Deck 10: Who Owns Her Body

Question 1

Which of the following statements is false?

A) Women are beaten less often if they have some economic independence.
B) Worldwide, the supposedly worst crimes women commit are insubordination and disobedience.
C) The United States has the lowest rate of men abusing women of all industrialized countries.
D) Older women are generally less likely to be mistreated than are younger women.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Explanations offered for violence against women include which of the following?

A) neurology, chemistry, physiology-the workings of the human brain
B) social conditions such as poverty or unemployment
C) the unequal power relations between men and women
D) all of the above

Answer 2

D

Question 3

All of the following are major scholarly explanations for gendered violence except: __________

A) Violence is caused by social problems like poverty and substance abuse.
B) Certain cultures are naturally more violent than others.
C) Brain chemistry can produce violent behavior.
D) Male-female power relations often lead to violence between groups and individuals.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Which of the following statements about prostitution is true?

A) It is a multibillion dollar industry of major proportions in many countries.
B) It is a type of gendered work because only women are involved in it.
C) It is the opposite of the marriage relationship.
D) It can be eliminated through legislation.

Question 5

What of the following makes women the most vulnerable to battering and beating?

A) poverty
B) social isolation
C) sexual activity
D) having a job "outside the home"

Question 6

Around the world, women's bodies are controlled _________.

A) more than men's are
B) by authorities and family members
C) through ideology, violence, and economics
D) all of the above

Question 7

Wives retaliate against or protest the abuse by husbands by all of the following except _________.

A) refusing sanctuary
B) ignoring or disrespecting their husbands
C) using curses or poison to harm their spouses
D) committing suicide

Question 8

Husband beating and wife beating are not symmetrical. According to Daniel Levinson, husband beating occurs in about 27% of cultures, while _____ of cultures tolerate wife abuse.

A) 10%
B) 42%
C) 66%
D) 85%

Question 9

Which of the following statements about sexual tourism is true?

A) Contemporary governments discourage the commercial practice of sex.
B) Women who serve sexual tourists are the reason for the increase in global AIDS cases.
C) The United States supports and supervises institutionalized prostitution for military men abroad.
D) Their families shun Thai prostitutes for earning money with sex.

Question 10

The case study of rape on a college campus demonstrates ________.

A) that fraternity brothers who rape are rarely prosecuted for their actions
B) that women are safer on college campuses than they are in inner-city slums
C) that women raped at fraternity functions are treated with compassion by other fraternity members
D) that universities enforce strict laws and policies against rapes on campus

Question 11

Why do couples in India, China, and Pakistan have more sons than daughters?

A) because the diet in these countries leads to an imbalance in the sex ratio
B) because girls are not necessary for the survival of humankind
C) because the practices of infanticide and selective abortion specifically endanger girls
D) because national laws favor boys over girls

Question 12

Female genital cutting is dangerous because ________.

A) it is associated with militant religious groups
B) the anesthesia provided may cause heart failure
C) complications in urination, menstruation, and childbirth may result
D) angry cultural relativists use violence to try to stop the procedures from happening

Question 13

Which of the following statements about clitoridectomy is correct?

A) It refers to the removal of a woman's clitoris.
B) It is illegal in the United States.
C) It reduces the possibility of pregnancy.
D) It eliminates the possibility of orgasms.

Question 14

Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A) Rural Chinese culture dictates only males carry on the family name.
B) Daughters seem very expensive, especially to the poor, in Indian culture.
C) Amniocentesis and in-utero sex identification help Pakistani girls survive and thrive.
D) As family size decreases, the urgency to produce a son increases.

Question 15

In parts of Europe and the United States during the nineteenth and twentieth century, clitoridectomy was a remedy for all of the following except ________.

A) hysteria
B) excessive masturbation
C) painful childbirth
D) nymphomania

Question 16

Cross-culturally, a sanction __________.

A) may be positive or negative and either support or condemn a given action
B) is a place where women seek safety and shelter
C) is the legal punishment for wife beating
D) all of the above

Question 17

In Pakistan and Bangladesh, an honor killing can proceed on the basis of ________.

A) a woman engaging in an extramarital affair
B) accusations that a woman was flirting
C) having been raped
D) all of the above

Question 18

What would a critical cultural relativist argue?

A) Her/his perspective is most ethical.
B) Avoidance of harm and relative power relationships are key subjects to study.
C) Power is less important than politics.
D) Absolute cultural relativism is the only fair perspective to take in discussing other cultures.

Question 19

Domestic or intimate partner violence is _________.

A) asymmetrical-more men abuse woman than vice versa
B) symmetrical-men and women abuse their spouses about equally
C) only a myth perpetrated by feminists
D) a predictable outcome of getting married

Question 20

Women are less likely to be abused when they ___________.

A) are economically dependent on their husbands
B) live patrilocally
C) make a substantial economic contribution to the household
D) live in a gender segregated society

Question 21

What cultural conditions exist that commonly contribute to women being maltreated? Use examples from at least three cultures covered in this chapter.

Question 22

Comment on the gendered, economic, and international power dynamics that exist in the sexual tourism industry. Who faces the greater burden of these power asymmetries?

Question 23

Select three types of gendered violence that occur during women's lifetimes. Describe each of these phases and the risks women face in particular phases of the life course. Then, use your own experience (from your own life or that of someone you know) to provide an example of the risks in one of these phases.

Question 24

The United Nations has declared that gender inequality leads to "excess mortality" for girls in half of the world. Referring to examples from your text, discuss reasons why, in many societies, girls die more often than boys.

Question 25

Your text asks the question, "Are all customs neutral or justifiable because some culture or another does them?" Thoughtfully exploring ideas and examples from the chapter, discuss your personal position on cultural relativism.