Deck 8: Gender

Question 1

Which of the following is an example of a matrilineal-matrifocal society?

A)United States
B)Yanomami
C)Betsileo
D)Etoro
E)Minangkabau

Answer 1

Minangkabau

Question 2

Biological differences between males and females, other than contrasts in breasts and genitals, is known as

A)sex.
B)sexual dimorphism.
C)gender.
D)gender dimorphism.
E)sexual bifurcation.

Answer 2

sexual dimorphism.

Question 3

All of the following are associated with agriculture except

A)a decline in both polygyny and descent groups.
B)sexual double standards for men and women.
C)increased status of women due to new production techniques requiring female as well as male labor.
D)a sharp contrast between the domestic and public realms.
E)isolation of women in nuclear family households.

Answer 3

increased status of women due to new production techniques requiring female as well as male labor.

Question 4

In general, societies with the patrilineal-patrilocal complex are characterized by all of the following except

A)scarce resources.
B)inheritance of land and prestige through female lines.
C)a strongly developed public-domestic dichotomy.
D)male control of prestige goods.
E)increased intervillage warfare.

Question 5

Which of the following statements concerning gender stratification is true?

A)Gender equality is common among agriculturalists.
B)There are many societies in which women control all the strategic resources and engage in the most prestigious activities.
C)Gender stratification is generally reduced when the domestic and public spheres are not sharply separated.
D)The more women contribute to the domestic sphere, the more publicly recognized power they achieve.
E)The less women contribute to the public sphere, the more publicly recognized power they achieve.

Question 6

What is the domestic-public dichotomy?

A)Strong differentiation between spheres of exchange
B)Strong differentiation between the secular and the sacred
C)Strong differentiation between elite and commoners
D)Strong differentiation between the home and the outside world
E)Strong differentiation between local and international trade

Question 7

More than half of American households with incomes below the poverty line

A)are patrifocal.
B)are extended.
C)are headed by men.
D)are headed by women.
E)are headed by grandparents.

Question 8

In most patrilineal-patrilocal horticultural societies

A)women are the primary producers of subsistence crops.
B)women govern the public distribution of prestige items.
C)women fear contacts, including sexual intercourse, with men.
D)polygyny decreases household productivity because a man must provide for more than one wife.
E)the public-domestic dichotomy is minor or nonexistent.

Question 9

Which of the following statements about sexual orientation is not true?

A)Anthropologists view sexual orientation as learned, malleable, and culturally constructed.
B)Culture plays a role in molding individual sexual urges toward a collective norm.
C)Individuals differ in every society on the nature, range, and intensity of their sexual interests.
D)Sexual orientation is genetically predetermined, and culture plays no role in its expression.
E)Four forms of sexual orientation-heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, and asexuality-are found throughout the world.

Question 10

Which of the following statements about patrilineal-patrilocal horticulturalists is true?

A)Men control the distribution of goods outside the domestic sphere.
B)Men work harder at food production and manufacturing than do women.
C)Men are in short supply due to the practice of male infanticide.
D)Men and women enjoy approximately equal status.
E)Men trade subsistence goods but not prestige items.

Question 11

What term refers to the tasks and activities that a culture assigns to the sexes?

A)Sex roles
B)Sex stereotypes
C)Gender stereotypes
D)Gender roles
E)Gender duties

Question 12

In general, the status of women

A)rises as dependence on food production intensifies.
B)is higher in societies in which males do most of the work in food production.
C)is higher among agriculturalists than it is among foragers.
D)is higher in matrilineal societies than it is in patrilineal societies.
E)is higher in Yanomami society than it is among the Betsileo of Madagascar.

Question 13

According to Kottak, which of the following contributed to the emergence of the American notion that "a woman's place is in the home"?

A)European immigration around 1900
B)World War II
C)Voting rights for women
D)Inflation
E)The Women's Rights Movement

Question 14

What have recent cross-cultural studies of gender roles demonstrated?

A)The gender roles of men and women are largely determined by their biological capabilities-relative strength, endurance, intelligence, etc.
B)Women are subservient to men in nearly all societies because their subsistence activities contribute much less to the total diet than do those of men.
C)The relative status of women is variable, depending on factors such as subsistence strategy, the importance of warfare, and the prevalence of a domestic-public dichotomy.
D)Foraging, horticultural, pastoral, and industrial societies all have similar attitudes regarding gender roles.
E)Changes in the gender roles of men and women are usually associated with social decay and anarchy.

Question 15

In which of the following societies would you expect women's status to be highest?

A)Pastoral
B)Agricultural
C)A horticultural society experiencing considerable population pressure
D)Tropical foraging
E)Industrial state with high unemployment

Question 16

Which of the following is not culturally constructed?

A)Race
B)Gender
C)Kinship
D)Sex
E)Sexual norms

Question 17

Which of the following statements about the domestic-public dichotomy is true?

A)It tends to be more pronounced among agriculturalists than among foragers.
B)It tends to be more pronounced among foragers than among pastoralists.
C)It is not significant in urban industrial societies.
D)It is reinforced in American society by women working both inside and outside the home.
E)It is not present in the industrial states of the Western world.

Question 18

Cross-cultural studies indicate that

A)in nearly all societies men contribute much more to subsistence than women do.
B)a gender-based division of labor is very uncommon.
C)in most societies women tend to be the primary child caregivers.
D)women generally are less restricted than men are with respect to premarital and extramarital sex.
E)men never contribute to child care.

Question 19

Among foragers

A)men excel under harsh living conditions and therefore accrue vastly more prestige than women.
B)warfare makes men dominant over women.
C)the status of women declines when they provide most of the food.
D)men and women are completely equal; there is no gender inequality.
E)the lack of a clear public-domestic dichotomy contributes to reduced gender inequality.

Question 20

Which of the following statements about gender differences among tropical and semitropical foragers is true?

A)The status of women is much lower than it is among northern foragers like the Inuit.
B)Women's work usually contributes more to the diet than does men's work; consequently, there is less gender stratification.
C)The distinction between public and domestic spheres of activity is much sharper than it is in most horticultural societies.
D)There is no sex-based division of labor.
E)Women never take part in hunting.

Question 21

Which of the following statements about Etoro conceptions of heterosexual intercourse is not true?

A)It was believed to sap a man's vitality.
B)Women who wanted too much heterosexual intercourse were viewed as witches.
C)It was permitted only about 100 days a year.
D)It was permitted to take place only in a couple's residence.
E)It was seen as a necessary sacrifice that would eventually lead to a man's death.

Question 22

What effects did the advent of agriculture have on the roles and status of women?

Question 23

Gender roles are the instinctual behaviors associated with each sex.

Question 24

What is the domestic-public dichotomy? In what kinds of societies is it more pronounced? Less pronounced (or even nonexistent)? How is it related to gender stratification?

Question 25

Which of the following is not part of the patrilineal-patrilocal complex?

A)Patrilineality
B)Patrilocality
C)Warfare
D)Reduced gender stratification
E)Male supremacy

Question 26

What is the difference between sex and gender? Why is it important to understand this distinction?

Question 27

Oversimplified ideas about the characteristics of males and females are known as gender roles.

Question 28

Gender stratification refers to an unequal distribution of socially valued resources, power, prestige, and personal freedom between men and women.

Question 29

What is a matriarchy? Have anthropologists ever encountered one? If so, describe it; if not, describe the closest approximation.How does it compare to a patriarchy?

Question 30

What social, political, and economic conditions influence gender stratification and violence against women?

Question 31

The fact that chimpanzees and other nonhuman primates engage in masturbation and same-sex sexual activity suggests that

A)human sexuality is completely determined by biology.
B)it is immoral for humans to engage in such activities.
C)flexibility in sexual expression is part of humans' primate heritage.
D)heterosexual sex is more common among humans than among other primates.
E)human sexuality is completely determined by culture.

Question 32

The worldwide increase in female-headed households stems from all of the following except

A)decreasing divorce rates.
B)male migration.
C)unwed adolescent parenthood.
D)civil strife.
E)the idea that child care is a woman's responsibility.

Question 33

The specific roles assigned to each gender vary from culture to culture.

Question 34

Are certain sexual preferences more natural than others? Use cross-cultural evidence to substantiate your argument.

Question 35

Cross-culturally, women's activities tend to be associated with the home, while men are generally more active in the public domain.

Question 36

Which type of a situation is most likely to result in a matrilineal-matrilocal society?

A)Population pressure is high.
B)A shift to agriculture has recently taken place.
C)Men's hunting activities are more important than women's gathering.
D)Polygyny is common.
E)Warfare is infrequent.

Question 37

What is the current trend in India?

A)Arranged marriages are increasing in number.
B)Women are working and living independently longer before marriage.
C)Women are looking for husbands in the United States.
D)Marrying for money is becoming much more common.
E)Women are living with their parents longer, as husbands are harder to find.

Question 38

Compare two of the following in terms of gender roles and stratification: (a) foraging societies, (b) matrilineal-matrilocal societies, (c) patrilineal-patrilocal societies, (d) agricultural societies, and (e) industrial societies.

Question 39

How has industrialism affected gender roles and stratification? How and why is poverty becoming feminized?

Question 40

A political system ruled by men in which women have inferior status is known as a(an)

A)matriarchy.
B)patriarchy.
C)patrilocality.
D)patrilineality.
E)anarchy.

Question 41

The reasons why single-parent families headed by women are becoming increasingly common include male migration, divorce, abandonment, and the idea that child care is women's responsibility.

Question 42

Male-female avoidance among the Etoro was linked to beliefs about the cycle of birth, physical growth, maturity, old age, and death.

Question 43

Yanomami society is one of the few matriarchies that have been documented by anthropologists.

Question 44

Homosexual practices among the Etoro demonstrate that homosexuality is more pronounced in matrifocal societies.

Question 45

Gender stratification tends to be extreme in patrilineal-patrilocal societies.

Question 46

Women's status tends to be high in matrilineal-matrilocal societies.

Question 47

In Betsileo society, which is characterized by the patrilineal-patrilocal complex, women are not allowed to engage in any public activities.

Question 48

In the United States, attitudes regarding the role of women in the workplace have varied according to economic needs.

Question 49

Kottak argues that the relatively high level of gender inequality found among horticultural societies is most likely the ancestral pattern of human society.

Question 50

Patriarchy only occurs in tribal societies, such as the Yanomami.

Question 51

In agricultural societies, women typically are the primary cultivators.

Question 52

Domestic violence against women is prevalent in patrilineal-patrilocal societies because women are cut off from their supportive kin.

Question 53

More than half the households in America with incomes below the poverty line are headed by women.

Question 54

Cross-cultural studies of foraging societies indicate that women never hunt or fish.

Question 55

All anthropologists agree that a true matriarchy has never existed.