Sexuality and Society
1. Attitudes and practices involving human sexuality
a. are much the same around the world.
b. have changed little in the United States over the past 50 years.
c. vary considerably, both from one society to another and over time.
d. are determined entirely by biology.
2. First-cousin marriage in the United States is permitted
a. by law in every state.
b. only in Massachusetts and Iowa.
c. in no state.
d. in about half the states.
3. Which of the following concepts refers to the biological distinction between males and females?
a. sex
b. sexual orientation
c. gender
d. gender roles
4. The development of breasts in females and deeper voices in males are examples of
a. gender norms.
b. primary sex characteristics.
c. secondary sex characteristics.
d. intersexuality.
5. At birth, males and females are distinguished by ______, which are the genitals, or organs used for reproduction.
a. gender
b. primary sex characteristics
c. secondary sex characteristics
d. sexual chromosomes
6. Which of the following concepts refers to humans who have some combination of female and male genitalia?
a. asexual people
b. bisexual people
c. transsexual people
d. intersexual people
7. In terms of his sexuality, Mark has always felt that he is "trapped in the wrong body." This feeling suggests that Mark is in which of the following categories of people?
a. intersexual people
b. homosexual people
c. transsexual people
d. bisexual people
8. Comparative research indicates that
a. although sex has a biological foundation, it is an element of culture that varies from place to place.
b. people throughout the world engage in the same sexual practices.
c. sex is a taboo in every society.
d. sexuality is defined almost entirely by a biological “sex drive.”
9. One norm found everywhere in the world is the incest taboo, which refers to norms forbidding
a. young children from engaging in sex.
b. sexual relations or marriage between certain relatives.
c. women from becoming sexually active before marriage.
d. old people from engaging in sex.
10. When did the sexual revolution begin?
a. It began in the colonial era, gaining strength steadily throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
b. It began during the Great Depression of the 1930s.
c. It began in the 1920s but came of age by the late 1960s.
d. It began about 1980.
11. The significance of Alfred Kinsey’s research on sexuality in the United States was that it
a. showed that sexuality was not a proper focus of scientific study.
b. showed that people were much more conventional about sex than was widely assumed.
c. discouraged people from talking about sex.
d. fueled the sexual counterrevolution.
12. A sexual counterrevolution had developed in the United States by
a. 1920.
b. 1960.
c. 1980.
d. 1995.
13. What happened during the sexual counterrevolution in the United States?
a. Laws prohibiting sex outside of marriage were strictly enforced.
b. More people began to limit their number of sexual partners or to abstain from sex entirely.
c. The historical “double standard” was eliminated.
d. Laws prohibited the use of birth control technology.
14. Survey research on public attitudes toward premarital sex shows that
a. the public is more accepting of premarital sex than it was a generation ago.
b. there has been little or no change in public attitudes toward premarital sex.
c. the public is less accepting of premarital sex than it was a generation ago.
d. the public supports premarital sex but only for men.
16. Edward Laumann’s 1994 study of sexual patterns among U.S. adults shows that
a. almost everyone has about the same amount of sexual experience over a lifetime.
b. single people have more sex than married people.
c. frequency of sexual activity varies so widely that no single stereotype accurately portrays sexual activity in the United States.
d. in the age of AIDS, almost all sex is limited to married partners.
17. Research on extramarital sex shows that about ______of married men and about ______of married women remain faithful to their spouse throughout their married lives.
a. 25 percent; 40 percent
b. 50 percent; 75 percent
c. 75 percent; 50 percent
d. 75 percent; 90 percent
18. ______refers to a person's romantic and emotional attraction to another person.
a. Sex role
b. Sexual orientation
c. Sexual experience
d. Sexual history
19. Sexual attraction to someone of the same sex is called
a. heterosexuality.
b. bisexuality.
c. homosexuality.
d. asexuality.
20. Sexual attraction to people of both sexes is called
a. heterosexuality.
b. bisexuality.
c. homosexuality.
d. asexuality.
21. The muxes of Mexico are significant because they illustrate
a. that every society recognizes only heterosexuality.
b. the dangers of engaging in homosexual or bisexual activity.
c. that Mexico is a very conventional society when it comes to sex.
d. that a society can recognize people who are neither exclusively male nor female, but a third gender.
22. The weight of evidence indicates that sexual orientation is determined mostly by
a. human biology, although society plays some role.
b. how societies construct sexuality.
c. individual choice.
d. the way young children are raised.
23. According to researchers, about ______of men and ______of women in the United States define themselves as partly or entirely homosexual.
a. 30 percent; 30 percent
b. 16 percent; 10 percent
c. 10 percent; 6 percent
d. 2.3 percent; 1.3 percent
24. In 2008, about ______of U.S. adults state that homosexuality is “always wrong” or “almost always wrong.”
a. 82 percent
b. 52 percent
c. 32 percent
d. 12 percent
25. The concept “homophobia” refers to
a. fear of pregnancy.
b. fear of one’s own sexuality.
c. fear of close personal interaction with people thought to be gay, lesbian, or bisexual.
d. fear of experiencing sexual attraction to a child.
26. Read the following statements about teenage pregnancy. Which statement is NOT correct?
a. Almost all teens who become pregnant choose to do so.
b. The sexual revolution did not result in an increase in teenage pregnancy.
c. Teens may be biologically mature but they are not always socially mature.
d. The United States has a higher rate of teenage pregnancy than all other high-income countries.
27. Critics of easily available pornography include
a. only conservatives who claim that pornography encourages a breakdown in morals.
b. only liberals and feminists who claim that pornography encourages violence against women.
c. neither conservatives nor liberals and feminists.
d. both conservatives as well as liberals and feminists.
28. In global perspective, prostitution is
a. most common in high-income nations, where women are free to choose their profession.
b. most common in low-income nations, where women have fewer economic opportunities.
c. found in every country in about the same degree.
d. most common in Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia, where women have fewest choices
about their lives.
29. Among all categories of prostitutes, those at the bottom of the hierarchy facing the greatest risk of violence are called
a. pimps
b. brothel workers
c. call girls
d. streetwalkers
30. Prostitution is regarded by many people as a
a. victimless crime.
b. corporate crime.
c. crime against the person.
d. white-collar crime.
32. Which statement about rape is NOT correct?
a. Many rapes are not reported to the police.
b. Official rape statistics include only victims who are women.
c. In most cases of rape, the victim does not know the attacker.
d. Most men who rape men are not homosexual.
33. The campus culture of "hooking up" typically involves sex between partners
a. who know little about each other and have been drinking alcohol.
b. who are in a committed relationship.
c. who are of the same sex.
d. who find great satisfaction in these encounters.
34. Which theoretical approach rests on the idea that society needs to regulate human sexuality?
a. the structural-functional approach
b. the symbolic-interaction approach
c. the social-conflict approach
d. queer theory
35. Historically, once a society develops effective birth control technology,
a. social control of sexuality becomes more strict.
b. families, rather than individuals, make choices about sexual partners.
c. social norms regarding sexuality become more permissive.
d. the incest taboo is no longer observed.
36. If we are speaking about the “social construction of sexuality,” we are probably using
a. the structural-functional approach.
b. the symbolic-interaction approach.
c. the social-exchange approach.
d. the social-conflict approach.
37. ______studies the variable meanings that people attach to everyday behavior, including sexuality.
a. The structural-functional approach
b. The symbolic-interaction approach
c. The social-conflict approach
d. Queer theory
38. The more global our view of sexuality,
a. the more variety we see in the meanings people attach to sexuality.
b. the greater evidence we find that biology defines sexuality.
c. the more clearly we see that sexual practices are strikingly similar around the world.
d. the more we observe that, as societies advance technologically, the more they regulate sexuality.
39. The changing importance of virginity over the last century in our society is a topic correctly linked with
a. the structural-functional approach.
b. the symbolic-interaction approach.
c. the social-conflict approach.
d. queer theory.
40. Which of the following statements correctly states the distinctive focus of the symbolic-interaction approach regarding sexuality?
a. It helps us understand men's power over women.
b. It contributes to the rising public concern about sexual harassment.
c. As it highlights the variety of sexual patterns over time and around the world, it illustrates how societies construct patterns of sexuality.
d. It helps us to understand why society must regulate with whom and when people reproduce.
41. The ______points to the ways in which sexuality is linked to social inequality.
a. structural-functional approach
b. symbolic-interaction approach
c. social-conflict and feminist approach
d. social-exchange approach
42. Which of the following statements is NOT consistent with the social-conflict approach?
a. Because people construct social reality differently, one group's views of sexuality may well differ from another's.
b. Defining women in sexual terms devalues them, making women into objects of men's interest.
c. U.S. culture often depicts sexuality in terms of sport and violence, such as when we speak of men "scoring" with women, and men "hitting on" women.
d. When police enforce laws against prostitution, the person most likely to be arrested is the female prostitute, not her male "client."
43. Queer theory is a growing body of knowledge asserting that
a. sex has always been an uncomfortable topic to most people.
b. no sexual practice should be considered wrong.
c. people fear discovering their own sexuality.
d. there is a bias against homosexuality in U.S. society.
44. ______refers to a view that labels anyone who is not heterosexual as “queer.”
a. Homosexism
b. Heterosexism
c. Heterophilia
d. Homophilia
45. Which of the following statements is a criticism of the social-conflict approach's view of sexuality?
a. Sexuality is not a power issue for everyone.
b. Women are as likely as men to treat people of the opposite sex as “sex objects.”
c. Most of the world’s societies agree on matters involving sexuality.
d. There is less need to regulate sexuality today compared to decades past.