Review Questions

  1. Define and explain the difference between sex and gender. What does it mean to say that someone is “outside the binary”?
  2. What does it mean to say that gender is a “social construction”? Give examples of ways that people socially construct gender, ideally from your own life and observations.
  3. How do changes in subsistence technology affect gender relations? At what level of development are gender relations most unequal? Why?
  4. Define and explain androgyny. What advantages does androgyny bring in modern Western urban-industrial society? Would these same advantages apply to non-Western societies or those at lower levels of development? Why or why not?
  5. What movements for gender equality have been active over the past several centuries? What were the goals of these movements? What are the three waves of feminism? Did each succeed? How?
  6. Summarize and explain each of the three recent gender trends and issues cited in this chapter. What public policies might be developed to better address these issues?
  7. With regard to gender relations today, is the glass half empty or half full? What evidence of persistent gender inequality is presented in this chapter? How serious are these problems? What are some useful approaches to addressing these problems?