Deck 6: Inequality, Men and Masculinities

Question 1

Choose the correct statement.

A) Male privilege means that all men benefit equally from gender hierarchy.
B) Men at the top of the masculine hierarchy do not have to fear losing their male privilege.
C) Men defend hegemonic masculinity because the rules of masculinity are strict and constraining.
D) Men defend hegemonic masculinity because it rewards them with superiority over women.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Which of the following statements best describes the meaning of hegemony?

A) Persistent patterns of social interaction that stand out as very unequal.
B) Widely shared beliefs that make inequality seem inevitable or natural.
C) Widely endorsed behavioral rules that people would be afraid to violate.
D) Rule by force.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Sociologist Michael Messner described how in his youth he bullied a nonathletic boy while participating in sports himself. This is an example of

A) homophobia.
B) policing masculinity.
C) cheerleading masculinity.
D) heteronormativity.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Studies on language processes in our brain have demonstrated that the words human, individual, and person tend to conjure up cognitive images of men, not men and women. This finding reflects the cultural idea that

A) men's gender is more salient than women's. Women's gender is invisible.
B) men are "marked" as individuals, while women are seen as having a neutral personality.
C) women are thought of as kids rather than adults.
D) most people see men as people and women as a special kind of female person.

Question 5

Choose the correct statement.

A) Men follow gender rules in order to police women, as part of their male privilege.
B) Men at the top of the hierarchy of men can police the gender of all the other men without fear of being censured themselves.
C) Men follow gender rules only to avoid being policed by other men.
D) Men follow gender rules as part of a patriarchal bargain in which they accept certain costs in exchange for valuable benefits.

Question 6

Sociologist Emily Kane found that parents of boys were ambivalent or even distressed about their sons' interest in feminine icons (such as Barbie dolls) or participation in girly activities (such as having their nails polished). This concern on the part of parents reflects

A) sexism.
B) androcentrism.
C) patriarchy.
D) subordination.

Question 7

What is gender subordination?

A) regarding masculine traits and activities as more important and valuable than women's
B) the routine positioning of women as men's helpers and dependents
C) legal as well as normative control of female and younger male family members by select adult men
D) prejudice and discrimination against people based on their biological sex

Question 8

Which of the following is NOT true of patriarchal bargains?

A) Patriarchal bargains are strategies that allow men to benefit from how they do masculinity.
B) Patriarchal bargains protect men from the fear of emasculation.
C) Patriarchal bargains still subject men to the subordination by other men.
D) Patriarchal bargains allow some men to claim a higher status than women and some other men.

Question 9

Which of the following changes accompanied the transition of cheerleading from a masculine activity to a feminine one?

A) Cheerleading gained in popularity and became a much-sought-after pursuit.
B) The type of skills cheerleading required changed, so that this activity came to demand much more athleticism than in the past.
C) The traits associated with the ideal character of a cheerleader changed from valiant to cute.
D) All of the above.

Question 10

What is patriarchy?

A) regarding masculine traits and activities as more important and valuable than women's
B) the routine positioning of women as men's helpers and dependents
C) legal as well as normative control of female and younger male family members by select adult men
D) prejudice and discrimination against people based on their perceived biological sex

Question 11

What is hegemonic masculinity?

A) The idea that masculinity is inevitable, natural, and desirable.
B) The idea that all men share positive attributes like strength, rationality, and power.
C) An idealized and unattainable notion of a man who embodies all the traits associated with masculinity.
D) Extreme conformity to the more aggressive rules of masculinity.

Question 12

Which of the following statements is true about hegemonic masculinity?

A) Well-educated, tall, affluent, white, heterosexual, able-bodied, fit, Christian, nonimmigrant men in their 30s are hegemonic men.
B) Well-educated, tall, affluent, white, heterosexual, able-bodied, fit, Christian, nonimmigrant men in their 30s are close enough to approximating the ideal of a hegemonic man that they do not have to "do gender" all the time.
C) The hegemonic man embodies the positive end of the gender hierarchy, but also all of its dangers.
D) The hegemonic man is a fiction that embodies the top of all hierarchies a society can imagine.

Question 13

Which of the following is NOT true of an androcentric society?

A) Things associated with masculinity are granted higher status, respect, value, reward, and power compared with things associated with femininity.
B) The rewards of the gender hierarchy go only to people with male bodies.
C) Women tend to embrace masculine traits and activities.
D) Men tend to avoid feminine traits and activities.

Question 14

What is male flight?

A) The phenomenon of men or boys abandoning areas (professions, pastimes, spaces, or styles) as women enter them.
B) The phenomenon of men abandoning activities where there is a sexist bias in favor of women (such as cheerleading or being a flight attendant).
C) The phenomenon of men abandoning areas or activities in which women outperform them (like education).
D) The phenomenon of men and boys pretending not to care about, and underperform in, activities like fashion, dance, or childcare in order to appear masculine.

Question 15

Which of the following is true of hegemonic masculinity?

A) It is the combination of traits/attributes found in powerful men like CEOs and football stars.
B) It is an impossible ideal that functions to justify and naturalize gender inequality.
C) By approximating it, men will feel comfortable in their masculinity.
D) Men who are automatically excluded from the top of the masculine hierarchy (by virtue of their race, class, immigration status, or some other disadvantage) automatically reject it.

Question 16

Which of the following describes a system in which power is symbolically-but not legally-linked to men?

A) patriarchy
B) brotherhood
C) modified patriarchy
D) both patriarchy and modified patriarchy

Question 17

What is androcentrism?

A) regarding masculine traits and activities as more important and valuable than women's
B) the routine positioning of women as men's helpers and dependents
C) legal as well as normative control of female and younger male family members by select adult men
D) prejudice and discrimination against people based on their biological sex

Question 18

A 2012 study found that professors demonstrated bias against female candidates and in favor of male candidates when hiring for a science lab manager position. This type of bias is best described as

A) sexism.
B) androcentrism.
C) patriarchy.
D) subordination.

Question 19

In the United States, the typical bathroom symbol indicating a men's room is the same as the generic symbol for person (in crosswalk lights, for instance). This is an example of

A) the symbolic marginalization of women.
B) the salience of women's, but not men's, gender.
C) androcentrism.
D) all of the above.

Question 20

What is sexism?

A) regarding masculine traits and activities as more important and valuable than women's
B) the routine positioning of women as men's helpers and dependents
C) the legal control of female and younger male family members by select adult men.
D) prejudice and discrimination against people based on their perceived biological sex

Question 21

What is hypermasculinity?

A) a deviant type of masculinity rejected by society
B) becoming a CEO
C) an idealized notion of man, who embodies all the traits we associate with masculinity
D) extreme levels of conformity to the most aggressive, least empathetic rules governing masculinity

Question 22

According to the authors of your textbook, why might men who rank low in the masculine hierarchy still defend hegemonic masculinity?

A) Because being a girl is bad, but being a girly man (or boy) is worse.
B) Because they value hypermasculinity.
C) Because it assures them that they're superior to women.
D) Because they want to exert power over others if they possibly can.

Question 23

According to researcher Michael Kaufman, "Within each group, men usually have privileges and power relative to the women in that group, but in society as a whole, things are not always so straightforward." Explain this statement and provide examples to support your explanation. Show how the examples you choose illustrate the complex workings of privileges and power to which Kaufman refers.

Question 24

Which of the following groups are considered to be members of subordinated masculinities in the United States?

A) nerds, dorks, and geeks
B) older men, disabled men, and gays
C) poor men and nonwhite men
D) all of the above

Question 25

One group of gay men in college formed a fraternity that allowed heterosexual men to be members, but excluded gay women from its activities. The chapter recalls this incident in order to demonstrate that

A) men usually see benefits from membership in the category 'men.'
B) men's gender is more salient than women's.
C) men who are gay really are not different from other men.
D) all of the above.

Question 26

What are some ways in which power is symbolically linked to masculinity in our society? Discuss three original examples in which power is conflated with masculine traits or performances.

Question 27

What is hegemonic masculinity? What makes it unattainable in practice? If it can't be real, what social purposes does this idea serve? Why would men uphold it, even at the price of their own subordination?

Question 28

Sociologists Douglas Schrock and Michael Schwalbe say that "the effort to signify a masculine self . . . can be toxic." What do they mean by that? Provide examples from the chapter.

Question 29

Sociologist Gwen Sharp suggests that "masculinity is [constructed as] so fragile that apparently even the slightest brush with the feminine destroys it." Explain this statement.