon RELEVANT COURSE
READINGS AND MATERIALS when answering each of these questions
10. What FIVE course-related concepts, theories, or readings contributed most to your understanding of the nature of
gender and/or gender relations? How or why did they contribute to your understanding? (Be sure to clearly
discuss the key points of the theories, concepts or readings you discuss and show how they have enhanced your
understanding of gender/gender relations.)
*Note: Be sure to know the meaning of the following terms: Sex, gender, gender identity, patriarchy, femicide,
feminism, misogyny, and family work