WGS EXAM #1 2026/2027 | WOMEN'S & GENDER STUDIES STUDY GUIDE,
PRACTICE QUESTIONS, ANSWERS & EXAM REVIEW
Androcentrism - correct answer ✔✔literally, male-centeredness; a linguistic and cultural system that
understands the male as the norm and the female as "the (inferior) other," who is secondary, peripheral,
and deviant
Patriarchy - correct answer ✔✔a system where men and masculine bodies dominate because power and
authority are in the hands of adult men
Feminism - correct answer ✔✔1. Concerns equality and justice and ensures a future that guarantees
human dignity and equality for all.
2. Is inclusive and affirming of all women and expressions of femininity.
3. Is a personal perspective as well as a political theory
4. Recognizes both similarities/differences in women's status worldwide
Mythical Norm - correct answer ✔✔Defined as the person at the center of society, those who are
"regular".
Anyone who stands outside of these restrictions are classified as someone "different".
Ex: the white woman defines what a woman is in terms of her experience as a woman alone, ignoring
the experiences of women of other races
Cisgender - correct answer ✔✔Relating to, or being a person whose gender identity corresponds with
the sex the person has or was identified as having at birth
Transgender - correct answer ✔✔Denoting or relating to a person whose sense of personal identity and
gender does not correspond with their birth sex
Privilege - correct answer ✔✔Advantages people have by virtue of their status or position in society
(group membership/social category)
Intersectionality - correct answer ✔✔The ways multiple forms of oppression and identity interact to
create someone's experience of and access to social influence, and individual and institutional power
We are more than just one "thing"
Discourse - correct answer ✔✔The process of creating knowledge or a culturally constructed
representation of reality.
Involves language and categories that deal with social, material practices to produce "regimes of truth"
Prejudice - correct answer ✔✔To prejudge; It involves making premature judgments without adequate
information.
They are internalized thoughts and behaviors
Regimes of truth - correct answer ✔✔Each society has its general politics of truth: that is the types of
discourse which it accepts and makes function as true; the mechanisms and instances which enable one
to distinguish true and false statements, the means by which each is sanctioned, the techniques and
, procedures, accorded value in the acquisition of truth, the status of those who are charged with saying
what counts as true
Bootstrap myth - correct answer ✔✔An example of discourse supported by institutional power
concerning economic success. If people are properly motivated and willing to work hard, they can pull
themselves up by their bootstraps
Social Institutions - correct answer ✔✔1. The institution of the family plays the most important and
central role in all societies.
2. It provides support for the better chances of the social survival.
3. The basic culture and the moral values of society is embodied in its institutions.
4. Plays a vital role in the development of the personality of the members of the society.
5. They are the social patterns directing human behavior in performance of the basic activities.
Hate crime - correct answer ✔✔Reflect the ways that power produces regimes of truth, difference, and
normalcy that regulate people's lives.
Institutionalized - correct answer ✔✔Officially placed into a structured system or set of practices
Gender assignment - correct answer ✔✔The determination of an infant's sex at birth. In the majority of
births, a relative, midwife, nurse or physician inspects the genitalia when the baby is delivered, and sex
and gender are assigned.
Gender identity - correct answer ✔✔A person's perception of having a particular gender, which may or
may not correspond with their birth sex
Gender expression - correct answer ✔✔The way in which a person expresses their gender identity,
typically through their appearance, dress, and behavior
Gender acquisition - correct answer ✔✔The process by which children acquire the values, motives, and
behaviors viewed as appropriate for males and females
Genderqueer - correct answer ✔✔Denoting or relating to a person who does not subscribe to
conventional gender distinctions but identifies with neither, both, or a combination of male and female
genders
Gender ranking - correct answer ✔✔The valuing of one gender over another
Stereotype - correct answer ✔✔Generalizations about groups of people
Ideas used to shape meaning about a category of people without accurate information
Masculinity and Femininity - correct answer ✔✔As stereotypes
Shapes the discourse about gender, human behavior, human variability, social world
Operate as "regimes of truth"
Used to police self and others
Gender - correct answer ✔✔The way society creates, patterns, and rewards our understandings of
femininity and masculinity
PRACTICE QUESTIONS, ANSWERS & EXAM REVIEW
Androcentrism - correct answer ✔✔literally, male-centeredness; a linguistic and cultural system that
understands the male as the norm and the female as "the (inferior) other," who is secondary, peripheral,
and deviant
Patriarchy - correct answer ✔✔a system where men and masculine bodies dominate because power and
authority are in the hands of adult men
Feminism - correct answer ✔✔1. Concerns equality and justice and ensures a future that guarantees
human dignity and equality for all.
2. Is inclusive and affirming of all women and expressions of femininity.
3. Is a personal perspective as well as a political theory
4. Recognizes both similarities/differences in women's status worldwide
Mythical Norm - correct answer ✔✔Defined as the person at the center of society, those who are
"regular".
Anyone who stands outside of these restrictions are classified as someone "different".
Ex: the white woman defines what a woman is in terms of her experience as a woman alone, ignoring
the experiences of women of other races
Cisgender - correct answer ✔✔Relating to, or being a person whose gender identity corresponds with
the sex the person has or was identified as having at birth
Transgender - correct answer ✔✔Denoting or relating to a person whose sense of personal identity and
gender does not correspond with their birth sex
Privilege - correct answer ✔✔Advantages people have by virtue of their status or position in society
(group membership/social category)
Intersectionality - correct answer ✔✔The ways multiple forms of oppression and identity interact to
create someone's experience of and access to social influence, and individual and institutional power
We are more than just one "thing"
Discourse - correct answer ✔✔The process of creating knowledge or a culturally constructed
representation of reality.
Involves language and categories that deal with social, material practices to produce "regimes of truth"
Prejudice - correct answer ✔✔To prejudge; It involves making premature judgments without adequate
information.
They are internalized thoughts and behaviors
Regimes of truth - correct answer ✔✔Each society has its general politics of truth: that is the types of
discourse which it accepts and makes function as true; the mechanisms and instances which enable one
to distinguish true and false statements, the means by which each is sanctioned, the techniques and
, procedures, accorded value in the acquisition of truth, the status of those who are charged with saying
what counts as true
Bootstrap myth - correct answer ✔✔An example of discourse supported by institutional power
concerning economic success. If people are properly motivated and willing to work hard, they can pull
themselves up by their bootstraps
Social Institutions - correct answer ✔✔1. The institution of the family plays the most important and
central role in all societies.
2. It provides support for the better chances of the social survival.
3. The basic culture and the moral values of society is embodied in its institutions.
4. Plays a vital role in the development of the personality of the members of the society.
5. They are the social patterns directing human behavior in performance of the basic activities.
Hate crime - correct answer ✔✔Reflect the ways that power produces regimes of truth, difference, and
normalcy that regulate people's lives.
Institutionalized - correct answer ✔✔Officially placed into a structured system or set of practices
Gender assignment - correct answer ✔✔The determination of an infant's sex at birth. In the majority of
births, a relative, midwife, nurse or physician inspects the genitalia when the baby is delivered, and sex
and gender are assigned.
Gender identity - correct answer ✔✔A person's perception of having a particular gender, which may or
may not correspond with their birth sex
Gender expression - correct answer ✔✔The way in which a person expresses their gender identity,
typically through their appearance, dress, and behavior
Gender acquisition - correct answer ✔✔The process by which children acquire the values, motives, and
behaviors viewed as appropriate for males and females
Genderqueer - correct answer ✔✔Denoting or relating to a person who does not subscribe to
conventional gender distinctions but identifies with neither, both, or a combination of male and female
genders
Gender ranking - correct answer ✔✔The valuing of one gender over another
Stereotype - correct answer ✔✔Generalizations about groups of people
Ideas used to shape meaning about a category of people without accurate information
Masculinity and Femininity - correct answer ✔✔As stereotypes
Shapes the discourse about gender, human behavior, human variability, social world
Operate as "regimes of truth"
Used to police self and others
Gender - correct answer ✔✔The way society creates, patterns, and rewards our understandings of
femininity and masculinity
