166
Chapter 12: Gendered Power and Violence
Multiple Choice
1.
Meagen decides to wear a short skirt and tight shirt to class. As she walks there, a
group of males whistle, comment on her legs, and make sexual gestures to her. Which
of the following best describes Meagen experiences?
A.
Gender intimidation
B.
Hostile environment harassment
C.
Sexual assault
D.
Informed consent, since Meagen chose what to wear
E.
None of these
2.
Which of the following examples meets the definition of informed consent?
A.
Vidhi is sold by her family and is forced to work as a prostitute.
B.
Jake drinks alcohol until he passes out and then is sexually fondled by his romantic
partner of five years.
C.
Brittany agrees to have sex when she is 15-years-old with her 18-year-old romantic
partner.
D.
Amber is mentally disabled and lives in an assisted living facility. While checking
on her, a nurse touches her breasts, unrelated to the care he is providing.
E.
None of the above.
3.
Christina goes on a date with Todd. After dinner at a nice restaurant, Christina invites
Todd back to her apartment for a drink. They open a bottle of wine and start to make out.
After a while, Christina is uncomfortable and asks Todd to stop. He ignores her, pulls off
her clothes, and has sex with her. After he leaves, although upset, Christina begins to
wonder whether she had been “asking for it.” The next day she tells a friend what
happened and the friend asks her what she had been wearing and how much she had been
drinking. This event reflects which of the following?
A.
Gender intimidation
B.
Informed consent
C.
Sexual harassment
D.
Rape culture
E.
Corrective rape
166
4.
One prevalent rape myth is that rape is perpetrated by strangers. What percentage of
women know their assailant?
A. 60%
B. 65%
C. 75%
D. 80%
E. 90%
5.
In this form of genital surgery, a female’s entire clitoris and parts of the labia minora
are removed:
A.
Femilectomy
B.
Sunna
C.
Infibulation
D.
Clitoridectomy (excision)
E.
Revaganilization
6.
Which of the following is NOT true about rape?
A.
Rape is motivated primarily by sexual desire.
B.
Rape is common on college campuses.
C.
A husband can rape his wife.
D.
Men and women can be victims of rape.
E.
The majority of rape victims do not report and seek to prosecute their rapes.
7.
Physical, verbal, emotional, sexual, and visual brutality that is inflicted
disproportionately or exclusively on members of one sex is best defined as
A.
sexual slavery.
B.
a rape script.
C.
intimate partner violence.
D.
gender intimidation.
E.
gendered violence.
8.
Topic or question should by authored by a student. See pages 8 to 10 of this manual
for details on this activity.
166
True/False
9.
Lewd remarks made in public spaces, while annoying, are not considered gendered violence.
10.
Intimate partner violence typically follows a cyclical pattern.
11.
Sexual slavery is a thing of the past.
12.
Children who grow up in families with one or more abusive adults are generally not
affected by that violence.
13.
State-funded programs to limit women’s rights to reproductive choice never existed in
the United States.
14.
A hostile environment grows out of a pattern of behavior and is not determined by a single
action.
15.
Genital mutilation does not occur in the United States.
16.
Victims of battering would be safer if they left abusive relationships.
166
17.
Hostile environment harassment
18.
Infibulation
19.
Informed consent
ANS: Agreement given
by:
20.
Pornography
21.
Blaming the victim
166
22.
Rape culture
23.
Femicide
24.
Gender intimidation
25.
Sexual assault
26.
Sexual harassment
166
27.
Quid pro quo harassment
28.
Intimate partner violence
29.
Define gendered violence, and discuss the ways in which society normalizes gendered
violence. Your essay should identify three specific social foundations or institutions that
allow or encourage both women and men to regard certain kinds of gendered violence as
normal or acceptable. Include concrete examples.
30.
Define sexual harassment. Then, identify and evaluate the two different legal forms of
sexual harassment and standards for determining whether it occurred.
166
REF: pp. 241–242
31.
Define informed consent. Do you think this is an appropriate definition of
informed consent? Why or why not?
ANS: Informed consent is given when someone knowingly agrees to something. Only a legal
adult with full mental capacities (meaning s/he does not have developmental or other mental
problems) who is not being coerced and is not impaired (by circumstances, drugs, or alcohol)
can give informed consent. This means that minors, mentally handicapped people, intoxicated
people, and those being pressured cannot give informed consent.
Student opinions will vary. They may support the definition because it protects vulnerable
populations. However, some students may argue that minors or mentally disabled people, for
example, should be able to engage in sexual relationships and can make informed decisions.
The important thing to look for is that they make an argument and support it.
REF: p. 242
32.
What is rape culture? How does it affect victims of sexual assault? What should be done
to eradicate this problem in our culture?
33.
As made clear by the material presented in your textbook, gendered violence is prevalent
in the United States and around the world. What are some of the personal and social efforts we
can engage in and/or support in an effort to lessen the prevalence of gendered violence?
166
34.
What is reproductive violence? What are some specific examples of reproductive violence
in action?
ANS: Reproductive violence is coerced or discriminatory infringement on reproductive rights.
Includes force or exploitation that prevents a person from making the decision about when, if,
Essays
We have not provided essay bullets for the following essays because the answers should
attempt to synthesize the entire course. We hope these questions provide helpful examples to
provoke such responses.
1.
Identify one issue you consider especially important in the ongoing cultural
conversation about gender. Explain why you regard this issue as particularly pivotal
now and how different resolutions of it might affect social life.
2.
Throughout your Gendered Lives textbook and especially in the final chapter, the text
encourages you to become an active and critical member of society. Explain what this
means pertinent to individual and social views of gender.
3.
Discuss how laws and organizational policies that regulate leaves from work influence
gender roles in families. In your essay, explain both how laws and policies shape family
life and how family life sculpts the kinds of laws and policies that are endorsed in the
society.
4.
Queer performative theory argues that gender is performed; at the same time, gender
performances are enacted within a context that defines the possibilities that exist and
what gender means. Reflect on an instance of gender performance that you think may
166
broaden gender norms and discuss how this performance works with cultural norms to
push gender boundaries. This gender performance may be real (Lady Gaga comes to
mind) or hypothetical.
5.
Drawing on all of your readings and class discussions, and especially on Chapters 3 and 4,
define and discuss the sameness-difference (or sexual equality-sexual difference) debate.
What are the positions in this debate and what are the social, legal, and personal
implications of the different positions?
6.
Class discussions and the textbook have emphasized this point: gender is constructed.
Explain what it means to claim that gender is constructed. Your response should define
gender and describe HOW gender is constructed and how it is changed over time. In
addition, your response should discuss what viewing gender as a social construction
implies for individual action and agency. Include specific examples of how gender is
constructed, reproduced, and changed.
7.
What does feminism mean to you? Are you a feminist? Consider the conversations
and readings that we have done over the semester.
8.
The textbook and the class have discussed ways gender norms have changed as a result of
feminist and men’s movements. Name what you believe to be the three most significant
changes that have resulted from these movements and explain why you believe they are
significant.