Question 1

How do many governments in Africa regard homosexuality?

Accepted Answer

Many governments in Africa believe that homosexuality is a result of Western influence and view the practice as a threat to local culture and values. In some countries, homosexuality is even criminalized and can result in imprisonment or violence towards individuals who identify as LGBTQ+.

Question 2

Which term describes people whose sexual attraction to others can include both sexes?

Accepted Answer

Bisexual means someone who is attracted to both sexes, while transgender refers to someone who identifies as a gender different from the one they were assigned at birth. Homosexual means someone who is attracted to the same sex, and Two-Spirits is a Native American term for individuals who identify as having both a masculine and feminine spirit.

Question 3

When discussing sexual behavior, biologist and zoologist Alfred Kinsey is quoted as saying, "The world is not to be divided into sheep and goats." To what would he likely have been referring when he said this?

Accepted Answer

When Kinsey said "the world is not to be divided into sheep and goats," he was likely referring to the idea that sexual behavior is not a simple binary of either being "normal" or "deviant." Instead, he believed that people's sexual behavior and preferences existed on a continuum, with a range of experiences and desires that were not easily categorized as either "good" or "bad." This idea countered prevailing beliefs at the time that there was a fixed and immutable set of sexual norms, and helped to pave the way for a more nuanced understanding of human sexuality.

Question 4

Pornography has been attacked, censored, and subjected to legal controls for a long time. Each attempt seems to result in an increase in its dissemination and consumption. Why do governments make such efforts to stop pornography?

Accepted Answer

Governments want to regulate the discourse around sexuality. Pornography is often seen as a social and moral issue, and governments believe that regulating it can help control the society's values around sex and relationships. They might also be concerned about the potential harm that pornography can cause, such as promoting violence against women or creating unrealistic expectations about sex. However, attempts to censor or ban pornography often fail, as people find ways to access it despite legal restrictions.

Question 5

Recently, the government of China began a crackdown on the practice of hiring strippers to perform at funerals in rural parts of the country, a practice that many see as normal, but to others might seem odd or even bizarre. What effect might such a prohibition have?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Recently, the government of China began a...

Question 6

How does Mignon Moore's work describe the experience of being a middle-class black lesbian?

Accepted Answer

Mignon Moore's work describes the experience of being a middle-class black lesbian as a unique status reflecting the intersectionality of race, class, and sexuality. This means that being a middle-class black lesbian involves experiences and challenges that are specific to the intersection of these identities, rather than being the same as the experience of being a middle-class white lesbian, black heterosexual woman, or black heterosexual man.

Question 7

Michel Foucault was a gay man whose writing about sexuality was informed by his own lived experience. What was his view about sexuality in every culture?

Accepted Answer

Michel Foucault's view was that sexuality was not just a personal matter, but an arena where relations of power were worked out. He argued that power operates through social institutions, such as medicine, the law, and psychiatry, to regulate sexual behavior and define sexual norms. In every culture, Foucault saw sexuality as an object of knowledge and control, shaped by the prevailing discourses and practices of power. By analyzing the ways in which power operates through sexuality, Foucault aimed to expose the social and political forces that underlie sexual attitudes and practices.

Question 8

For the Victorians, masturbation was a form of self-abuse and seen as dangerous. Why was this particular sexual activity strongly condemned?

Accepted Answer

Victorian society placed a strong emphasis on the procreative purpose of sex and believed that any sexual activity not intended for procreation was unnatural and sinful. Masturbation, which did not result in the possibility of pregnancy, was therefore viewed as a moral, social, and physical threat.

Question 9

The text notes that having a term to describe the sexual activities between opposite-sex persons (heterosexuality) is a fairly new concept in the United States. What led to the development of the term heterosexuality?

Accepted Answer

Richard von Krafft-Ebing's book Psychopathia Sexualis, published in the late 19th century, was one of the first works to explore sexuality outside of the context of reproduction and to examine sexual activity for pleasure. It was in this book that the terms "heterosexuality" and "homosexuality" were coined to describe sexual attractions and behaviors. Prior to this, in the United States, sexual activity between opposite-sex partners was not viewed as a distinct concept deserving of its own term, as sexual activity was primarily viewed through the lens of procreation.

Question 10

Some studies have found that 61 percent of men believe women give consent nonverbally through body language, though only 10 percent of women say they give consent through body language cues. To which issue are these finds related?

Accepted Answer

This finding relates to the issue of the need for improved consent policies advocating "only yes means yes". The discrepancy between men and women's beliefs about how consent is communicated highlights a lack of understanding and education about clear and explicit communication of consent. This underscores the importance of improving consent policies in order to avoid misunderstandings and potential sexual assault.

Question 11

In contemporary U.S. weddings, one common ritual is the act of the father "giving away" the bride. How does this tend to perpetuate a power dynamic that places women at a disadvantage?

Accepted Answer

The act of the father giving away the bride perpetuates the idea that women are property to be controlled and transferred from one owner to another. This reinforces traditional gender roles and the patriarchy.

Question 12

The work of early sexologists such as Kinsey tended to reinforce the idea of heterosexuality. In spite of this, what was one of the surprising results that Kinsey and his research revealed about sexual behavior in the United States?

Accepted Answer

Kinsey's research revealed that fantasies and same-sex attraction were much more common than previously believed. This challenged the dominant narrative of heterosexuality as the only acceptable sexual orientation, and provided important insights into the diversity of human sexual behavior.

Question 13

In Kano, Nigeria, Rudolf Gaudio found that men who have sex with other men use a special "code word" to describe themselves. What is that word?

Accepted Answer

The answer of In Kano, Nigeria, Rudolf Gaudio found that...

Question 14

Where does the dual categorization of sexuality as either homosexual or heterosexual come from?

Accepted Answer

The dual categorization of sexuality as either homosexual or heterosexual comes from Western cultural history, specifically from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This was a time when Western society began to define and categorize sexual identities and behaviors based on a binary understanding of gender and sexuality.

Question 15

'Yan daudu challenge the dominant norms of what aspect of northern Nigerian culture?

Accepted Answer

Yan Daudu, who are cross-dressing men who entertain at weddings and other social events in northern Nigeria, challenge the dominant norms of sexual behavior and gender roles in the region. Their performances involve exaggeratedly feminine and sexualized behavior, which subverts the traditional expectations of masculinity and heterosexuality in the culture.

Question 16

The work of Mignon Moore describes the experiences of lesbian African American women. Why do these women often struggle in their lives?

Accepted Answer

Lesbian African American women often struggle in their lives because they are forced to negotiate several different identities of race, class, and sexuality. These different identities may clash with each other and create challenges in their personal and social lives. The intersection of multiple marginalized identities can result in experiences of discrimination, marginalization, and oppression.

Question 17

How do the 'yan daudu in Nigeria see homosexual behavior?

Accepted Answer

The 'yan daudu in Nigeria view homosexual behavior as compatible with both marrying women and their Muslim faith. This reflects a complex understanding of gender and sexuality that is integrated into their cultural and religious identity.

Question 18

Many different cultural institutions and systems of power interconnect to regulate sexuality, affecting both individual lives and group experiences. How do anthropologists refer to this aspect of overlapping systems and institutions in our daily lives?

Accepted Answer

Anthropologists refer to this aspect of overlapping systems and institutions in our daily lives as intersectionality, which recognizes that various social categories, such as race, gender, class, and sexuality, intersect and influence one another to shape experiences of oppression and privilege.

Question 19

Sociologist Mignon Moore found that openly gay sexuality among minority communities was seen as an affront to what?

Accepted Answer

Mignon Moore found that openly gay sexuality among minority communities was seen as an affront to respectability, which refers to the idea that members of a community should behave in ways that are perceived as socially acceptable and upholding of cultural values. In this context, openly gay sexuality was seen as deviant and therefore not respectable.

Question 20

Cultural and governmental institutions define the age of consent, how marriage and divorce can be obtained, and reproductive rights such as abortion. In regulating these things, what are cultural and government institutions attempting to do?

Accepted Answer

Cultural and governmental institutions are attempting to control sexuality by regulating who can do what with whom and when they can do it. This includes defining the legal age of consent, regulating the process of obtaining marriage and divorce, and determining reproductive rights such as access to abortion. These regulations are put in place to enforce societal norms and values around sexuality and to prevent behaviors that may be deemed harmful or inappropriate.

Quiz 8: Sexuality