Study Questions

GWS 110 Study Questions Midterm One

1.) How was work organized in American families between 1630 and 1800 – what kind of work were women, men, and children expected to do.

2.) What were the cultural assumptions made about the innate character of white middle class women, men, and children in Puritan New England in the 1600’s and beginning of the 1700s.

3.) When were the first factories opened in the United States and what product did they specialize in?

4.) When did middle class women’s work become separated from that of middle class men’s work and how was the work differentiated?

5.) Describe the concept of culture.

6.) What are the building blocks of culture?

7.) How do games and stories reinforce cultural beliefs?

8.) What kind of work was typically open to middle class women starting in the late 1800s – continuing on to this day? What technological innovation led to an increase in this type of work?

9.) What is the female cultural prototype known as Rosie the Riveter and which group of women does she represent?

10.) What kind of work did Native American Women in upper New York and the U.S. Plains perform?

11.) At the time the European Settlers arrived in North America, who had more freedom and independence — American Indian women or Euro-American women?

12.) What is the difference between “sex” & “gender?”

13.) What evidence is there to show that most gender differences are cultural rather than biological?

14.) What does the word, “misogyny” mean?

15.) What does the term “Matrix of Domination” mean?

16.) What does the terms “racism” mean?

17.) What does the term “sexism,” mean?

18.) What does the term “discrimination” refer to?

19.) What does the “social construction of gender” refer to?

20.) What were the key points made in the documentary, “Tough Guise?”

21.) Who was Martha Ballard and what Occupation did she hold?

22.) What does the concept of “coverture” aka “feme covert” refer to?

23.) What does the concept of “republican motherhood” refer to?

24.) What were the key points made in Jackson Katz’s documentary Tough Guise?

25.) What does the term “Hegemonic Male” refer to, and who is the American Hegemonic male today?

26.) Which different handsome Male prototypes existed throughout American history?

27.) What were the different “beautiful” female prototypes that existed throughout American history?

28.) Which social forces give rise to changes in gender roles?