CHAPTER 9: Gender Inequality
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Scholars use the term ________ to refer to biological differences between men and
women.
a. sex
b. gender
c. biosex
d. biogender
Answer: A
2. Scholars use the term ________ to refer to the psychological, social, and cultural
differences between women and men.
a. sex
b. gender
c. biosex
d. biogender
Answer: B
3. What is the difference between “sex” and “gender”?
a. Sex is a verb and gender is a noun.
b. Sex is a biological term; gender is a sociological term.
c. Sex refers to men; gender refers to women.
d. Sex refers to aggressive behavior; gender refers to expressive behavior.
Answer: B
4. Gender socialization begins:
a. at birth
b. around age two or three years
c. when the child starts school
d. at puberty
Answer: A
5. Sociological critics of gender socialization point out that:
a. testosterone increases aggression in monkeys; gender is clearly biologically determined
b. humans are active participants in their socialization, not passive recipients of “gender
programming” by “agencies of socialization”
c. agencies of socialization ensure socialization by seeing that children receive proper gender
socialization
d. gender differences are attributable to the roles of hunters and gatherers that men and
women, respectively, have historically assumed
Answer: B
6. In recent years, a growing number of sociologists who believe in the social construction of
gender have argued that:
a. only gender is socially constructed; sex is clearly biological
b. only sex is socially constructed; gender is clearly biological
c. both gender and sex are socially constructed
d. neither gender nor sex is socially constructed
Answer: C
7. In her classic study of gender roles in three New Guinea tribes, Margaret Mead found:
a. they all had essentially the same gender roles as those in the United States
b. the gender roles in all three were exactly reversed from those in the United States
c. gender roles varied significantly from one tribe to the other
d. the gender roles varied slightly, but none were essentially different from those in the
United States
Answer: C
8. Which sex is the dominant and aggressive one among the !Kung of the Kalahari Desert?
a. The men are dominant because they provide most of the food.
b. The women are dominant, especially in their authoritarian approach to child rearing.
c. Men are aggressive in providing most of the food, but women are aggressive when it
comes to sex.
d. Neither is aggressive because aggressive behavior is discouraged for both genders in
!Kung society.
Answer: D
9. What is the term used for individuals in some Asian, South Pacific, and North American
societies who adopt the gender behavior ascribed by their culture for members of the opposite
sex?
a. berdache
b. transvestite
c. androgynous
d. heterosexual
Answer: A
10. Variations in gender roles found in the many different societies studied by social scientists
demonstrate that:
a. gender roles are biologically determined
b. gender roles are culturally determined
c. social scientists are biased and do not understand gender roles
d. there is no such thing as gender role
Answer: B
11. Overall, sociologists conclude that:
a. biology is destiny because the gender roles of men and women are fixed by their physical
differences
b. culture plays a minor role in defining gender roles, but biology is the main influence
c. biology creates physical differences between women and men, but culture plays the central
role in defining specific gender roles
d. biology plays no role in the differences between men and women—culture is the only force
determining gender differences
Answer: C
12. Male dominance in a society is called:
a. patriarchy
b. matriarchy
c. masculinity
d. berdache
Answer: A
13. ________ refers to any difference in status, power, and prestige between men and women
in groups, collectives, and societies.
a. Patriarchy
b. Matriarchy
c. Gender inequality
d. Berdache
Answer: C
14. When sociologists refer to a patriarchal society, they are describing a society:
a. that routinely tests newborn babies to determine the identity of the father
b. that respects the elderly
c. in which men dominate economic and political institutions
d. in which chivalrous behavior from men is rewarded
Answer: C
15. Over the last 50 years, women’s participation in the paid labor force:
a. has gone up and down with no clear pattern
b. has dropped steadily
c. has risen steadily
d. dropped for the first 25 years, but has risen for the last 25
Answer: C
16. ________ occurs when women are steered into poorly paid jobs with few prospects for
career advancement.
a. Patriarchy
b. Masculinization
c. Gender typing
d. Gender filing
Answer: C
17. In 2009, women held 98 percent of the jobs in which of the following occupations?
a. secretary
b. college professor
c. lawyer
d. family practice physician
Answer: A
18. Which of the following assumptions is commonly held about women and work?
a. Women are better skilled than men for support positions in office settings than in
managerial positions.
b. Women have natural leadership skills that are best displayed in emergency situations.
c. Women are naturally more capable than men in executive situations that require quick
responses.
d. Women have a more global perspective on economic issues than men.
Answer: A
19. Which of the following generally describes the attitudes of men and women about their
careers?
a. Both men and women recognize that a woman’s career is more important than child care
responsibilities.
b. Both men and women believe that a man’s career is more important than a woman’s career.
c. Men may believe their careers are more important than women’s careers but women do not
believe this assertion.
d. Both women and men aspire to enter professional and managerial roles in the workplace.
Answer: D
20. Although in the past 30 years the pay gap between men and women has ________, on
average ________.
a. increased slightly; pay rates are essentially equal
b. increased a lot; women make substantially more than men
c. narrowed; women make substantially more than men
d. narrowed; men make substantially more than women
Answer: D
21. In 2008, women earned ________ of what men earned, on average, for working full time.
a. 50 percent
b. 65 percent
c. 80 percent
d. 98 percent
Answer: C
22. ________ is a policy that compares pay rates for different jobs based on a presumably
objective assessment of skill, effort, responsibility, and working conditions.
a. Gender typing
b. Comparable worth
c. Comparable work
d. The glass ceiling
Answer: B
23. ________ is a policy that pays employees based on the worth of their work rather than the
personal characteristics of the majority of workers in that job.
a. Radical feminism
b. Comparable worth
c. Comparable work
d. Gender typing
Answer: B
24. An organization with a promotion barrier that prevents a woman’s upward mobility is said
to have:
a. a patriarchy
b. gender typing
c. comparable worth
d. a glass ceiling
Answer: D
25. Men in traditionally female occupations often experience a ________, according to a
1992 study by Christine Williams.
a. patriarchy
b. matriarchy
c. comparable worth problem
d. glass escalator
Answer: D
26. More than one half of the graduates from colleges of business administration are women.
In most cases, these graduates are able to find fairly good entry-level positions. However, for
women, their mobility up the corporate hierarchy is often thwarted. This barrier is called:
a. the nurturing of gender difference
b. the high-tech hurdle
c. the glass ceiling
d. patriarchal revenge
Answer: C
27. What do sociologists mean when they refer to the “second shift” for working women?
a. the shift of women workers from industrial jobs to service jobs
b. the movement of women from teaching primary grades to high school or secondary
teaching
c. the fact that most women found it more acceptable to work from 5:00 P.M. to 1:00 A.M.
rather than the first shift from 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.
d. the burden of housework that awaits women when they return home from work
Answer: D
28. Unwanted or repeated sexual advances, remarks, or behaviors that are offensive to the
recipient and cause discomfort or interference with job performance constitute:
a. patriarchy
b. gender typing
c. sexual harassment
d. a glass escalator
Answer: C
29. As men usually have more ________ than women, women are more often the victims of
sexual harassment.
a. sex drive
b. power
c. intelligence
d. wealth
Answer: B
30. Which type of sexual harassment involves the demand for sexual favors as a condition of
the job or in return for work-related benefits?
a. quid pro quo
b. quid pro bono
c. hostile work environment
d. functional reciprocity
Answer: A
31. In the United States, it is illegal for an employer to ask a job candidate which of the
following questions?
a. What is your educational background?
b. How many employers have you had?
c. How many children do you have?
d. Do you mind wearing a tie to work?
Answer: C
32. When it comes to work in the home, women do most of the ________, whereas men do
most of the ________.
a. housework; child care
b. child care; housework
c. daily chores; occasional tasks
d. occasional tasks; daily chores
Answer: C
33. As a result of differential treatment in schools, girls are socialized to be:
a. quiet
b. inquisitive
c. active problem solvers
d. group leaders
Answer: A
34. In what way do teachers show a bias against girls in the classroom?
a. Teachers punish girls more often for their misbehavior, whereas boys’ bad behavior is more
often tolerated.
b. Teachers solicit boys’ involvement in class discussions if they do not voluntarily
participate.
c. While it is true that teachers have a bias against girls, female teachers are less likely to
show this bias.
d. Teachers are more likely to call on girls for answers, which often causes embarrassment for
the girls.
Answer: B
35. Which of the following statements accurately describes the political status of women in
the United States?
a. Equal rights for women is important in American ideology, which explains why the United
States leads the world in the number of women participating as elected officials.
b. Using the United Nations’ gender power rankings, the United States ranks behind northern
European countries like Sweden and Finland.
c. Using the United Nations’ gender power rankings, the United States ranks highest among
Western industrialized countries.
d. Women’s representation in the U.S. Congress mirrors their proportion of the total
population.
Answer: B
36. Which of the following is an accurate assessment of rape?
a. A key difference between men’s and women’s beliefs about rape is in the varying
definitions of forced sex.
b. Men and women agree on exactly what constitutes rape; they disagree on the percentages
of women who are raped.
c. In most cases, rapists are sexual predators who are easily identified in the government’s
sexual predator database.
d. Few women know their rapist, making it very difficult to arrest and prosecute him.
Answer: A
37. Why are women so often the targets of sexual violence?
a. Women increasingly dress in revealing clothing that excites men.
b. The key culprit in the increase in sexual assaults against women is MTV.
c. Men believe that they are entitled to have sex with a woman.
d. Women will rarely fight back, whereas a man attempting to rape a man could be seriously
harmed by the victim.
Answer: C
38. According to the functionalist sociologist Talcott Parsons, the family is most efficient
when it operates with a clear sexual division of labor, with the females performing the
________ role and males performing the ________ role.
a. expressive; instrumental
b. instrumental; expressive
c. gender; sex
d. sex; gender
Answer: A
39. Which of the following assumptions do all perspectives on feminist thought share?
a. that women have an unequal position in society
b. a rejection of the idea that gender has an influence on social life
c. a belief that the roots of gender inequality are in biology
d. that the American family is a matriarchy
Answer: A
40. Which perspective explains gender inequalities in terms of social and cultural attitudes
and argues for solutions that involve working within the existing system toward gradual
reform?
a. liberal feminism
b. radical feminism
c. black feminism
d. Parsonian functionalism
Answer: A
41. ________ is the systematic domination of females by males.
a. Gender
b. Sex
c. Matriarchy
d. Patriarchy
Answer: D
42. Which perspective argues that men are responsible for and benefit from the exploitation
of women, and advocates abolition of the family and the power relations that characterize it?
a. liberal feminism
b. radical feminism
c. black feminism
d. Parsonian functionalism
Answer: B
43. Which perspective focuses on the interaction of race, class, and gender in the
disadvantages faced by women?
a. liberal feminism
b. radical feminism
c. black feminism
d. Parsonian functionalism
Answer: C
44. Which type of feminism would be most likely to reject the statement “sisterhood is
universal”?
a. liberal feminism
b. black feminism
c. radical feminism
d. functionalist feminism
Answer: B
45. Which type of feminism rejects the idea that women have a unified identity and
experiences?
a. radical feminism
b. functionalist feminism
c. liberal feminism
d. black feminism
Answer: D
46. ________ has exposed people throughout the world to ideas about equality and
democracy.
a. Feminism
b. Marxism
c. Globalization
d. The sociological imagination
Answer: C
47. Which agency has helped to develop ties among women’s movements in countries around
the world?
a. World Health Organization
b. International Roundtable of Global Corporations
c. United Nations
d. National Security Administration
Answer: C
48. What is the goal of the United Nations Conference on Women?
a. to promote the traditional role of women in bearing children, raising them, and ensuring the
domestic tranquility of the home
b. to ensure women’s equal access to economic resources, including vocational training and
markets
c. to ensure that no country interferes with the gender role definitions of another
d. to catapult women into government leadership positions
Answer: B
49. Which of the following issues is NOT addressed in the Platform for Action agreed to at
the 1995 United Nations women’s conference in Beijing?
a. the burden of poverty on women
b. violence against women
c. inequality between men and women in power and decision making
d. the division of household labor among men and women
Answer: D
TRUE/FALSE
1. Gender socialization begins when children enter school.
Answer: False
2. In all cultures, men are naturally more aggressive than women.
Answer: False
3. Gender roles vary greatly from culture to culture.
Answer: True
4. The ways that people “do gender” are universal.
Answer: False
5. Men are more powerful than women in most societies throughout the world.
Answer: True
6. Since 1970, women have increased their participation in traditionally male jobs.
Answer: True
7. The gender pay gap has narrowed so considerably that men and women now earn the same
amount of money for the same type of work.
Answer: False
8. Gender inequalities are inevitable and unchangeable.
Answer: False
9. Gender inequality is best understood as a separate issue from class and race.
Answer: False
10. Black feminism challenges other feminist perspectives that do not address race.
Answer: True
Test Bank for Essentials of Sociology
Anthony Giddens, Mitchell Duneier, Richard P Appelbaum, Deborah Carr
9780393932379, 9780393674088, 9780393937459, 9780393918830
