“The Invention of Heterosexuality,” Jonathan Ned Katz
The author documents the history and invention of the term heterosexuality as a means
of categorizing sexual relationships. The author emphasizes how sexuality has been
closely linked to structural power and the means of production within a society
throughout history. He argues that an ahistorical approach to studying sexuality
continues to privilege “normal” and “natural” sexual expression.
During 1892-1900, the ideas of heterosexual and homosexual were initially formulated
by:
a. U.S. doctors
b. British monarchs
c. religious authorities
d. newspaper journalists
“The Bachelor: Whiteness in the Harem,” Rachel E. Dubrofsky
Dubrofsky argues that while the “reality” based television series The Bachelor appears
to include women of color as eligible contestants, the reality is that the purpose of the
show is for White people to find romantic partners. This process, she says, is facilitated
by the participation of women of color who are never positioned as appropriate choices
for the White bachelor. The show uses a “Westernized trope of the Eastern harem”
reproducing the “imperialist, Orientalist and oppressive racist premises’ of that image.
People of color are part of the _______________ of this show, according to the author.
a. purpose
b. backdrop
c. reason for low ratings
d. most eligible
“Sub-Prime as a Black Catastrophe,” Melvin L. Oliver and Thomas M. Shapiro
The catastrophe described by Oliver and Shapiro is rooted in the fact that home equity
is the most important source of wealth for families in the United States. The authors
argue this is particularly so for African American families. It was the targeting of
African American families by sub-prime lenders that robbed so many of this important
and hard-earned source of security.
Due to the very high interest rates charged for these loans, the devastating effects of
these sub-prime loans has not only taken away gains made in the recent past, but will
compromise the ability of African American families into the future, effecting the
ability to open small businesses, pay for college educations, and support retirements.
Predatory loans have left African American communities facing, “the greatest loss of
financial wealth” ever. “Institutional and racialized policy,” they argue, “are trumping
hard-earned educational, job and income advances.”
For Black households, home equity accounts for 63 percent of net worth, while for
white households home equity accounts for _____________________ percent of net
worth.
a. 75.2
b. 95
c. 38.5
d. 80
“A Different Mirror,” Ronald T. Takaki
Through personal reflection and historical summaries, Ronald T. Takaki explores
multicultural America. As a Japanese American, Takaki argues that the historical and
cultural influence of the Japanese, as well as other racial and ethnic groups, on
American culture is largely unrecognized. The contributions of racial and ethnic groups
must be acknowledged to fully appreciate the true essence of American identity.
Takaki illustrates how despite historical similarities, racial and ethnic groups have been
pitted against one another, and their historical presence denied. Yet, he points out, their
influences and contributions to society are evident everywhere. He argues that
recognizing the value of their experiences allows for an enlightened understanding of
our common history and the tensions and struggles evident among racial and ethnic
groups today.
In Takaki’s “A Different Mirror,” the Rodney King beating illustrates:
a. the conflict between the haves and have-nots in society.
b. the role of media in society.
c. America’s intensifying racial crisis.
d. the need for reform of the criminal justice system.
“Race as Class,” Herbert J. Gans
Noting that most biologists argue that scientifically there can be no human “races’ and
that sociologists argue that concepts of race are socially constructed, Gans links the
persistent lay definition of “race” to the hierarchy of social class in the U.S. The laity,
he claims, notice variations in select physical characteristics and “see” these variations
as markers of individual races. The lay public then uses their definitions of race to place
individuals in hierarchal categories that correspond to social class locations. Gans
further claims that many immigrant groups were “blanched” or “whitened” in the lay
imagination once those groups experienced upward mobility. This was not the case, he
says for African Americans. While the reasons for this exception are a “mystery” to
Gans, he expects it to persist unless class hierarchies finally disappear “in some utopian
future.”
Gans argues that the lay public uses a perception of select physical variations to define:
a. biology
b. social construction
c. individual races
d. strangers
“Across the Great Divide: Crossing Classes and Clashing Cultures,” Barbara
Jensen
Jensen tells the story of Shelly, a working class college student who experiences
cognitive dissonance as she confronts the “great divide” between working class and
middle class cultures. According to Jensen, Shelly’s “cross-over experience” is typical
and can lead to emotional distress and dysfunctional behavioral responses unless the
person can add rather than subtract aspects of self. Jensen calls this more positive
response to the cross-over experience “bridging”.
According to Jensen, what colleges should give working class students like Shelly is:
a. additions to her self-identity
b. subtractions from her old identity
c. a transformation to a whole new identity disconnected from family background
d. just a diploma, not a newly created sense of self
“Sex and Gender Through the Prism of Difference,” Maxine Baca Zinn, Pierrette
Hondagneu-Sotelo, and Michael Messner
Maxine Baca Zinn, Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo, and Michael Messner present a new
framework of the study of gender. The “prism of difference” they describe broadens the
traditional view of gender by recognizing the influences of social locations other than
gender, and hierarchical systems other than patriarchy. This new perspective
encompasses the experiences of all women, not just those defined as middle class white
women, new views on men and masculinity, and the consideration of gender within a
global perspective. The authors argue that by looking at gender through a “prism,”
instead of a patchwork of other factors, such as class, race, national identity, age, etc.,
the differences and inequalities recognized among both women and men will serve to
expand our understanding of gender.
In the 1970s, riding the wave of a resurgent feminist movement, colleges and
universities began to develop women’s studies courses that aimed first and foremost to
make women’s lives:
a. tolerable.
b. visible.
c. acceptable.
d. interesting.
“Chappals and Gym Shorts: An Indian Muslim Woman in the Land of Oz,”
Almas Sayeed
Almas Sayeed is an Indian Muslim woman attending school in Kansas. A visit from her
father speaking of marriage appears to be the catalyst that ignites her concerns
regarding certain cultural traditions. Sayeed provides an insightful journey into her
family life, cultural traditions regarding gender roles, submissiveness, marriage and
sexuality. Sayeed’s thoughts and views are strengthened by her introduction to Feminist
theory.
Almas Sayeed believes she must learn how to be a committed feminist and:
a. fight for women’s rights internationally.
b. maintain a positive relationship with her parents.
c. maintain her cultural, religious and community ties.
d. incorporate Western customs into her Indian lifestyle
“Crimes Against Humanity,” Ward Churchill
Churchill makes a case for seeing the use of American Indian names and degrading and
dehumanizing symbols by sports teams as a violation of the Geneva Convention and a
crime against humanity. The use of these names and images creates barriers to authentic
communication about the realities of history and contemporary life for American
Indians. Churchill challenges several myths, including that the use of these symbols is
just good clean fun; that this usage “honors’ American Indians; and that if some find the
practice offensive it doesn”t matter because there are too few left to defend themselves.
By _______________ the national project of “clearing” Native Americans from their
land and replacing them with “superior” Anglo-American settlers was complete.
a. 1850
b. 1900
c. 1950
d. 1875
“The Contested Meaning of “Asian American”: Racial Dilemmas in the
Contemporary U.S.,” Nazli Kimbria
Kibria explores the social construction and contested meanings of “Asian American” in
the U.S.
She views the social construction of race as a dynamic process involving the imposition
of categories from without as well as the shaping of meaning within the categorized
group. Kibria discusses the tension between “pan-Asianism” and a multiracial approach.
The idea of “race” is _____ in meaning.
a. highly ambiguous
b. clear and consistent
c. universal
d. easily understandable
In Sexual Behavior of the Human Male, Kinsey found that:
a. homosexual experience is virtually absent within males.
b. homosexual experience is rare among young and middle-aged males.
c. homosexual experience is more common than was previously thought.
d. homosexuality is rare among elderly men.
“Our Mothers’ Grief: Racial-Ethnic Women and the Maintenance of Families,”
Bonnie Thornton Dill
Bonnie Thornton Dill broadens the dominant perspective of American families through
this historical analysis of racial-ethnic women and their families. She demonstrates how
the establishment of the “modern American family” ideal and expectations of racial and
ethnic groups as sources of cheap labor created distinct familial experiences among
women of various racial-ethnic groups in early America
According to Bonnie Thornton Dill, the dominant ideology of family structure dictated:
a. separate spheres for men and women, and women remaining outside of the paid labor
force.
b. the involvement of all family members in the paid labor force.
c. the entry of women into service occupations.
d. the wages for housework campaign.
“Women’s Rights as Human Rights: Toward a Re-Vision of Human Rights,”
Charlotte Bunch
Charlotte Bunch notes that “no government determines its policies toward other
countries on the basis of their treatment of women.” In addition, she argues, human
rights organizations rarely treat women as a priority. Government and non-government
agencies alike tend to see women’s concerns as trivial, private, or simply outside the
purview of human rights issues. Noting that “sexism kills,” Bunch identifies the many
concerns of women that must be made a priority if human rights are to be obtained.
According to Bunch, violence against women is:
a. trivial
b. profoundly personal
c. profoundly political
d. not a human rights issue
“A Different Mirror,” Ronald T. Takaki
Through personal reflection and historical summaries, Ronald T. Takaki explores
multicultural America. As a Japanese American, Takaki argues that the historical and
cultural influence of the Japanese, as well as other racial and ethnic groups, on
American culture is largely unrecognized. The contributions of racial and ethnic groups
must be acknowledged to fully appreciate the true essence of American identity.
Takaki illustrates how despite historical similarities, racial and ethnic groups have been
pitted against one another, and their historical presence denied. Yet, he points out, their
influences and contributions to society are evident everywhere. He argues that
recognizing the value of their experiences allows for an enlightened understanding of
our common history and the tensions and struggles evident among racial and ethnic
groups today.
According to Takaki’s analysis of history, America:
a. only recently became multicultural.
b. has always been multicultural.
c. has been influenced by only the European settlers.
d. has maintained a homogeneous populace.
“How a Scholarship Girl Becomes a Soldier: The Militarization of Latina/o Youth
in Chicago Public Schools,” Gina Perez
Gina Perez explores the complicated relationship between young Latina/o students in
Chicago and the U.S. military. Perez argues that in addition to limited economic
opportunities, gendered understandings of autonomy, family obligations, honor and
respectability influence, how young people respond to the increasingly militarized
educational context.
Between the years 2001 and 2004 the Pentagon Budget for JROTC programs was
expected to increase by more than:
a. $110 million
b. $2 million
c. $50 million
d. $200 thousand
“Interpreting and Experiencing Anti-Queer Violence: Race, Class and gender
Differences Among LGBT Hate Crime Victims,” Doug Meyer
Doug Meyer uses an intersectional approach and a qualitative methodology to explore
how victims of violence in the LBGT community experience victimization differently
according to race, class gender and sexuality. Meyer finds that multiple intersecting
oppressed statuses make the identification of hate crime more complicated for all but
middle and upper class White gay men. Those statutes may then serve primarily the
interests of those White men, not the interests of lesbian and bisexual women, and
particularly not LGBT people of color.
Lesbian women of color often confront violence in which their perpetrators do not use
_________________ insults.
a. gender specific
b. racial
c. any
d. homophobic
“Seeing More than Black and White: Latinos, Racism, and the Cultural
Divide,” Elizabeth Martinez
Elizabeth Martinez contends that Latinos, among other racial and ethnic groups, have
been largely ignored in the discussion of racism in the United States. She argues that the
growing population of these groups, along with the increased awareness of their similar
experiences, requires a broadening of the historically dichotomous view of race as
Black and White. The denial of the Latino experience reflects the conflicting perception
of Latinos by dominant society; they are viewed as invisible and a threat at the same
time. The invisibility of Latinos is reflected in either the denial of their presence or in a
one-dimensional view of Latinos based largely on stereotypes. When the presence of
Latinos is recognized, it is often within the context of jeopardizing the dominant or
other minority groups’ position. Martinez argues that the removal of Latinos from the
discussion of race has resulted not only in a denial of their experience as a group
targeted by racism, but it has prevented the acknowledgement of the similarity in their
and other people of color’s treatment thereby preventing unity in their shared struggle
against racism.
According to Elizabeth Martinez, La Raza challenges the Black/White construct of race
in the United States because:
a. La Raza reflects combinations of European, indigenous, and African ancestral roots.
b. of the group’s active involvement in politics.
c. members of this group deny any racial identity.
d. La Raza have never experienced racism
“The Prison and the Closet,” Patricia Hill Collins
Patricia Hill Collins considers the intersecting relationship between racism and
heterosexism. She argues that the assumption that these two hegemonic ideologies
represent separate systems of oppression obscures the fact that racism and sexism rely
upon each other for meaning. Without sacrificing the acknowledgement of differences
in the way that racism and heterosexism manifest, the author shows that the two
systems converge and that both systems affect the everyday lives of all people.
Contemporary social welfare policies remain preoccupied with:
a. Black men’s sexual freedom
b. Black women’s fertility
c. profits for private companies where recipients shop for necessities
d. fairness for Black families in poverty
“Seeing in 3D,” Margaret L. Andersen
Margaret L. Andersen argues that the economy is not a neutral force, as it is portrayed
in the media. Economic downturns do not hit all citizens equally. Specific groups
experience economic change in different ways. Asking, “what would we see differently
were we to view the economic recession with women and people of color in mind,”
Andersen demonstrates the varying effects on economic standing influenced by the
intersections of race, class and gender.
Black women earning double an area’s median income were nearly five times more
likely to receive subprime mortgages than were _______________with similar
earnings.
a. White women
b. White men
c. Black men
d. Asian men
“An Intersectional Analysis of “Sixpacks’, “Midriffs’, and “Hot Lesbians’ in
Advertising, Rosalind Gill
Gil uses an intersectional analysis to examine practices of “sexualization” in
advertising. She demonstrates that sexualization is not “a singular unmarked process’.
She finds that “commodified sexiness” in advertising is linked to “the politics of
looking.” She argues that patterns of sexualization vary, having different determinants
and modes of representation, and that they are “read in radically different ways”
depending on the specific intersections of gender, age, class, sexuality and racialization.
Older bodies are strikingly __________________ in visual culture, according to Gil.
a. sexualized
b. desexualized
c. present
d. absent
“Is This A White Country, or What?” Lillian Rubin
Lillian Rubin demonstrates the links between economic competition, racial prejudice,
and the anti-immigration sentiments expressed by working class whites. Rubin points
out that while there is a long history of racial hostility toward immigrant groups in
America, the limited employment opportunities and the darker skin tones of recent
immigrants have intensified these hostilities. Racism and nativism, according to Rubin,
is apparent in Whites’ views of recent immigrants and people of color. The visibility of
and the demands for recognition expressed by these groups are seen as threats to whites’
economic livelihood and their understanding of America. Rubin’s interviews with
working class Whites illustrate this point, as well as two contradictions evident in
Whites’ attitudes toward immigrants and people of color: Whites resent the unity of
these groups, yet they exclude them from dominant society. Whites criticize members
of these groups for their perceived failures as well as their successes. Rubin asserts that
Whites have begun to reclaim their ethnic heritage as a way to secure what they see as
their hard earned position of privilege in American society.
As noted in “Is This A White Country, or What?” which of the following contributes to
the anti-immigration sentiments expressed by Whites?
a. cultural pluralism.
b. nativism and economic competition.
c. the ethnocentrism of immigrants.
d. the fact that no Whites have never been immigrants.
“Straight is to Gay as Family is to No Family,” Kath Weston
This essay presents a distinct dichotomy that depicts the establishment and maintenance
of family and extended kin in the gay and straight world. Weston delineates a path of
rejection, isolation and loneliness from straight families as gay persons attempt to
establish individual identities. In addressing misperceptions surrounding gay life, this
essay also introduces alternative approaches to the establishment and cultivation of
family life.
Weston reveals that gay or chosen families might incorporate:
a. co-workers, extended family, friends.
b. biological family, extended family, neighbors.
c. friends, lovers or children.
d. co-workers, supervisors, friends.
“Selling Sex for Visas: Sex Tourism as a Stepping-stone to International
Migration,” Denise Brennan
Addressing the myth that sex workers around the globe are simply victims of
exploitation and domination, Denise Brennan considers the case of women sex workers
in Sosua, Dominican Republic. These women – predominantly poor, single mothers
with limited educations – see sex work not as a survival strategy, but as an advancement
strategy. They have meager job opportunities and can make more money more quickly
selling sex than in any other job available to them. Ultimately many hope to obtain
marriage proposals from wealthy sex tourists, and with them visas to places with
greater economic opportunities. Brennan sites these strategies as examples of the
“savviness and resourcefulness of the so-called powerless.”
How are the working conditions of women sex workers in Sosua controlled?
a. largely by the women themselves
b. by pimps
c. by drug lords
d. by patriarchs in their own families
“An Intersectional Analysis of “Sixpacks’, “Midriffs’, and “Hot Lesbians’ in
Advertising, Rosalind Gill
Gil uses an intersectional analysis to examine practices of “sexualization” in
advertising. She demonstrates that sexualization is not “a singular unmarked process’.
She finds that “commodified sexiness” in advertising is linked to “the politics of
looking.” She argues that patterns of sexualization vary, having different determinants
and modes of representation, and that they are “read in radically different ways”
depending on the specific intersections of gender, age, class, sexuality and racialization.
According to Gil, the radical transformation in the portrayal of men in visual culture
began:
a. more than 20 years ago.
b. less than 10 years ago.
c. during the Industrial Revolution.
d. in the 1960’s.
“An Intersectional Analysis of “Sixpacks’, “Midriffs’, and “Hot Lesbians’ in
Advertising, Rosalind Gill
Gil uses an intersectional analysis to examine practices of “sexualization” in
advertising. She demonstrates that sexualization is not “a singular unmarked process’.
She finds that “commodified sexiness” in advertising is linked to “the politics of
looking.” She argues that patterns of sexualization vary, having different determinants
and modes of representation, and that they are “read in radically different ways”
depending on the specific intersections of gender, age, class, sexuality and racialization.
The term “hetero flexibility” refers to:
a. people who are “straight but not narrow.”
b. variations in the norms of heterosexual expression.
c. acceptance by men of representations of lesbians in visual culture.
d. heterosexual women “experimenting” sexually with other women.
“Gladiators, Gazelles, and Groupies: Basketball Love and Loathing” Julianne
Malveaux
Julianne Malveaux explores the topic of basketball within the context of gender and
race. The author speaks of a culture saturated with basketball. It is nearly impossible to
tune out, turn off or ignore. It is a cultural delimiter, a national export, a medium
through which messages about race, gender and power are transmitted not only
nationally but also internationally.
What is it about professional basketball that Malveaux detests?
a. It reinforces gender stereotypes.
b. It reinforces male stereotypes.
c. It reinforces sports stereotypes.
d. It reinforces extracurricular stereotypes.
“Women’s Rights as Human Rights: Toward a Re-Vision of Human Rights,”
Charlotte Bunch
Charlotte Bunch notes that “no government determines its policies toward other
countries on the basis of their treatment of women.” In addition, she argues, human
rights organizations rarely treat women as a priority. Government and non-government
agencies alike tend to see women’s concerns as trivial, private, or simply outside the
purview of human rights issues. Noting that “sexism kills,” Bunch identifies the many
concerns of women that must be made a priority if human rights are to be obtained.
The physical territory of the political struggle over what constitutes women’s human
rights is:
a. the privacy of the home
b. women’s bodies
c. Congress
d. The United Nations
“Policing the National Body: Sex, Race, and Criminalization” Jael Silliman
Jael Silliman has defined policing the society within the context of race and class.
Politicians, representing mainstream America, have ignored or rarely addressed issues
of poverty, criminalization and race that are pressing for communities of color. Good
policing among the disadvantaged appear to be the new societal wisdom. Silliman
believes such a view negates dealing with the root causes of poverty and racism.
Jael Silliman believes that despite the surge in _______________, it is widely accepted
that prisons encourage recidivism, transform the occasional offender into a habitual
delinquent, fail to eliminate crime, and ignore the social problems that drive individuals
to engage in illegal actions.
a. incarceration rates
b. prison guards
c. offenders
d. prison administrators
“Sustainable Food and Privilege: Why is Green Always White (and Male and
Upper Class)” Janani Balasubramanian
Food justice, Janani Balasubramanian argues, is fundamentally a race and class issue,
and food activists are not speaking about it as such. The emphahsis on local food
economy fails to recognize the importance of United States support of agriculture in
other parts of the world. Activists of color who do admirable work in their communities
are often ignored by White activist writers and film makers. Thus we do not hear the
“variety of voices’ that needs to be heard if universal food reform is to be achieved.
Balasubramania claims that many White male food activists situate the current state of
American food consumption in a _____________ paradigm.
a. anti-racist
b. pro-globalization
c. patriarchal
d. broadly diverse and inclusive
“Interpreting and Experiencing Anti-Queer Violence: Race, Class and gender
Differences Among LGBT Hate Crime Victims,” Doug Meyer
Doug Meyer uses an intersectional approach and a qualitative methodology to explore
how victims of violence in the LBGT community experience victimization differently
according to race, class gender and sexuality. Meyer finds that multiple intersecting
oppressed statuses make the identification of hate crime more complicated for all but
middle and upper class White gay men. Those statutes may then serve primarily the
interests of those White men, not the interests of lesbian and bisexual women, and
particularly not LGBT people of color.
_________________ makes possible some forms of homophobic violence and
_______________ makes possible some forms of racial violence, according to Meyer.
a. racism/homophobia
b. hate/misunderstanding
c. prejudice/discrimination
d. sexism/racism
“The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria,” Judith Ortiz
Cofer
In her essay,Judith Ortiz Cofer offers her experience as a Puerto Rican woman. She
discusses how cultural differences have singled her out as a target of stereotypes,
disapproval, and inappropriate treatment by members of mainstream society. Cofer
recognizes the voice her education has given her, and she uses it to open others up to
her culture and experiences.
According to Judith Ortiz Cofer in “The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl
Named Maria,” what has helped her in dealing with ethnic and racial prejudice?
a. economic independence
b. education, books, and art
c. a strong family network
d. a political voice
“Darker Shade of Queer,” Chung-suk Han
Chung-suk Han writes as a gay man of color who must confront racism in
“gayborhoods’ and gay organizations and must at the same time confront homophobia
among people of color. Ultimately, he says, the crisis for gay men of color is a crisis of
masculinity ” a crisis that manifests in different ways for gay men of diverse races.
If gay white men are masculine, they are masculine compared to:
a. gay Asian men
b. women
c. non-gay men
d. gay Black men