Deck 7: Sex and Marriage

Question 1

Which statement regarding homosexual behaviour in Papua New Guinea is true?

A) Same-sex contact is socially acceptable among men but not among women.
B) Any homosexual behavior is taboo and is severely punished.
C) Homosexual contact occurs among young men after their initiation rites.
D) It is believed that premarital homosexual activity makes men week and sterile.

Answer 1

Homosexual contact occurs among young men after their initiation rites.

Question 2

What is the term for a relationship between spouses who are recognized by society as having a continuing right to sexual access to each other?

A) family
B) marriage
C) incest
D) sex

Answer 2

marriage

Question 3

The Nayar of southwest India were members of a warrior caste? Who held their landed estates?

A) untouchables
B) unmarried males from a single patrilineage
C) priestly patrilineages
D) matrilineal corporations

Answer 3

matrilineal corporations

Question 4

Marriage resolves the problem of how to bring sexual activity under control.Which sort of control does it use?

A) biological
B) male
C) cultural
D) psychological

Question 5

Gilbert Herdt initially interpreted Sambia male initiation rituals as homosexual.Why did he revise his interpretation?

A) Same-sex behaviour lasted only until the male married a woman and produced children.
B) The male-male activity he considered homosexual was merely play-acting.
C) The Sambia recognize homosexuality as both a lifestyle and a lifetime partnership.
D) His Sambia interpreters did not understand his questions.

Question 6

What did Chinese sisterhood movements in 19th-century Guangdon province involve?

A) intense friendships among women without sexual relations
B) the development of friendships among women that ended when members married men
C) intense friendships among women that continue today on the mainland but not in Taiwan
D) the development of support networks for women

Question 7

Which statement best describes an important shortcoming of attempts to define human sexuality,according to Jeffrey weeks?

A) The definitions require acknowledging that human sexuality is also a cultural construct.
B) The definitions require some experience of deviant sexual behaviour.
C) The definitions are most successful when the biological nature of sexuality is explored.
D) The definitions are not as important as defining and promoting celibacy and chastity.

Question 8

There has been very little anthropological research on human sexuality.What is NOT one of the reasons for this?

A) The topic has been thoroughly and appropriately explored by both psychologists and sociologists.
B) Anthropologists are often ill at ease discussing human sexuality.
C) People in most societies regard their sexual activity as a very private topic.
D) Women are often reluctant to discuss their sexuality with male anthropologists.

Question 9

What is a recent major trend in human sexuality that social scientists have noticed?

A) increased general acceptance of sex outside marriage
B) increased sexual relationships outside of marriage
C) an overall increase in human sexual activity
D) a decline in premarital sexual relations

Question 10

How does North American adolescent sexuality resemble the Trobriand pattern?

A) Children of seven or eight begin playing "doctor" when unsupervised.
B) By the time youth are in their mid-teens,weekend dates are considered acceptable.
C) Neither boys nor girls have an advantage as they engage in their love affairs;rather,there is equality between them.
D) Teen sexual interests and practices are subject to social pressure and comment from the community at large.

Question 11

According to Annette Weiner,which statement best characterizes adolescent sexual activity among Trobriand Islanders?

A) It is purely a biological response to hormonal fluctuation.
B) It is conducted in secret to avoid public disapproval.
C) It is a warning sign of Western-inspired social breakdown.
D) It is a process of learning how to create adult relationships with non-relatives.

Question 12

Which statement regarding the composition of a household among the Nayar is true?

A) A household was composed of a man,his wife or wives,and their children.
B) A household was composed of kin related through a line of females.
C) A household was composed of several couples joined by conjugal bonds.
D) A woman's children did not live with her but rather with her husband.

Question 13

All societies have rules of sexual access,but there is a great deal of variation.About what percentage of societies prohibit all sexual relationships outside of marriage?

A) 5 percent
B) 15 percent
C) 30 percent
D) 50 percent

Question 14

The textbook uses the Nayar of southwest India to illustrate that rules about sexual access can be highly variable.For example,which of the following was true about the Nayar?

A) Men were never required to acknowledge paternity for children.
B) Women went through three transactions that defined sexual eligibility,rights of sexual access,and legitimacy of children.
C) Women would marry several times during their lifetime,but only if there were no children by the previous marriage.
D) Women were expected to remain faithful to their husbands.

Question 15

How does your text define marriage?

A) a relationship between spouses who are recognized by society as having a continuing right to sexual access to each other
B) a legal union between a man and a woman
C) a union in which a man and a woman promise to love,honour,and respect each other throughout their lifetimes and support their children
D) a physical and spiritual union between at least two people

Question 16

Which of the following statements about women among the Nayar is correct?

A) After her first period,a Nayar girl left home to live in her mother's brother's household.
B) Nayar women were involved in frequent disputes with their lovers over sexual access.
C) The man to whom a Nayar woman had been joined shortly before her first menstrual cycle became the legal father of all her children.
D) During her lifetime,a Nayar woman would have formal sexual relations with several men.

Question 17

Which term best describes the kin category of Nayar households?

A) patrilateral
B) affinal
C) consanguineal
D) nuclear

Question 18

With regard to control over sexual relations,what have anthropologists frequently observed?

A) Human sexual activity is increasingly random.
B) Fathers in most societies have given up trying to restrict adolescent sexual activity,but mothers have not.
C) The virginity of young girls is no longer an adult concern in most societies.
D) Where adolescent sexual experimentation is accepted,young people usually marry soon after reaching biological maturity.

Question 19

What have most anthropological studies of same-sex relationships concluded?

A) They are universally regarded with disapproval.
B) In most of the cultures studied,male homosexuality was socially acceptable.
C) They are a very recent development,occurring only since the rise of cities.
D) Lesbians are treated with more tolerance and acceptance than are gay men.

Question 20

Which statement regarding "two-spirited" people in Aboriginal North America is true?

A) They represent the original gender.
B) They may play important spiritual roles in their community.
C) Their existence is often legitimized by dreams or visions
D) They did not exist until the Europeans arrived.

Question 21

In Canada,which of the following statements about violations of the incest taboo is true?

A) They affect less than one percent of the Canadian population.
B) They are most likely to be committed by uncles of incest victims.
C) They are more likely to involve female than male victims.
D) They are reported most of the time.

Question 22

Which kin term applies to a group of people related by marriage?

A) nepotic
B) consanguineal
C) cogitative
D) affinal

Question 23

By World Health Organization (WHO)estimates,how many women around the world have undergone some form of female circumcision?

A) 20 million
B) 60 million
C) 130 million
D) 200 million

Question 24

In which of the following areas have clitoridectomies NOT been practised?

A) the Christian nations of Africa
B) the Muslim nations of Africa
C) the South Pacific Islands
D) the United States

Question 25

Detailed census records made in Roman Egypt indicate that brother-sister marriages among members of the non-royal farming class were common.What does this tell us about the incest taboo?

A) that humans are no different from chimpanzees
B) that incest is committed mainly among the lower classes in developing countries
C) that despite the human tendency to avoid inbreeding,it sometimes is actually encouraged
D) that it supports Freud's findings about the universality of the Oedipus complex

Question 26

"Familiarity breeds contempt." Which theoretical approach to the incest taboo does that statement reflect?

A) genetic
B) instinct
C) psychoanalytical
D) social

Question 27

What explanation did Claude Levi-Strauss offer for the universality of the incest taboo?

A) Humans are instinctively and genetically against inbreeding.
B) Humans have learned exogamy to establish alliances with strangers and thereby to share and develop culture.
C) Humans have learned over millions of years to repress their sexual desire for a parent of the opposite sex.
D) Humans do not like having sexual relations with people they know well.

Question 28

Which term applies to the relationship between a man and a woman who are married?

A) consanguineal
B) cohabiting
C) conjugal
D) endogamous

Question 29

Which statement regarding first-cousin marriage is true?

A) It is prohibited by the Canadian government.
B) The European Catholic Church accepts it.
C) It is the leading cause of many birth defects where it is practised.
D) It is a preferred form of marriage in many societies.

Question 30

Which of the following is indicated by cross-cultural research on children's legitimacy?

A) In Canada,a child's legitimacy depends only upon the financial status of its mother.
B) Among the Pueblo Native Americans,fatherhood is irrelevant to a child's legitimacy.
C) Among the Nayar of India,a child's legitimacy was established by its mother's brothers.
D) In Germany,the child of a single mother is considered legally illegitimate.

Question 31

What does Pharaonic circumcision involve?

A) removal of only the clitoral prepuce,or hood
B) removal of just the tip of the clitoris
C) removal of the entire clitoris and the labia minora
D) removal of all external genitalia,with suturing/stitching of the opening

Question 32

What does the rule "clan exogamy,village endogamy" refer to?

A) Individuals from different clans but the same village may marry.
B) Individuals from the same clan but different villages may marry.
C) Cousins are prohibited from marrying if they are from the same village.
D) All individuals must marry outside their village.

Question 33

Which term applies to relatives who are related genetically (by blood)?

A) affinal
B) consanguineal
C) endogamous
D) nuclear

Question 34

Concepts of incest seem to be related to a society's definitions of endogamy and exogamy.Taking this into consideration,which type of relationships may be promoted by incest taboos?

A) alliances between groups
B) inbreeding
C) arranged marriages
D) parallel cousin marriage

Question 35

Relationships between which relatives are usually NOT forbidden by incest taboos?

A) mothers and sons
B) brothers and sisters
C) first cousins
D) fathers and daughters

Question 36

It has been theorized that there is a biological basis for humans to avoid inbreeding.Which of the following challenges such theories?

A) Chimpanzees frequently mate with siblings as well as with their own offspring.
B) Brother-sister marriage was preferred by members of the ruling class in Roman Egypt.
C) There are no heterosexual relationships between children raised together on the same Israeli kibbutz.
D) Many societies do not have specific rules prohibiting parent-child or brother-sister incest.

Question 37

The Nayar marriage system slowly came to an end in the late 19th century.Which of the following would NOT be considered an explanation for its disappearance?

A) The warrior caste was dissolved by the British.
B) Nayar women demanded economic and political independence from their brothers.
C) Nayar inheritance laws were changed by the British.
D) Nayar marriage patterns were viewed as immoral by British colonists and were outlawed.

Question 38

What is a specific example of how the law in Canada treats marriages between family members?

A) There are no specific laws banning brother-sister marriage.
B) Marriage between uncles and nieces or aunts and nephews is legal.
C) Marriage between first cousins is perfectly legal.
D) Some provinces ban first-cousin marriage,others do not.

Question 39

What does endogamy refer to?

A) marriage between same-sex couples
B) marriage within a particular group of individuals
C) marriage between unrelated individuals
D) marriage between people of similar educational and economic backgrounds

Question 40

Which term is used by anthropologists to refer to the cutting,removal,or altering of part or all of a female's external genitalia?

A) vaginal mutilation
B) clitoridectomy
C) female circumcision
D) subincision

Question 41

Which of the following is usually true of a Nandi woman who agrees to marry a female husband?

A) She is at the end of her child-bearing years and wishes to start a new life.
B) She has been unable to make a good marriage,often because she has illegitimate children.
C) She is satisfied with her present social status and wants to share her prestige.
D) She is at the end of her child-bearing life and her sons have all married.

Question 42

What is one of the advantages of woman-woman marriage among the Nandi of western Kenya?

A) The status of a woman who has no sons and becomes a female husband is heightened to almost equal that of men.
B) If the woman who becomes the wife of a female husband has a child,that child is considered legitimate.
C) It improves both women's likelihood of finding a male husband quickly.
D) The partners in a woman-woman marriage double their access to land.

Question 43

A woman marries and goes to live with her husband in his village.When the woman dies ten years later,her husband marries his deceased wife's sister.What is the term for this custom?

A) the sororate
B) the levirate
C) polygyny
D) polyandry

Question 44

In some societies,if a husband dies and leaves a wife and children,his widow is expected to practise the custom called the levirate.What does this custom expect of her?

A) to never marry again
B) to leave the group and return to her original home
C) to marry one of the dead man's brothers
D) to marry a widower whose wife has died

Question 45

In which circumstances will the majority of men and women be in polygynous marriages (in those societies that allow polygyny)?

A) when men are heavily involved in productive work for little wealth
B) when women are dependent on men for support
C) when the mean age for females at marriage is well below that of males
D) when women are more valued as childbearers than as labourers

Question 46

In which of the following are forms of same-sex marriages or partnerships are now recognized?

A) China
B) parts of the United States
C) Iran
D) Afghanistan

Question 47

According to Yehudi Cohen,when does the need for extended incest taboos cease?

A) when people understand the genetic dangers of inbreeding
B) when people become civilized
C) when governments and other institutions have control of trade
D) when urbanization occurs

Question 48

What is the preferred form of marriage around the world?

A) polygyny
B) monogamy
C) polyandry
D) polygamy

Question 49

Among First Nations groups such as the Blackfoot,which of the following best describes the form that marriages took after the introduction of horses and the expansion of the fur trade?

A) polygynous
B) polyandrous
C) monogamous
D) highly unstable

Question 50

Which of the following is true of Canada today?

A) Fewer than half a million couples live in common-law relationships.
B) Common-law relationships are declining rapidly as more people embrace marriage.
C) Common-law families have grown more than any other type of family.
D) Common-law marriages are most common in British Columbia.

Question 51

What of the following statements about polygyny is true?

A) It is defined as marriage to more than one man.
B) It is an example of group marriage.
C) It is permitted in most of the world's cultures.
D) It is less common than polyandry.

Question 52

Which of the following is characteristic of polyandry as practiced by the Tibetans?

A) There is frequently a shortage of men.
B) Polyandry helps to prevent the constant subdividing of farmlands among sons.
C) Polyandry increases the number of descendants a man will have.
D) Polyandry prevents the ratio of men to women from getting out of balance.

Question 53

What is the term for marriage to more than one husband?

A) monogamy
B) polygyny
C) polyandry
D) sororate

Question 54

An older Nuer wife might take another woman as a "wife." Why would she do so?

A) because she wants to have more time for herself and reduce her obligations to her husband
B) because the young woman would bring her own livestock holdings into the family
C) because she plans to divorce her husband and marry someone else
D) because she wants more female companionship

Question 55

What is the only legal form of marriage in Canada today?

A) polygamy
B) monogamy
C) polygyny
D) polyandry

Question 56

In Tibet a young man lives with his older brother,who is married.The younger brother begins to think about setting up his own tent and taking his share of the yaks and pastures.One night his brother's wife gives him her necklace.In Tibetan culture this is an invitation for him to become her second husband.If he accepts,he will remain with his brother and share the same tent.What is his sister-in-law offering him?

A) a polyandrous marriage
B) a polygynous marriage
C) a chance take the place of her first husband
D) an adulterous relationship

Question 57

Which of the following is common in many polygynous societies?

A) Junior wives try to dominate senior wives.
B) Wives must live outside the main household.
C) Wives and their children maintain separate household compounds.
D) Women are entirely economically dependent on their husbands' brothers' labour.

Question 58

Which of the following is true in Canada?

A) Same-sex couples enjoy tax benefits but not pension benefits as common law couples.
B) Same-sex couples do NOT enjoy the same tax and pension benefits as common law couples.
C) Same-sex couples do enjoy the same tax and pension benefits as common law couples.
D) Same-sex couples enjoy pension benefits but not tax benefits as common law couples.

Question 59

When is sororal polygyny said to have occurred?

A) when a man marries his sister
B) when sisters become co-wives to brothers
C) when a woman marries her deceased sister's husband
D) when the co-wives of a man are sisters

Question 60

Which of the following best explains why monogamy is the most common form of marriage around the world?

A) Most men cannot afford polygyny,even if they are permitted to have more than one wife.
B) Monogamy is the only form of marriage that most people consider morally acceptable.
C) Both forms of polygamy are plagued by jealousy among co-spouses.
D) Monogamy encourages long-lasting,affectionate relationships between spouses.

Question 61

In ancient Greece and in traditional China,what was a man doing when he married his father's brother's daughter?

A) keeping property within the single male line of descent
B) practising matrilateral parallel-cousin marriage
C) practising patrilateral cross-cousin marriage
D) repaying a social debt to his father

Question 62

Which of the following statements about the purpose of the levirate and the sororate is true?

A) They are symbolic forms of brother-sister marriage intended to keep family property from being dispersed upon inheritance.
B) They give non-kin a valid kinship status..
C) They allow children of a widow or widower to gain a fictive kinship identity status.
D) They function to maintain the existing kinship relationships between the family of the bride and the family of the groom.

Question 63

Canada's legislature changed family law when it passed Bill C-38,on June 28,2005.What did this bill legalize in all parts of Canada?

A) some forms of polygyny
B) first cousin marriage
C) same-sex marriage
D) the conversion of common-law marriage to a legal marriage after seven years

Question 64

Parents might feel compelled to discipline or even kill a female child if they believe she has a boyfriend and may have premarital sex.Under what circumstances might one's culture dictate that this is reasonable thing to do?

A) in cultural circumstances of extreme poverty
B) in the cultural context of extreme overpopulation
C) in a typical immigrant culture
D) in a culture where the honour of the parent and family would be compromised by her behaviour

Question 65

In which of the following situations would you expect to find the custom of bride price?

A) A bride and groom set up their own household in a distant city.
B) A bride and groom go to live with the bride's family.
C) A bride and groom go to live with the groom's family.
D) A bride and groom go to live with the bride's mother's brother.

Question 66

Which of the following is the most universally valid reason for divorce?

A) sterility or impotence in either partner
B) the sexual infidelity of men
C) men being a being a poor provider
D) a reason that is culturally defined as a valid reason

Question 67

What effect have traditional healers had in helping AIDS sufferers in southern Africa?

A) They do more harm than good and facilitate the spread of AIDS.
B) They provide personalized,culturally appropriate and holistic health care.
C) Their impact is roughly neutral;the harm they can cause is outweighed by the good they do.
D) They do not have a success with the physical symptoms but provide psychological support.

Question 68

Which of the following are circumstances widely associated with polygyny?

A) impotence and infertility
B) economic,religious,and social circumstances
C) greed,lawlessness,and abuse
D) low birth rates and high infant mortality

Question 69

Where does serial monogamy tend to occur?

A) in a society where divorce is forbidden
B) in a society where single women have well-paying jobs but little time for the responsibilities of traditional marriage
C) in a society where a single mother with dependent children is unable to rely on her parents for economic support
D) in a society where women are very wealthy

Question 70

The older males in Bountiful,B.C. ,have the greatest number of wives.In light of this,what is also likely to be true?

A) They also have the oldest wives.
B) Their sons will have difficulty obtaining multiple wives.
C) They will have the oldest children.
D) More females will be born than males.

Question 71

What is the term for the period of time a groom is expected to work for his bride's family?

A) bride price
B) bride service
C) groom labour
D) bridal exchange

Question 72

When the husband does most of the productive work,the bride's people may give a dowry that protects the woman against desertion and is a statement of her economic status.In which sort of economy is such a practice typically found?

A) food foraging
B) pastoralism
C) intensive agriculture
D) horticulture

Question 73

Who are children raised on a kibbutz in Israel most likely to marry?

A) people they meet outside of the kibbutz after they leave in their late teens to serve in the armed forces
B) people that they shared the kibbutz experience with,but did not share the same residence
C) people from the same residence that they have grown up with
D) people from the same work group within the kibbutz

Question 74

Medical anthropologist Suzanne Leclerc-Madlala conducted research on AIDS/HIV in southern Africa among traditional healers.How does the number of traditional healers there compare with the number of practitioners of modern medicine?

A) There are twice as many traditional healers.
B) There are five times as many traditional healers.
C) There are 10 times as many traditional healers.
D) There are 100 times as many traditional healers.

Question 75

Which of the following best describes serial monogamy?

A) an individual living with more than one partner at the same time
B) a man being married to more than one woman in the same household
C) a person marrying or living with a series of partners,but not at the same time
D) a form of trial marriage between two or more consenting adults

Question 76

Why have traditional healers in Africa become part of the health delivery system,despite negative Western attitudes toward African traditional healing?

A) They were seeking training to become doctors themselves.
B) Modern AIDS drugs have been derived from many plant compounds used by these healers.
C) They have the backing of local political authorities.
D) They were already there and had existing trust relationships;they could relieve some symptoms and were willing to alter some of their procedures to minimize spreading infection.

Question 77

What is the rate of increase of common-law families in Quebec?

A) They are increasing twice as fast as married-couple families.
B) They are increasing five times faster than married-couple families.
C) They are increasing 10 percent faster than married-couple families.
D) They are increasing three times faster than married-couple families.

Question 78

Which of the following is common behaviour in India for parents wishing to arrange a marriage for their children?

A) segregating their children in private schools
B) encouraging their children toward online dating
C) taking their children to psychic matchmakers
D) isolating their children within the home

Question 79

A bride who becomes a member of her husband's household will contribute her labour and her children to her husband's group.What custom commonly accompanies this type of arrangement?

A) The bride's family pays money to the groom's people.
B) The groom's family pays money to the bride's people.
C) The groom works for a certain period of time for the bride's village.
D) The bride's family expects to marry their other daughters to sons in the groom's family.

Question 80

Whose daughter does a man marry in a matrilateral cross-cousin marriage?

A) his father's brother
B) his father's sister
C) his mother's brother
D) his mother's sister