Dines, Gender, Race, and Class in Media, 5e
SAGE Publications, 2018
Part II: Representations of Gender, Race, and Class
Test Bank
Multiple Choice
1. Cultural studies insist that culture must be studied within the social relations and
system. This radical hope, triggered by President Barack Obama, ushered in a period of
bi- and transracial art. This probed ______.
A. the possibility that we really had transcended race but also ridiculed this hope with an
acid humor
B. the notion that homophobic ideas were weakening and allowing the country to grow
in new ways
C. the idea that Obama was responsible for a new “renaissance” of art
D. the possibility that we as a country had overcome isolationism but also teased the
idea with a political discourse
2. The “new” Atticus character from “Go Set a Watchman” was a betrayal of White
liberal idealism, feeding a suspicion that idealism was less than absolute. In other
words, the author is saying ______.
A. that Atticus had been secretly racist all along, and people had falsely identified with
him
B. that ideas such as White liberal idealism could be twisted and turned to become
something different as people change
C. that it could suddenly, randomly turn against the people it purported to help
D. that idealism might not be as strong of a position when looked back on
3. In Andrew Solomon’s landmark 2012 book about parenting and how children
differentiate themselves, he makes a distinction between vertical and horizontal identity.
Traits and values you don’t share with parents, sometimes because of genetic mutation,
sometimes through the choice of a different social world, define ______.
A. authentic identity
B. vertical identity
C. asymmetrical identity
D. horizontal identity
4. In this article, the author mentions that ______. The most important economic
function came from television’s role as an instrument of legitimation for transformations
in values initiated by the new economic imperatives of postwar America.
A. ideologies are not the product of individual consciousness or intention
B. ideologies are the by-product of consciousness and authenticity
C. ideologies are often misunderstood as concepts of morality
D. ideologies never offer more than a glimpse at the individuals who make the
statements
5. “Primitivism” is defined by ______.
A. the dynamic closeness of society to the environment
B. the fixed proximity of such people to nature
C. the focus of some cultures on aspects of spirituality and nature
D. society’s view of humans impact on the global ecosystem
6. When the author mentions the apparently naturalized representations of events and
situations relating to race, whether “factual” or “fictional,” which have racist premises
and propositions inscribed in them as a set of unquestioned assumptions, he is referring
to ______.
A. intentional racism
B. ideological based morality
C. underrepresentation of low-income members of society
D. inferential racism
7. The term redskin is a problem, and its lingering presence undermines the pursuit of
______ by American Indians.
A. historical acceptance and acknowledgment
B. respect and understanding
C. equality, inclusion, and empowerment
D. equity
8. The issue has stressed indigenous support, highlighting the importance of public
opinion polls as well as endorsements of the Washington Redskins football team by
Dines, Gender, Race, and Class in Media, 5e
SAGE Publications, 2018
prominent individuals and reservation communities. Importantly, the defense is about
more than Indianness. In particular, it turns in spoken and unspoken ways on ______.
A. Whiteness
B. American culture
C. organized sports
D. religion
9. As the article makes clear, the ongoing struggle lends itself to binary thinking, moral
declarations, and public denunciations. To many, either the moniker is respectful or it is
racist. It is a stereotype or not. Such arguments ______.
A. make the issue easier to understand and therefore more efficient
B. ignore the underlying religious messages of the conflict
C. fail to specify the real issue at hand and instead make it more confusing
D. simplify the conflict and its cultural import
10. Whenever women’s bodies are deemed to be excessive—“too fat, too mouthy, too
old, too dirty, too pregnant, too sexual (or not sexual enough) for the norms of
conventional gender representation”—Rowe argues that ______.
A. gender hierarchies are strengthened
B. gender hierarchies are threatened
C. gender hierarchies are the culprit
D. gender hierarchies are not involved or affected
11. The author mentions that “pornographic eroticism” is particularly prominent in media
coverage of which sport?
A. soccer
B. lacrosse
C. tennis
D. basketball
12. The article’s study shows that despite their outstanding sporting achievements, the
Williams sisters have been subjected to the “gender-specific images that deem black
bodies as less desirable if not downright ugly,” that is, ______.
Dines, Gender, Race, and Class in Media, 5e
SAGE Publications, 2018
A. their bodies are seen as superior in athletic ability but not in physical beauty
B. they have been subjugated as being only fit for athletic competition
C. they have been separated from other payers due to race
D. their bodies have been positioned by the “sexually grotesque.”
13. Orientalism, Edward Said (1978) wrote, is ______.
A. a conceptualization of the Orient, or East, which places it in opposition to the
Occident or West
B. identifying with Asian countries or cultures
C. being of or from an Asian country, and practicing a culturally authentic lifestyle, but
no longer living there
D. the act of traveling, moving, or otherwise leaving “Western” civilization and
immersing oneself in oriental cultures
14. The tension between accessibility and novelty, or strangeness, can serve as both a
site of resistance for female artists to wage “sex as a weapon” in the fight against
gender stereotyping as well as ______.
A. a space where new ideas about sexual roles and what is not appropriate male sexual
behavior are identified
B. a space where stale ideas about gender roles and what is appropriate female sexual
behavior are reified
C. a space where old ideas about social values are broken down and rebuilt in new
cultural subcategories
D. a space where gender roles are reinforced
15. Katy Perry, the framing of men of color in her video, and her cultural appropriation
matter because they reach a broad audience and serve to reinforce a racist and
prejudicial understanding of the world that only sharpens dichotomies. To overlook the
power of popular media because it is fluff is to ______.
A. dismiss Katy Perry as a pop culture “has–been”
B. decide what that media tells a huge portion of the public is unimportant
C. instill a sense of underlying prejudice when listening to pop music
D. decide that some forms media is more influential on audiences than others
16. The story about a Midwestern woman in Ohio who, inspired by images of Angelina
Jolie’s adoption of an Ethiopian child, expressed a desire to do the same is important
because it ______.
A. gives precedence to the idea that people are more willing to adopt if they see positive
examples of adoption
B. reveals that Jolie is still an influential member of pop culture
C. is representative of a growing transnational phenomenon
D. shows that celebrities can influence people’s life choices
17. According to the article, women visually coded as ordinary looking generally
______.
A. do not grace our screens as carrying the potential for producing and sustaining life
B. are never seen in film or television
C. are accurately represented as true to life characters
D. do tend to be thought of as superfluous to the story in films, but in television, they are
thought of as more critical parts of the narrative
18. Contemporary representations of ______ make visible new logics of Whiteness that
are imbricated in a politics of the transnational.
A. women of color
B. male leaders
C. family life
D. global motherhood
19. People who were, 20 years ago, described as “hermaphrodite” now name
themselves “intersex.” Over time, the language shifted because ______.
A. scientists and doctors decided “intersex” was a more accurate term
B. members of the intersex community wanted to name themselves rather than being
named by the medical profession
C. members of the intersex community became tired of the term “hermaphrodite” and
thought “intersex” was a more modern term
D. the English language become more nuanced, and the meaning of words shifted, so
researchers decided to create a new term that was more specific
20. The Digital Age has obliterated the transqueers who embrace the borderlands of
gender fluidity and replaced it with ______.
A. “gender as religion”
B. “gender as industry”
C. “gender as consumption”
D. “gender as ideology”
21. The populist scorn Real Housewives provokes is not gender-neutral; its sights are
set on the rich, to be sure, but only rich women, especially ______.
A. those who transgress the traditional gender roles
B. those who embody traditional family roles
C. those who reject modern gender roles
D. those who embrace the idea of gender as consumption
22. The housewives’ home lives and social lives are framed as ______, rearticulating
postfeminist tensions in leisure-class terms.
A. open ideals
B. religious choices
C. economic choices
D. forced choices
23. This chapter outlined some of the ways that conservative talk radio has a profound
influence not only on elections but also on the very nature of public discourse, and thus
ultimately on public policy, on issues ranging from women’s health to climate change.
The author says that this makes it much more than ______.
A. technology
B. entertainment
C. media
D. talk show opinions
24. In the media character he self-created, Rush Limbaugh’s unrestrained narcissism
drives him to broadcast to his audience an inflated sense of himself as a ______.
A. “man’s man”
B. “political activist”
C. “engaged citizen”
D. “entertainment guru”
25. Critiquing these linguistic practices is not merely a rhetorical exercise because all of
this talk has significant ______.
A. political ramifications
B. media repercussions
C. material consequences
D. philosophical outcomes
True/False
1. The digital world has opened up communities for transgender people where none
have existed before. There is less isolation and perhaps less struggle because of the
resources, social networks, and virtual communities provided on the Internet.
2. The author describes how in Real Housewives conflict is always a prelude to greater
interpersonal connectedness; it is the basis of their relationships.
Essay
1. Describe how a transgender person occupies the borderlands between communities
and identities.
2. How is gender performative?
3. Describe “Orientalism” and its representations.