Test Bank for Introduction to Womens

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Test Bank for Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies, 2e by Melissa Gillis, Andrew Jacobs (All chapters) Chapter 1 Test Bank Questions Long Answer

• 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 pp. 8-9)

• 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 pg. 18)

• Why does understanding the term “sexual orientation” involve attaining complex

knowledge that extends beyond the traditional binary of heterosexual and homosexual?(Answer pp. 20-21)

• 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 pp. 23-25)

• How can the 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 pg. 20)

• Why do many cultures worldwide utilize sex and gender as major cognitive schemas in

their interpretation of the world? (Answer pp. 15-16)

• Why did Sandra Bem contend that it remains very useful to view femininity and

masculinity as autonomous characteristics? (Answer 15)

• 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 pp. 11-12)

• 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 pp. 10-

11) 1 / 4

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• 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 10)

Short Answer

• What socio-economic and cultural forces influences the creation of vigjinesha in Albania?

(Answer pg. 23)

• Why do the INSA (Intersex Society of North America) emphasize that intersex represents

a socially constructed category? (Answer pages 5-6)

• Why have the LGBTQI communities rejected the term “transsexual” as outdated?

(Answer pg. 7)

• Why did Sandra Bem contend that it remains more useful to understand femininity and

masculinity as autonomous characteristics? (Answer pg. 15)

• Why are young people today more tolerant of androgyny than previous generations?

(Answer pg. 15)

• In the West, why haven’t’ women been traditionally associated as the “breadwinners” in

families despite their historic contributions to the economic survival of their families?(Answer pg. 17)

• How does the concept of intersectionality broaden our knowledge of the multiple factors

that shape people’s lives? (Answer pg. 18)

• Explain how contemporary studies on gender variant or gender nonconformity

underscore the idea that gender is merely a choice between feminine and masculine?(Answer pg. 19)

• How does the modern Native American term “two-spirit” encompass a definition that

perceives gender beyond the traditional binaries? (Answer pg. 24)

• What does the term “cognitive schema” mean when applied to the world of pre-school

children’s perception of gender differences? (Answer pg. 16)

Multiple Choice Questions

• In X: A Fabulous Child’s Story, what colors were Baby X’s favorite school outfit? (Answer

is c. pg. 2) 2 / 4

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• Blue and white
• Green and yellow
• Red and white
• Red and teal
• Blue and silver

• What word is currently regarded as anachronistic for the term intersex? (Answer is a. pg.

4-5}

• Hermaphrodite
• Epicene
• Androgyne
• Gynandromorph
• Bisexual

• What term has now replaced the traditional phrase “biological sex”? (Answer is b. page

6)

• Sex at Birth
• Assigned Sex
• Neuter at birth
• Common at birth
• Sex Determined by Doctor

• Which trait is not associated with traditional notion of gender? (Answer is e. pg. 7)

• Hairstyles
• Clothes
• Physical activities
• Colors
• Coughing

• Who developed the theory of “gender polarization”? (Answer is d. pg. 8)
• Deborah Tannen
• Lois Gould
• Sandra Bem
• Deborah Best
• Anne Fausto-Sterling

• What is an archaic term for the transgendered? (Answer is c. pg. 7)
• Trans woman 3 / 4

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• Cross-dresser
• Transsexual
• Trans man
• Trans woman

• The Hua people live on the following island? (Answer is e. pg. 11)
• Hawaii
• Madagascar
• Comoros
• Pemba
• Papua New Guinea

• Which scholar articulated the notion of “alternative ways” of being gendered? (Answer is
• pg. 12)

• James Messerschmidt
• Jack Halberstram
• Myra M. Ferree
• Judith Halberstram
• Eve Sedgwick

• Which phrase best describes the modern Native American term two-spirit? (Answer is a.

pg. 23)

• Third Gender
• Blithe Spirit
• Fourth Gender
• Second Sex
• Shared Spirit

• Which sentence best describes the term asexual? (Answer is a. pg. 21)

• A person who experiences little or no sexual attraction to other people.
• A person who experiences little sexual attraction to one person.
• A person who experiences little or no sexual attraction to one person of the opposite

assigned sex.

• A person who experiences no sexual attraction to anyone.
• A person who experiences little sexual attraction to two people.
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