WGS 240 EXAM 1 2026/2027 | WOMEN'S & GENDER STUDIES STUDY GUIDE,
PRACTICE QUESTIONS, ANSWERS & EXAM REVIEW
Androcentrism - ANS ✔✔The belief or practice of centering men's experiences, perspectives, and values
as the norm or default for humanity.
Patriarchy - ANS ✔✔A social system where men hold primary power and dominate in political, moral,
social, and economic life.
Intersectionality - ANS ✔✔A framework recognizing how different forms of oppression (race, gender,
class, sexuality, etc.) intersect to shape people's lived experiences.
Intersectional Invisibility - ANS ✔✔The tendency for people with multiple marginalized identities to be
overlooked or misrepresented in social movements or research.
Epistemology - ANS ✔✔The study of knowledge: how we know what we know, who is believed, and
whose experiences count as truth.
Feminist Wave Model - ANS ✔✔A way of categorizing feminist movements into historical "waves" based
on their goals and contexts.
First Wave Feminism - ANS ✔✔Focused on legal rights, especially women's suffrage (19th-early 20th
century).
Second Wave Feminism - ANS ✔✔Emphasized equality in the workplace, sexuality, reproductive rights,
and consciousness-raising (1960s-1980s).
Third Wave Feminism - ANS ✔✔Focused on intersectionality, diversity, and individual empowerment
(1990s-2000s).
Fourth Wave Feminism - ANS ✔✔Uses digital activism and emphasizes inclusivity, intersectionality, and
sexual autonomy (2010s-present).
Stereotypes - ANS ✔✔Oversimplified, fixed ideas about groups of people that reinforce social
hierarchies.
Myths of Feminism - ANS ✔✔False ideas that feminists hate men, reject femininity, or seek superiority
rather than equality.
Radical Feminism - ANS ✔✔Seeks to dismantle patriarchal structures entirely, not just reform them.
Liberal Feminism - ANS ✔✔Advocates for equality through legal and political reform within existing
institutions.
Lifestyle Feminism - ANS ✔✔Treats feminism as a personal identity or aesthetic rather than a political
movement.
, Multicultural/Multiracial Feminism - ANS ✔✔Highlights how race, ethnicity, and culture intersect with
gender oppression.
Revolutionary Feminism - ANS ✔✔Calls for fundamental social and political change to dismantle
patriarchy and other systems of oppression.
Hegemonic Feminism - ANS ✔✔A dominant form of feminism centered on white, middle-class,
heterosexual women's experiences while ignoring others.
WEEK 2 - ANS ✔✔
Consciousness-Raising Groups - ANS ✔✔Small groups where women shared personal experiences to
reveal collective oppression.
Hegemony - ANS ✔✔The dominance of one group's worldview, values, or norms as "common sense" or
natural.
Multiracial Feminism - ANS ✔✔A framework emphasizing that women's experiences are shaped by
intersecting systems of race, class, and gender.
Normative / Normativity - ANS ✔✔The establishment of certain traits or behaviors as "normal" or
desirable.
Second-Wave Feminism - ANS ✔✔Movement of the 1960s-80s focused on gender equality in all spheres
of life.
Suffrage - ANS ✔✔The right to vote; a key goal of first-wave feminism.
Inalienable Rights - ANS ✔✔Rights considered natural and cannot be justly taken away (e.g., life, liberty).
Declaration of Sentiments - ANS ✔✔1848 Seneca Falls document asserting women's equality and
modeled after the Declaration of Independence.
Cult of True Womanhood - ANS ✔✔19th-century ideal promoting piety, purity, domesticity, and
submissiveness as the "true" woman's virtues.
WEEK 3 - ANS ✔✔
Institution - ANS ✔✔An organized system (like family, religion, or education) that structures society and
enforces norms.
System - ANS ✔✔Interconnected structures that maintain power relations and social hierarchies.
Imperialism - ANS ✔✔The policy of extending power over other nations or peoples through diplomacy
or force.
PRACTICE QUESTIONS, ANSWERS & EXAM REVIEW
Androcentrism - ANS ✔✔The belief or practice of centering men's experiences, perspectives, and values
as the norm or default for humanity.
Patriarchy - ANS ✔✔A social system where men hold primary power and dominate in political, moral,
social, and economic life.
Intersectionality - ANS ✔✔A framework recognizing how different forms of oppression (race, gender,
class, sexuality, etc.) intersect to shape people's lived experiences.
Intersectional Invisibility - ANS ✔✔The tendency for people with multiple marginalized identities to be
overlooked or misrepresented in social movements or research.
Epistemology - ANS ✔✔The study of knowledge: how we know what we know, who is believed, and
whose experiences count as truth.
Feminist Wave Model - ANS ✔✔A way of categorizing feminist movements into historical "waves" based
on their goals and contexts.
First Wave Feminism - ANS ✔✔Focused on legal rights, especially women's suffrage (19th-early 20th
century).
Second Wave Feminism - ANS ✔✔Emphasized equality in the workplace, sexuality, reproductive rights,
and consciousness-raising (1960s-1980s).
Third Wave Feminism - ANS ✔✔Focused on intersectionality, diversity, and individual empowerment
(1990s-2000s).
Fourth Wave Feminism - ANS ✔✔Uses digital activism and emphasizes inclusivity, intersectionality, and
sexual autonomy (2010s-present).
Stereotypes - ANS ✔✔Oversimplified, fixed ideas about groups of people that reinforce social
hierarchies.
Myths of Feminism - ANS ✔✔False ideas that feminists hate men, reject femininity, or seek superiority
rather than equality.
Radical Feminism - ANS ✔✔Seeks to dismantle patriarchal structures entirely, not just reform them.
Liberal Feminism - ANS ✔✔Advocates for equality through legal and political reform within existing
institutions.
Lifestyle Feminism - ANS ✔✔Treats feminism as a personal identity or aesthetic rather than a political
movement.
, Multicultural/Multiracial Feminism - ANS ✔✔Highlights how race, ethnicity, and culture intersect with
gender oppression.
Revolutionary Feminism - ANS ✔✔Calls for fundamental social and political change to dismantle
patriarchy and other systems of oppression.
Hegemonic Feminism - ANS ✔✔A dominant form of feminism centered on white, middle-class,
heterosexual women's experiences while ignoring others.
WEEK 2 - ANS ✔✔
Consciousness-Raising Groups - ANS ✔✔Small groups where women shared personal experiences to
reveal collective oppression.
Hegemony - ANS ✔✔The dominance of one group's worldview, values, or norms as "common sense" or
natural.
Multiracial Feminism - ANS ✔✔A framework emphasizing that women's experiences are shaped by
intersecting systems of race, class, and gender.
Normative / Normativity - ANS ✔✔The establishment of certain traits or behaviors as "normal" or
desirable.
Second-Wave Feminism - ANS ✔✔Movement of the 1960s-80s focused on gender equality in all spheres
of life.
Suffrage - ANS ✔✔The right to vote; a key goal of first-wave feminism.
Inalienable Rights - ANS ✔✔Rights considered natural and cannot be justly taken away (e.g., life, liberty).
Declaration of Sentiments - ANS ✔✔1848 Seneca Falls document asserting women's equality and
modeled after the Declaration of Independence.
Cult of True Womanhood - ANS ✔✔19th-century ideal promoting piety, purity, domesticity, and
submissiveness as the "true" woman's virtues.
WEEK 3 - ANS ✔✔
Institution - ANS ✔✔An organized system (like family, religion, or education) that structures society and
enforces norms.
System - ANS ✔✔Interconnected structures that maintain power relations and social hierarchies.
Imperialism - ANS ✔✔The policy of extending power over other nations or peoples through diplomacy
or force.
