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Indicate whether the statement is true or false.
1. The Industrial Revolution led to the redefinition of masculinity and femininity.
a. True
b. False
2. Gender is a relational concept because masculinity and femininity make sense in relation to one another.
a. True
b. False
3. Hermaphrodite is the preferred word for people who have male and female sex organs.
a. True
b. False
4. There are two distinct genders, female and male.
a. True
b. False
5. The thinness valued as desirable and beautiful in American culture has always been the standard for attractiveness in
that culture.
a. True
b. False
6. If you were to speak out on campus about sexual assault, you could possibly change the way your friends conceptualize
gendered violence.
a. True
b. False
7. Meanings are created through human interactions with symbols.
a. True
b. False
8. Most transgender people experience a change in their sexual orientation after transitioning.
a. True
b. False
9. Gender identity is the same thing as one’s biological sex.
a. True
b. False
Indicate the answer choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
10. The term patriarchy literally means ____.
a. oppression of females
b. from male standpoint
c. rule by the fathers
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d. government by men
11. A professor says to a student, “I will not accept your paper after 5 pm today.” The content level of meaning in this
message is that the professor:
a. is open to negotiation.
b. feels s/he has to explain the policy to the student.
c. can exercise power over the student.
d. feels s/he has greater status than the student.
e. won’t accept the paper after 5 pm today.
12. Which of the following persons would be accurately described as “cisgendered?”
a. A person born as a biological female who embodies both masculine and feminine characteristics.
b. A biological male who prefers romantic and sexual relationships with biological males.
c. A biological female who identifies as female and feminine.
d. A biological female who enjoys dressing in men’s clothing.
e. A person whose biological sex is inconsistent with their gender identity.
13. Yan Bing and Dianna are college students discussing how they each define “cheating” in a romantic relationship. Yan
Bing considers flirting during an IM conversation cheating, but Dianna thinks cheating only involves physical contact.
Later, they continue the discussion with friends over dinner. This scenario best describes which of the following?
a. Communication is a dynamic and systemic.
b. Communication is gendered.
c. Yan Bing and Dianna are exhibiting feminine styles of communication.
d. Content level of meaning and relationship level of meaning are not the same thing.
14. The terns “gender” and “sex” are different in that:
a. sex is a designation based on biology, and gender is socially constructed and expressed.
b. gender is a designation based on biology, and sex is socially constructed and expressed.
c. sex and gender can both be based on biology and socially constructed, but their use depends on the culture.
d. the terms are interchangeable, but one may be used over the other based on personal preference.
15. Which of the following is NOT one of the levels of meaning in communication?
a. Content level of meaning
b. Relationship level of meaning
c. Visual level of meaning
16. Rick was born with male and female sex organs. Which of the following is the best term to describe Rick as a person
with biological qualities of a male and a female?
a. Transsexual
b. Intersexed
c. Transgendered
d. Gender rebel
e. Dual sexed
17. Which of the following is not one of the current meanings of masculinity in American culture?
a. Emotional engagement
b. Strength
c. Ambition
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d. Success
e. Rationality
18. Research that examines the reasons why working mothers are often forced to return to the workplace earlier than they
want and attempts to change the dynamics of the corporate world to end these practices would be best served by which
research methods?
a. Quantitative research methods
b. Qualitative research methods
c. Mixed research methods
d. Critical research methods
Instructions: Identify the following:
19. Essentializing
20. Symbols
21. Describe what is meant by communication being a dynamic process.
22. Sexual Orientation
23. Intersexed
24. Gender
25. Describe what is meant by communication being systemic.
26. Sex
27. Transgender
28. Describe the differences between critical research methods and mixed research methods.
Instructions: Identify the following:
29. Androgyny
30. Describe the differences between quantitative research methods and qualitative research methods.
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Answer Key
1. True
2. True
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23. Intersexed individuals are born with ambiguous genitals and may differ from most people in hormonal, chromosomal,
and physiological ways. Intersexuals, for many years, routinely underwent “clarifying surgery,” which reconstructed
genitals to appear more typically masculine or feminine. Concerning intersexed people, doctors have routinely decided
which sex the child was “meant to be” and advised parents to authorize “clarifying surgery” that then allowed parents to
bring the child up as the sex it was “meant to be.”
24. Gender refers to the traits, behaviors, and assumptions linked to masculinity and femininity. Individuals perform
gender roles, however, those roles are created and defined by society at large. Gender varies over time and between and
within cultures.
25. Communication occurs in particular situations or systems that influence what and how we interact and what meanings
we attach to messages.
26. Sex is an individual quality determined by biology (chromosomes and hormones). Sex is biological; gender is socially
constructed. Sex is innate; gender is learned. Sex is unchanging, or stable (possible exception-sex change surgery.)
27. Transgender is a term that usually refers to someone who has changed their physical sex to more closely align with
their sexual identity. This is done through hormones and surgery. Transgenders are often referred to as post-transitional
males to females (MTF) or post-transitional females to males (FTM).
28. Answers should include the following:
Critical research methods:
Identify and critique the means by which power relations are created or challenged.
Critical research has given us insight into ways in which organizational structures and practices create work environments
that women and minorities perceive as unwelcoming.
Mixed research methods:
Exactly what the name implies—a combination of two or more of the methods described earlier. For example, a scholar
might document the frequency (descriptive statistic) of men’s and women’s smiling in social situations and then interview
men and women (qualitative method) to learn why they smile.
29. Combined using the Greek terms andros, which means “man,” and the Greek word gyne, which means “woman.”
Androgynous individuals embody qualities that Western culture considers both feminine and masculine.
30. Answers should include the following:
Quantitative research methods:
Gather and analyze data that can be quantified.
Three of the more common quantitative methods are descriptive statistics, surveys, and experiments.
Qualitative research methods:
Sometimes called interpretive methods, aim to understand meanings that cannot be justified.
Two popular qualitative methods are textual analysis and ethnography.