Exploring Sociology A Canadian Perspective 3E by Ravelli – Test Bank

Exploring Sociology A Canadian Perspective 3E by Ravelli – Test Bank

Ravelli/Webber: Exploring Sociology: A Canadian Perspective, Third Edition

Chapter 08: Gender

1) What expectations of gender do you possess? Do you share similar expectations with “hegemonic masculinity” and/or “emphasized femininity?” Describe some social influences that may lead individuals to adopt these ideologies. Answer: Answers will vary, but should demonstrate personal application and knowledge of the following: Hegemonic masculinity is the normative ideal of masculinity that men are supposed to strive to achieve. Emphasized femininity is based on women’s compliance with their subordination to men and is oriented to obliging men’s interests and desires. Social influences will vary; however, students will be expected to touch base on media, family, and/or education. Diff: Moderate Type: ES Page Reference: 203-209 Skill: Applied Objective: Outline the characteristics of the dominant forms of masculinity and femininity. 2) Compose an essay that consists of a popular song, television show/series, and a movie that demonstrate examples of gender imagery. Use examples that incorporate specific lyrics/scenes where gender imagery is obvious. Answer: Answers will vary; however, students should draw the majority of their answer from the media section of the chapter. Students are also free to incorporate the concepts of hegemonic masculinity, emphasized femininity, and gender bodies where applicable. Diff: Challenging Type: ES Page Reference: 203-209 Skill: Applied/ Conceptual Objective: Outline the characteristics of the dominant forms of masculinity and femininity. Understand how gender divisions are produced and reproduced through families, education, and the media. Explain how our perceptions of our bodies as “gendered” are reinforced through such avenues as self-improvement shows, plastic surgery, and men’s sports. 3) What challenges and barriers might a woman face upon entering the workforce over the course of her career? Relate your discussion to sociological findings and theory. Answer: Answers will vary; however, students should address the concern of the gender wage gap; women’s responsibilities inside the home (unpaid work, primary caregiver), which result in a increase of women working part-time; the lack of women in management positions; and how employment conditions make employment less appealing for women. Diff: Moderate Type: ES Page Reference: 213-216 Skill: Applied/Conceptual Objective: Describe how the labour force is segregated by gender and the reasons underlying the wage gap between men and women. 4) Out of the five sociological theories discussed in this chapter, compose an essay that incorporates three of them, and relate their ideology to gender in society. Answer: Functionalism, conflict theory, feminist theory, symbolic interactionism, post-structuralist theory. Answers will vary. Diff: Moderate Type: ES Page Reference: 219-221 Skill: Conceptual Objective: Review the major theoretical approaches to understanding gender as socially constructed. 5) Critically analyze how society reproduces gender through families and education. Describe what techniques may have been a surprise to you, and explain why. Answer: Expectations begin at birth. Child-rearing practices are deeply gendered; mothers tend to respond more quickly to baby girls than boys. This is most likely related to ideas about girls being more emotional and the belief that men are to be more independent than girls and women. Boys are punished more than girls. Girls are often given Barbie dolls and kitchen sets, while boys are given trucks and video games. These sorts of activities reproduce the ideas that girls are passive and boys are active. The education system uses the hidden curriculum to reproduce gender. Student should demonstrate comprehension of the “chilly climate” and “student teacher interactions.” Diff: Challenging Type: ES Page Reference: 203-209 Skill: Conceptual/Applied Objective: Understand how gender divisions are produced and reproduced through families, education, and the media. 6) Compose an essay that outlines the arguments for functionalism, post-structuralism, and symbolic interactionism. Which argument do you agree with more, and why? Answer: Responses will vary by students, but should include discussion of: Functionalism. Men are responsible for being breadwinners; and women, for carrying out nurturing activities; women are held responsible for any change in gendered roles that disrupt cohesiveness. Symbolic interactionism. Gender is learned through socialization (operant conditioning). Post-structuralism. Gender is a performance. Diff: Challenging Type: ES Page Reference: 219-221 Skill: Conceptual/Applied Objective: Review the major theoretical approaches to understanding gender as socially constructed. 7) How does Butler’s post-structuralist view of gender “performativity” differ from a symbolic interactionist or ethnomethodological analysis of “doing gender?” Which of the two opinions do you find yourself agreeing with more, and why? Provide examples of both sides of the argument. Answer: Answers will vary, but should include a discussion of the following: Symbolic interactionists argue that a relatively stable self underlies our social interactions. Their theory relies on the process of operant conditioning, and believes that each person can “do” gender through social interactions. Post-structuralists argue that there is no coherent or essential self behind our performances and that our identities are fragmented, contradictory, and in flux. Their theory relies on discourse of society, and is referred to as a performance. “There is no gender identity behind the expressions of gender. . . . identity is performatively constituted by the very ‘expressions’ that are said to be its results.” Diff: Challenging Type: ES Page Reference: 219-221 Skill: Applied/Conceptual Objective: Review the major theoretical approaches to understanding gender as socially constructed. 8) Discuss how student‒teacher interactions and the chilly climate relate to the hidden curriculum and promote gender stratification. Answer: Hidden curriculum. Refers to how the education system encourages stratification subliminally through encouraging students of certain genders, or ethnicities, to take certain courses that will result in a career that society deems fit for that individual. Chilly climate. Refers to how individuals of different genders are treated differently in a university environment. Student‒teacher interactions. Refers to how teachers of both genders tend to favour male students over female students. Teachers also interact more with male students and praise them for academic achievement, whereas women are applauded for personal appearance and being quiet. Diff: Challenging Type: ES Page Reference: 206-208 Skill: Understand how gender divisions are produced and reproduced through families, education, and the media. 9) Develop an essay that presents one aspect of the education system that promotes gender stereotyping and gender stratification. Contrast this aspect with what you have learned about gender in this chapter. Do you believe that education may lead to significant social change regarding gender? Why or why not? Be sure to incorporate examples where applicable. Answer: Students are expected to present knowledge on either “student‒teacher interaction” or “the chilly climate.” The rest of the question will vary considerably, as the student is free to choose what in this chapter may have stood out and changed his/her opinion on gender and relate knowledge to social change. Students may also critique and state that teaching about gender just furthers the stereotyping, but now we are just more informed. Diff: Challenging Type: ES Page Reference: 206-208 Skill: Applied Objective: Understand how gender divisions are produced and reproduced through families, education, and the media. 10) Compose an essay that discusses the meanings of and differences between transgender, transsexual, transvestites, and intersexed individuals. Use these terms to reflect how society’s binary categorization of male and female is flawed by contrasting them with the concepts of hegemonic masculinity and emphasized femininity. Answer: Student is expected to be able to differentiate between transgender, transsexual, transvestites, and intersexed individuals. These cases show that individuals of one sex can act as the opposite gender, or become the opposite sex, which shows how gender cannot simply be binary when there are individuals that do not fit in either category. This causes alienation and social prejudices. Hegemonic masculinity and emphasized femininity resemble the binary categorizing system of gender and further contribute to alienation for individuals that cannot conform to one or the other. Diff: Challenging Type: ES Page Reference: 200-204 Skill: Factual/Conceptual Objective: Understand the complexity of defining, and distinguishing between, sex and gender. Outline the characteristics of the dominant forms of masculinity and femininity. 11) Compose an essay discussing how the media create and reinforce gender through the manipulation of gender bodies. Provide an example of a commercial, TV show, or a movie in your answer. Explain how this has influenced normalization of plastic surgery in society. Answer: Students should show how the media uses gendered bodies to create standards of beauty and appearance for each gender. Students may take different approaches to arguing for how media has influenced normalization of plastic surgery by discussing how many famous people use plastic surgery to resemble the perfect gender body, or simply how the gender body depicted by the media is so hard to achieve that people resort to plastic surgery in order to obtain a look they otherwise could not possess. Diff: Challenging Type: ES Page Reference: 210-213 Skill: Applied Objective: Explain how our perceptions of our bodies as “gendered” are reinforced through such avenues as self-improvement shows, plastic surgery, and men’s sports.