Chapter 9 Study Questions & Exercises

Study Questions

1. What is the difference between sex and gender?

2. How does the existence of intersex individuals challenge the narrative of a biological male/female dichotomy?

3. List Kachuck’s (2003[1995]) four feminist theories described in the text. Give a detailed description for each. Which one do you most agree with and why?

4. What does it mean for an occupation to be gendered? Provide two contrasting examples.

5. Name the four types of masculinity as described by Raewyn Connell. Explain which type(s) would pertain to a man in the nursing field and why.

6. Discuss the intersection of race and gender in the context of immigration to Canada. Make reference to specific immigration policies that affected male and female immigrants differently.

7. Analyze the link between feminization of jobs and hegemonic masculinity.

Exploration and Discussion Exercises

1. Although women have made and are still making gains in the workforce, they continue to be oppressed and exploited in the home. To this effect, in a Toronto Star article entitled “Men Inch Forward in Housework, Childcare,” Sheryl Ubelacker (2008) writes that women continue to give more time to raising children, doing housework, and caring for aging relatives than men do.
   While Canada is perceived as a country that provides its inhabitants with freedom and the right to equality, why does such an imbalance in gender terms still occur? Using one of the feminist approaches from this chapter, give an outline of how society can work to correct this imbalance.

2. The authors discuss the popular legend surrounding Pocahontas—portrayed as an “Indian princess” and as having played an integral part in the American story of how the country was built. Watch the Disney movie Pocahontas and write a gendered and racialized analysis of the characters in the film. Analyze how Pocahontas embodies the Indian princess stereotype. Are there portrayals of the squaw stereotype? Use Raewyn Connell’s four performances of masculinity to examine the male characters in the movie.
3. Identify gender and race intersection in Disney’s Aladdin with regard to the manner Muslim societies are depicted.