Central Concepts

Question 1

Sex

Answer 1

physical and biological characteristics relating to reproductive anatomy, such as sex chromosomes or sex organs

Question 2

Gender

Answer 2

psychological characteristics and social categories that human culture creates

Question 3

Cisgender

Answer 3

individuals who have a match between the sex they were assigned at birth, their reproductive anatomy or biological sex, and their gender identity

Question 4

Transgender

Answer 4

individuals whose gender identity, expression, or behavior does not conform to the sex they were assigned at birth

Question 5

Doing gender

Answer 5

active, dynamic process that occurs when expressing one’s gender during interactions with other people

Question 6

Sexism

Answer 6

bias against people on the basis of their gender or sex

Question 7

Racism

Answer 7

bias against people on the basis of their racial or ethnic group

Question 8

Classism

Answer 8

bias that is based on a person’s socioeconomic status or social class

Question 9

Ableism

Answer 9

bias or discrimination against people with disabilities

Question 10

Heterosexism

Answer 10

a belief system that devalues lesbian women, gay men, and bisexual women

Question 11

Sexual prejudice

Answer 11

a belief system that devalues lesbian women, gay men, and bisexual women

Question 12

Ageism

Answer 12

bias based on a person’s chronological age

Question 13

Feminism

Answer 13

the principle that values women’s experiences and ideas

Question 14

Liberal feminism

Answer 14

emphasizes the goal of gender equality, giving women and men the same legal rights and opportunities

Question 15

Cultural feminism

Answer 15

emphasizes the positive qualities that are presumed to be stronger in women than in men

Question 16

Radical feminism

Answer 16

argues that the basic cause of women’s oppression lies deep in the entire sex and gender structural system in society, rather than in superficial laws and policies

Question 17

Women-of-color feminisms

Answer 17

intersectional feminisms that emphasize how historical forms of oppression, ethnicity, and social class intersect in shaping people’s lives

Question 18

Similarities perspectives

Answer 18

belief that men and women are generally more similar than dissimilar in their intellectual and social skills

Question 19

Social constructionism

Answer 19

individuals and cultures construct or invent their own versions of reality based on prior experiences, social interactions, and beliefs

Question 20

Differences perspective

Answer 20

men and women are generally different in their intellectual and social abilities

Question 21

Essentialism

Answer 21

gender is a basic, unchangeable, and stable characteristic that resides within an individual