cHAPTER 7 QUIZ

17

How many babies out of every thousand are born intersex?

conflict theorist

In her introduction to a paper about gender, the sociologist Rae Blumberg said that the central principle behind gender in our society is "remember the golden rule: he who has the gold makes the rules." What kind of theorist is Blumberg?

The Intersex Society of North America recommends that "surgeries done to make the genitals look 'more normal' should not be performed until a child is mature enough to make an informed decision for herself or himself." Usually, doctors would always try to involve a patient in his or her treatment, so why is this advice necessary?

In our society, the prospect of an ambiguously sexed person seems so threatening that surgical procedures are performed long before a child is old enough to know what is happening.

How are the terms "gender" and "sex" different

The term "sex" refers to the biological differences between males and females, whereas the term "gender" refers to the socially constructed behavior of men and women.

symbolic interactionism

"Gender is socially constructed and maintained in our everyday lives. Gender is something we 'do' on a daily basis." This statement most likely comes from which perspective?

How has the Kinsey Scale of Sexuality helped us to better understand sexual orientation?

It supports the idea that human sexuality exists as a highly diverse continuum over the lifetime of any individual.

constructionist perspective

Most sociologists argue that gender is a social construction, and they acknowledge the possibility that binary male-female categories are not the only way of classifying individuals. This perspective is called:

Scientists who are searching for a "gay gene" have been criticized by sociologists for their narrow understanding of sexual orientation, which does not take into account the way biology and the social environment interact to produce sexual behaviors. Which of the following theorists makes this point?

Social historian Jeffrey Weeks, who points out that even though homosexual acts have been documented throughout history, homosexual identity as we know it today didn't exist before the twentieth century

Constructionists

Which group of thinkers believes the notions of gender are socially determined?

In the opening pages of The Feminine Mystique, Betty Friedan wrote about a problem that "lay buried, unspoken, for many years in the minds of American women." What was this problem?

Women experienced dissatisfaction with traditional gender roles.