Sociology Test - 12

Teh correct answer is Option 3.

Key Points

• Sati is popularly known as the traditional Indian (Hindu) practice of a widow immolating herself on her husband's funeral pyre. The sati tradition was prevalent among certain sects of the society in ancient India, who either took the vow or deemed it a great honour to die on the funeral pyres of their husbands. 
• Sati is derived from the name of the goddess Sati, who self-immolated because she was unable to bear her father Daksha's humiliation of her and her husband Shiva.
• The term sati was originally interpreted as "chaste woman" or a "pure and virtuous woman".
  • Sati appears in Hindi and Sanskrit texts, where it is synonymous with "good wife"; the term sati was commonly used by Anglo-Indian English writers.
• The practice of Sati was mostly practiced in parts of northern and central India. 
• The ritual of sati was banned by the British Government in 1829 by Lord Bentinck, the Governor-General of India (1828 to 1835) and later the Sati (Prevention) Act 1987.

The correct answer is Option 3.

Key Points

• Black feminism is a philosophy that centers on the idea that "black women are inherently valuable, that [Black women's] liberation is a necessity not as an adjunct to somebody else's but because our need as human persons for autonomy."
  • Black feminist consciousness arises from an understanding of intersecting patterns of discrimination. 
• It centers the experiences of Black women, understanding their position in relation to racism, sexism, and classism, as well as other social and political identities. 
• Black feminism rose to prominence in the 1960s, as the civil rights movement excluded women from leadership positions, and the mainstream feminist movement largely focused its agenda on issues that predominately impacted middle-class White women.
• From the 1970s to 1980s, Black feminists formed groups that addressed the role of Black women in Black nationalism, gay liberation, and second-wave feminism.
• Proponents of Black feminism argue that Black women are positioned within structures of power in fundamentally different ways than White women.
  • In the early 21st century, the tag white feminist gained currency to criticize feminists who avoid issues of intersectionality. Critics of Black feminism argue that divisions along the lines of race or gender weaken the strength of the overall feminist and anti-racist movements.

Additional Information

• Radical feminism is a perspective within feminism that calls for a radical re-ordering of society in which male supremacy is eliminated in all social and economic contexts, while recognizing that women's experiences are also affected by other social divisions such as in race, class, and sexual orientation.
• Postmodern feminism is a mix of post-structuralism, postmodernism, and French feminism. The goal of postmodern feminism is to destabilize the patriarchal norms entrenched in society that have led to gender inequality.
  • Postmodern feminists seek to accomplish this goal through rejecting essentialism, philosophy, and universal truths in favor of embracing the differences that exist amongst women to demonstrate that not all women are the same.

The correct answer is Raja Ram Mohan Roy.

Key Points

• Raja Rammohan Roy presented a fine combination of East and the West.
• His main pre-occupation was how to rid the Hindu religion of image worship, sacrificial rites and other meaningless rituals.
• His greatest achievement in the field of religious reform was an setting up in 1828 of the Brahmo Samaj. It forbade idol-worship and discarded meaningless rites and rituals. It believed in the basic unity of all the religions.
• His greatest achievement was the abolition of Sati in 1929.
• He advocated the abolition of polygamy (a practice of man having more than one wife) and child marriage.

The correct answer is Maclver.

Key Points

• Robert Morrison Maclver was a Scottish sociologist, political theorist, philosopher, university administrator, and humanist.
• He was born in Stornoway in 1882.
• He will be regarded as a key figure in the history of Western philosophy for his systematic elaboration of the essential ethical, societal, and philosophical tenets underlying democratic institutions and procedures.
• By way of a precept, he tried to show how sociological understandings could be practically applied to such pressing issues as labour relations, economic reconstruction, internationalism and peace, intergroup conflicts, religion, academic freedom, social work, juvenile delinquency, and efficient use of manpower resources.
• Especially important in Maclver’s sociological system are his classification of social interests, the distinction between community and association.
• The concept of social evolution, the harmony theory of the relation between society and individuality, and the differentiation between the institutions concerned with means (civilization) and the world of ends (culture).

The correct answer is Option 1.

Key Points

• Feminism is a political doctrine of equal rights for women and men. Feminists are those men and women who believe that many of the inequalities we see in society between men and women are neither natural nor necessary and can be altered so that both women and men can lead free and equal lives.
• According to feminists, inequality between men and women in society is the result of patriarchy. This term refers to a social, economic and cultural system that values men more than women and gives men power over women.
• Feminists questions this way of thinking by making a distinction between “sex” i.e. biological difference between men and women, and “gender” which determines the different roles that men and women play in society
• The history of the modern western feminist movement is divided into four "waves". 
  • The first wave comprised women's suffrage movements of the 19th and early-20th centuries, promoting women's right to vote.
  • The second wave, the women's liberation movement, began in the 1960s and campaigned for legal and social equality for women.
  • In or around 1992, a third wave was identified, characterized by a focus on individuality and diversity.
  • Additionally, some have argued for the existence of a fourth wave, starting around 2012, which has used social media to combat sexual harassment, violence against women and rape culture; it is best known for the Me Too movement.

The correct answer is Kingsley Davis.

Key Points

• Kingsley Davis defines power as “the determination of the behavior of others in accordance with one’s own ends.” Hence option 4) is correct.
• In groups, some members are more powerful than others and this fact has important consequences for group functioning.
• Further, all forms of social interaction involve differences in the relative power of the participants to influence one another.
• Thus power differences enter into determining the relations between father and child, employer and employee, politician and voter and teacher and student.
• Power refers to the relative importance of each member's behavior inside a group structure.
• Regardless of the foundation upon which this likelihood is based, Weber defined power as "the possibility that one actor (person or group) within a social interaction is in a position to carry out his own will."
• In his book Power, Keith Dowding offers one logical definition of power.
• Human people or groups can be modelled as "actors" in the rational choice theory, selecting from a "choice set" of potential actions in an effort to accomplish desired results.

The correct answer is Option 3.

Key Points

• Feminism is a political doctrine of equal rights for women and men. Feminists are those men and women who believe that many of the inequalities we see in society between men and women are neither natural nor necessary and can be altered so that both women and men can lead free and equal lives.
• According to feminists, inequality between men and women in society is the result of patriarchy. This term refers to a social, economic and cultural system that values men more than women and gives men power over women.
• Feminists questions this way of thinking by making a distinction between “sex” i.e. biological difference between men and women, and “gender” which determines the different roles that men and women play in society
• The history of the modern western feminist movement is divided into four "waves". 
  • The first wave comprised women's suffrage movements of the 19th and early-20th centuries, promoting women's right to vote.
  • The second wave, the women's liberation movement, began in the 1960s and campaigned for legal and social equality for women.
  • In or around 1992, a third wave was identified, characterized by a focus on individuality and diversity. The third wave saw the emergence of new feminist currents and theories, such as intersectionality, sex positivity, vegetarian ecofeminism, transfeminism, and postmodern feminism. Hence, Option 3 is the correct answer. 
  • Additionally, some have argued for the existence of a fourth wave, starting around 2012, which has used social media to combat sexual harassment, violence against women and rape culture; it is best known for the Me Too movement.

The correct answer is Polyandry.

Key Points

• Polygamy is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is married to more than one husband at a time, it is called polyandry. In contrast to polygamy, monogamy is marriage consisting of only two parties.
• Polyandry is a form of polygamy in which a woman takes two or more husbands at the same time. Polyandry is contrasted with polygyny, involving one male and two or more females. Several ethnic groups practicing polyandry in India identify their customs with their descent from Draupadi, a central character of the Mahabharta who was married to five brothers.
• Patriarchy is a social system in which men dominate over others, but can also refer to dominance over women specifically; it can also extend to a variety of manifestations in which men have social privileges over others to cause exploitation or oppression, such as through male dominance of moral authority and control of property.
• Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritance of property, rights, names, or titles by persons related through male kin.

The correct answer is Gender Identity.

Key Points

• Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. It is a person’s sense of being a woman, a man, both, neither, or anywhere along the gender spectrum.
• A person’s gender identity may be the same as or different from their birth-assigned sex.
  • For most persons, gender identity and biological sex correspond in the conventional way.
  • Some individuals, however, experience little or no connection between sex and gender; among transgender persons, for example, biological sexual characteristics are distinct and unambiguous, but the affected person identifies with the gender conventionally associated with the opposite sex.
• The nature and development of gender identity have been studied and disputed by psychologists, philosophers, and social activists since the late 20th century.
  • Essentialists hold that gender identity is fixed at birth by genetic or other biological factors.
  • Social constructivists argue that gender identity, or the manner in which gender identity is expressed, is “socially constructed”—i.e., determined by social and cultural influences.
    • Social constructivism of the latter type is not necessarily incompatible with essentialism, because it is possible for a supposedly innate gender identity to be expressed in different ways in different cultures.
    • Finally, a variation of social constructivism known as performatism holds that gender identity is constituted, rather than expressed, by the continuous “performance” of gendered behaviour (actions and speech).

The correct answer is Option 1.

Key Points

• Socialization theory: Socialization theory refers to the educational dimension of liberal feminist theory, which demands equal treatment of women and men. 
  • Socialization theorists believe that by providing all children with gender-neutral education and eliminating other obstacles to female success, schools would not only ensure fairness but would increase the pool of skilled workers, thereby benefiting society as a whole. Hence, Option 1 is the correct answer.
• Gender difference theory: Gender difference theory includes the constellation of cultural, educational, and ethical arguments that describe and defend the feminine culture and the relational orientation associated with women. 
  • Difference theorists reject the argument that successful schooling for girls should be modeled on what has worked for boys. Instead of embracing masculine values as universals, say difference feminists, schools need to acknowledge that the relational values associated with women are at least as important as the rationalistic values associated with men.
• Structural theory: It focuses on more or less stable power arrangements, the systematic consolidation of power and privilege in the hands of a minority.
  • According to such theories, power is something one group exercises over another; it is a kind of possession or property legitimated by-laws, standards, hegemonic practices, and institutional relations. Both gendered and other forms of inequity are organized and sustained by more or less stable (albeit flexible) power arrangements.​
• Deconstructive theory: It focuses on constantly shifting cultural practices. The deconstruction theory of gender and education focuses on the fact that women are not considered as a rational gender of society, and also they don't have excess to quality education as men do.