Deck 7: A Two-Bodied World

Question 1

How did the Murphys interpret the avoidance of eye contact practiced by Mundurucú women in the presence of men?

A) as a way for the women to protect themselves from male intrusion
B) as a form of respect and deference
C) as a means of signaling sexual interest
D) as expressing condensation and disinterest in all things male

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which of the following statements about the Mundurucú is true?

A) Women reject household responsibilities in order to play with the sacred trumpets all the time.
B) The Mundurucú have maintained their gendered customs despite influence from the outside world.
C) Men prefer nuclear family households and disapprove of women's houses.
D) Women's shared domestic responsibilities create powerful allegiances for defense against men.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

What is one way Mundurucú men and women maintain rigid separation from each other?

A) They do not have sex outside of marriage.
B) Men's ideologies justify male physical dominance of women.
C) Women's work is considered sacred.
D) They sleep in separate parts of the house.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Despite rigid gender separation systems, Mundurucú men help with domestic chores ________.

A) in old-age
B) when women go to work in the newly-developing factories
C) when their children are young
D) when living in nuclear family arrangements

Question 5

What is a bilum?

A) a manioc grinder
B) a looped string bag
C) a bedouin veil
D) a Mundurucú men's house

Question 6

In Melanesia, men want to menstruate. Why?

A) because women taunt men for not being able to become pregnant
B) to compensate for losing the sacred flutes
C) to release pollutants that collect in one's person
D) because the diet of New Guinea produces high levels of estrogen in men

Question 7

Which of the following is a primary form of social control characteristic of groups with high levels of face-to-face interaction?

A) gossip
B) monetary fines
C) small claims courts
D) warfare

Question 8

What is Wok Meri?

A) a daily schedule of housework and food preparation
B) a Melanesian male initiation ceremony
C) a New Guinea Highlands female savings and loan movement
D) a container that symbolizes women's work

Question 9

Which of the following is a Melanesian belief about reproduction?

A) Men provide the substance for pregnancy, women the receptacle.
B) Females make babies, but only males can make men.
C) Boys only mature through rigid initiation ceremonies, not biology alone.
D) all of the above

Question 10

In male insemination rites, semen is considered the equivalent of ________.

A) menstrual blood
B) water
C) spiritual power
D) breast milk

Question 11

In which culture area do men and women practice a gender separation system anthropologists call "mutual avoidance?"

A) Melanesia
B) the Middle East
C) New Guinea
D) Amazonia

Question 12

Islamic women in Sohari say that _______.

A) veils serve as a metaphor for reproduction
B) veiling enhances a woman's beauty
C) veils are marks of women's shame and subordination
D) veiling fosters friendships between men and women

Question 13

Alwad Áli Bedouin women _________.

A) forge strong bonds with each other
B) live in seclusion
C) are dependent on male protectors
D) all of the above

Question 14

What does Lila Abu-Lughod's work demonstrate?

A) Women are valued for reasons similar to men, such as for pride, boldness, and hard work.
B) Female sexuality is more important than romance or marital bonds.
C) Women must try to please men to uphold their feminine honor.
D) Contemporary Islamic feminists are working hard to discourage veiling among women.

Question 15

Domestic harems are often characterized by _______.

A) nuclear families and domestic violence
B) bonds of female solidarity
C) women who refuse to wear their veils
D) birth control and frequent abortions

Question 16

Which of the following themes is common to systems of gender separation?

A) Women can be powerful even if separate from men.
B) People believe that male and female human nature is fundamentally different.
C) Ritual objects, clothing, and other material items support gender separation.
D) all of the above

Question 17

Although many Westerners believe veils to be oppressive to Islamic women, veils also can ________.

A) be comfortable
B) thwart staring by strangers
C) make fashion statements
D) all of the above

Question 18

Alwad Áli women's poetry discusses all of the following except ______.

A) money
B) suffering
C) romance
D) honor

Question 19

Fatima Mernissi who grew up in the woman's side of a harem says that _________.

A) veiling protects men from the powers of women
B) domestic harems are really a form of female slavery
C) women prefer harem life to that found in other forms of residence
D) women yearn to trespass the system of separation

Question 20

Despite rigid gender separation, Egyptian Bedouin and Sohari women found power through ________.

A) avoiding men who would demean or try to seduce them
B) mocking their enemies from the safety of their veils
C) the emotional and material support of other women
D) all of the above

Question 21

Describe three themes or features that are common to systems of gender separation. Give examples.

Question 22

Wok Meri is an excellent example of how women have manipulated changes in the economic climate to their advantage. Discuss this system, commenting on its symbolic elements and the importance of blood relatives and fictive kinship.

Question 23

How do we as products of the Western world view women in the Middle East through our own veils? Discuss why the literature on these women is particularly problematic.

Question 24

When systems of gender separation change (and they do), what directions do they take? What comes after a "civil war" between men and women?

Question 25

All three case studies in this chapter demonstrate that deep ideological and material justifications underlie and enforce rigid gender separation systems. However different U.S. society may be from these cultures, we still perpetuate certain cultural beliefs that encourage separation between women and men. What are some of our gender separatist beliefs?

Question 26

In cults of manhood in places like New Guinea, females may make babies, but males believe that only they can make male children grow up to be men. What does this tell us about parenting in cultures with strong separation between males and females?