Part V
Gendered Intimacies
Content Questions
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1. What is the main reason that researchers have found for why young men are more likely to report satisfactory first sexual experiences than young women?
Answer: Traditionally, men’s sexuality has been understood as something active which they achieve, while women’s has been understood as something passive which they receive or which is done to them. (p. 160)
2. How does the dominant discourse of heterosexuality position men and women, according to Fine?
Answer: Men are assumed to be in search of satisfaction for desires while women are assumed to be in search of protection from risk. (p. 160)
3. Were men and women very different in their experiences of first intercourse, according to Tsui and Nikolaidis?
Answer: No; men and women were similar on most variables, except that women were more likely to report that they were in love with their partners at the time of intercourse. (p. 161)
4. Why did the people interviewed by Beres find it strange that she asked them how they decided that they were going to have casual sex?
Answer: They thought the question was strange because they assumed that casual sex “just happened,” without active forethought or planning. (p. 171)
5. Why does Beres believe that the “it just happens” discourse is potentially dangerous in terms of its implications for sexual assault?
Answer: If sexual intercourse is something that “just happens,” without active decision-making, then the people involved can disclaim responsibility for any of the outcomes, including negative ones like assault. (p. 172)
6. How did men and women differ in their descriptions of the events leading up to a casual sexual encounter?
Answer: Men were more likely to describe in detail the steps they took to secure the co-operation of their female partners, while women described themselves as waiting for the initiative taken by men. (p. 174)
7. How does the “have/hold” discourse differ from the other discourses described by Beres in terms of the different roles played by women and men?
Answer: In this discourse, women were positioned as active subjects, seeking to establish romantic relationships with men, while the men were positioned as the objects which the women sought. (p. 175)
8. Why did the participants in Beres’s study claim that women held a lot of power in sexual interactions, despite their passive roles?
Answer: They claimed that women held a lot of power because women could choose from a range of interested men, and because women could put limits on sexual activity or curtail it, acting as “gatekeepers.” (p. 177)
9. Why does Mule argue that by extending marriage to same-sex couples, the Canadian state has been “invited into the bedroom”?
Answer: The state now determines which relationships (sexual and otherwise) will receive legal support and excludes others. (p. 182)
10. Why does Mule claim that internalized homophobia underlies some of the advocacy for same-sex marriage?
Answer: Mule argues that the valorization of marriage, an institution historically associated with heterosexuality, marginalizes individuals who are non-conformist, such as many gays and lesbians who do not wish to marry. (p. 185)
Flashcards
Multiple Choice Questions for Part V
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