WGS 240 EXAM 1 2026/2027 | WOMEN'S & GENDER STUDIES STUDY GUIDE,
PRACTICE QUESTIONS, ANSWERS & EXAM REVIEW
core features of wgs - ANS ✔✔interdisciplinary academic field devoted to topics concerning women,
gender, and feminism and intersections with other topics
intersectionality - ANS ✔✔the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and
gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and
interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage.
Kimberle Crenshaw - ANS ✔✔Coined the term intersectionality
Patricia Hill Collins - ANS ✔✔"Matrix of Domination"; Numerous social factors subjugating women
Matrix of domination - ANS ✔✔the interlocking systems of oppression associated with race, class, and
gender
Combahee River Collective - ANS ✔✔A black feminist lesbian organization active in Boston from 1974 to
1980, laid ground work for intersexuality
Androcentrism - ANS ✔✔Male centered; the belief that the male is the norm
Patriarchy - ANS ✔✔a system where men and masculine bodies dominate because power and authority
are in the hands of adult men
Personal is political - ANS ✔✔a political argument used as a rallying slogan of student movement and
second-wave feminism from the late 1960s. It underscored the connections between personal
experience and larger social and political structures.
key legal changes - ANS ✔✔Equal Pay Act of 1963, title VII of Civil Rights Act of 1964, '78-'79: protect
pregnant workers, gave right to damages for sex discrimination, '93: 12 weeks unpaid leave for workers
to care for children or ill relatives
feminism - ANS ✔✔concerns equality and justice, inclusive and affirming of women across their
differences
feminism's waves - ANS ✔✔1st (1858-1920): suffrage, legal status of women, property ownership
2nd (1960's-70's): equal opportunity in employment and education, reproductive rights
3rd ('90's): deconstructing social identities, social justice, global feminism, sexual violence
4th (2000's): fast circulation of ideas, digital and social media
liberal vs. radical feminism - ANS ✔✔liberal: inequality in legal and economic arenas (inclusion and
equality)
radical: change foundations of society, upend existing structures (liberation)
, feminism's myths - ANS ✔✔all feminists are man-haters; feminist men are wimps; feminists have no
sense of humor; feminists are outspoken, macho, pushy, narrow minded; feminists are lesbians;
feminists are cold and uncaring
Human similarities and differences: Biologically-based universals, social universals, generalities, and
particularities - ANS ✔✔bio: infancy, brain
social: live in groups, families
generalities: certain times/places, but not all cultures
particularities: not widespread, larger distinctive patterns of culture
Category formation - ANS ✔✔human universal, include and exclude, creates identity but also
stereotypes
ethnicity - ANS ✔✔members of an ethnic group with shared beliefs, habits, customs, norms bc of shared
background
race - ANS ✔✔ethnic group assumed to have a biological basis
institutions/institutionalization - ANS ✔✔social organizations that involve established patterns of
behavior organized around particular purposes
colonialism - ANS ✔✔the political, social, economic, and cultural domination of a territory and its people
by a foreign power for an extended time
imperialism - ANS ✔✔conscious policy aimed at seizing and ruling foreign territory and people
privilege - ANS ✔✔advantages people have by virtue of their status or position in society
earned vs. unearned privilege - ANS ✔✔unearned: something you're born with
earned: examples include earning a degree, fulfilling responsibilities
systems of inequality and privilege - ANS ✔✔systems that discriminate and privilege based on perceived
or real differences among people
racism - ANS ✔✔assumes some groups inherently inferior to others, should be dominated by superior
groups
stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination - ANS ✔✔Stereotypes: fixed ideas about what group members are
like
Prejudice: devaluing group bc of assumed attributes
Discrimination: policies and practices that harm a group and its members
cisgender - ANS ✔✔gender identity matches norms for sex assigned at birth
transgender - ANS ✔✔people whose gender identity or expression differs from that associated with
their birth sex
PRACTICE QUESTIONS, ANSWERS & EXAM REVIEW
core features of wgs - ANS ✔✔interdisciplinary academic field devoted to topics concerning women,
gender, and feminism and intersections with other topics
intersectionality - ANS ✔✔the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and
gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and
interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage.
Kimberle Crenshaw - ANS ✔✔Coined the term intersectionality
Patricia Hill Collins - ANS ✔✔"Matrix of Domination"; Numerous social factors subjugating women
Matrix of domination - ANS ✔✔the interlocking systems of oppression associated with race, class, and
gender
Combahee River Collective - ANS ✔✔A black feminist lesbian organization active in Boston from 1974 to
1980, laid ground work for intersexuality
Androcentrism - ANS ✔✔Male centered; the belief that the male is the norm
Patriarchy - ANS ✔✔a system where men and masculine bodies dominate because power and authority
are in the hands of adult men
Personal is political - ANS ✔✔a political argument used as a rallying slogan of student movement and
second-wave feminism from the late 1960s. It underscored the connections between personal
experience and larger social and political structures.
key legal changes - ANS ✔✔Equal Pay Act of 1963, title VII of Civil Rights Act of 1964, '78-'79: protect
pregnant workers, gave right to damages for sex discrimination, '93: 12 weeks unpaid leave for workers
to care for children or ill relatives
feminism - ANS ✔✔concerns equality and justice, inclusive and affirming of women across their
differences
feminism's waves - ANS ✔✔1st (1858-1920): suffrage, legal status of women, property ownership
2nd (1960's-70's): equal opportunity in employment and education, reproductive rights
3rd ('90's): deconstructing social identities, social justice, global feminism, sexual violence
4th (2000's): fast circulation of ideas, digital and social media
liberal vs. radical feminism - ANS ✔✔liberal: inequality in legal and economic arenas (inclusion and
equality)
radical: change foundations of society, upend existing structures (liberation)
, feminism's myths - ANS ✔✔all feminists are man-haters; feminist men are wimps; feminists have no
sense of humor; feminists are outspoken, macho, pushy, narrow minded; feminists are lesbians;
feminists are cold and uncaring
Human similarities and differences: Biologically-based universals, social universals, generalities, and
particularities - ANS ✔✔bio: infancy, brain
social: live in groups, families
generalities: certain times/places, but not all cultures
particularities: not widespread, larger distinctive patterns of culture
Category formation - ANS ✔✔human universal, include and exclude, creates identity but also
stereotypes
ethnicity - ANS ✔✔members of an ethnic group with shared beliefs, habits, customs, norms bc of shared
background
race - ANS ✔✔ethnic group assumed to have a biological basis
institutions/institutionalization - ANS ✔✔social organizations that involve established patterns of
behavior organized around particular purposes
colonialism - ANS ✔✔the political, social, economic, and cultural domination of a territory and its people
by a foreign power for an extended time
imperialism - ANS ✔✔conscious policy aimed at seizing and ruling foreign territory and people
privilege - ANS ✔✔advantages people have by virtue of their status or position in society
earned vs. unearned privilege - ANS ✔✔unearned: something you're born with
earned: examples include earning a degree, fulfilling responsibilities
systems of inequality and privilege - ANS ✔✔systems that discriminate and privilege based on perceived
or real differences among people
racism - ANS ✔✔assumes some groups inherently inferior to others, should be dominated by superior
groups
stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination - ANS ✔✔Stereotypes: fixed ideas about what group members are
like
Prejudice: devaluing group bc of assumed attributes
Discrimination: policies and practices that harm a group and its members
cisgender - ANS ✔✔gender identity matches norms for sex assigned at birth
transgender - ANS ✔✔people whose gender identity or expression differs from that associated with
their birth sex
