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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Cries of a "birth dearth" proudly seeks to scare educated white women into keeping up with which of the following groups according to Faludi?
(a) Families in other industrialized nations.
(b) Their married, child-bearing peers.
(c) No answers are correct.
(d) Paupers, fools, and foreigners.

2. According to Backlash, the press uses the Harvard-Yale study to scare women into marrying "just to beat the 'odds'." At the same time, they overlook which of the following types of data?
(a) Unmarried women believing their lives are "as easy" as married friends.
(b) Women cohabitating at rates twice those of 1970.
(c) Better paid women are more likely to marry.
(d) Census figures showing 1.9 million more never-married men than women.

3. In the late 1980s, circulation of traditional women's magazines is down sharply with Good Housekeeping the worst off and Working Woman the best off. To what does Faludi attribute the relative success of Working Woman?
(a) Surveys show that Working Woman has many more loyal readers.
(b) Executives at Working Woman focus on traditional female roles, which is what readers want.
(c) Working Woman has a better system of distribution.
(d) The magazine is concentrating on career women's needs.

4. According to Backlash, career women are warned that their choice to delay pregnancy and childbirth are resulting in which of the following?
(a) Greater abortion rates.
(b) Higher miscarriage rates.
(c) Higher incidents of birth defects.
(d) Endometriosis.

5. Faludi makes the point that most women who go mad in 1970s films are repressed and neglected housewives. According to the author, these women do all of the following except what?
(a) Turn to male doctors.
(b) Hear that they should enjoy themselves.
(c) Go to other women for advice.
(d) Hear that they should take action and speak up.

Short Answer Questions

1. Sociologist Lenore Weitzman suggests that the issue of divorce should be handled by doing all of the following EXCEPT:

2. The "Big Lie" joins ____________ to the "dime-store moralism of yesteryear."

3. ________ issues more miniskirts and says older women want to feel sexy on the job and ________ agrees: "gals" like to show their legs.

4. Who casts his wife in the demeaning role of an unsmiling female doctor who clutches her book about obsession and compulsion?

5. What is the complete title of the book, Backlash?

Short Essay Questions

1. Several doctors are discussed in Chapter 8 of the book. Faludi writes about the ways in which they help the backlash and use their credentials to sponsor cosmetic products. Name at least one of these doctors and describe his or her role in the backlash by the cosmetics industry.

2. Discuss the way in which the movies and television treat the subject of women and careers.

3. Murphy Brown and Roseanne were two characters who were reviled by the backlash according to Faludi. Why were these women disliked so strongly? Also discuss the ways in which the backlash launches their attack of Murphy and Roseanne.

4. Who is Dr. Robert Harvey and why is he discussed in the chapter on the cosmetic industry?

5. Contrast the media's transition from applauding "brave" relationship choices in the 1970s to the position the media outlets took to address this issue in the 1980s.

6. According to survey responses, women believe they need equal pay, the right to abortions, and decent childcare. Discuss how reforms in those areas would impact women's lives.

7. In a survey of men, it was found that only a small percentage truly supported equality for women. Identify two reasons why men would support equality for women and two reasons why they would not support this initiative.

8. Briefly explain the series of events that occur after the New York Times announces a "back-to-the-home trend" in 1980 based on six Ivy League undergraduates.

9. The cosmetics industry has a long history of dictating difficult and unhealthy trends for women's bodies. Discuss what physical looks and trends are pushed from the Victorian era through 1970 according to Faludi.

10. What are the implications of the findings that a divorce may not have as lasting a financial impact on women and that men are more likely to suffer greater psychological impact than women following a divorce?

(see the answer keys)

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