1. Gender

2. Sex vs Gender

3. Working moms: The great balancing act. Movie: Series 2 Should mothers with children stay home? Should fathers with children stay home? Businesses claim that helping working women would “hurt the bottom line”. Is that accurate or not? Why is the U.S. one of only a handful of countries in the world that do not offer paid family leave?

4. Do you think differences between masculine and feminine behavior are culturally or biologically defined? Why do many people resist the idea that it is cultural?

5. Analyze how your own gender role has been shaped by your family, peers, school, and the mass media. Which seems to have had the most impact on you?

6. Why do you think it has been especially difficult to convince men to share the housework? How did your parents divide up housework? How do you plan to do this in your own marriage (or relationship)?

7. Is structural-functional or social-conflict analysis of gender-role inequality more convincing? Why?

8. Sexual harassment Why could it be difficult to eliminate sexual harassment from our culture? What is the effect on the job? What is the effect on the victim? How would you suggest reducing this?

9. Female genital mutilation Is FGM a medical procedure or a means of social control? What could, or should, be done about this practice? Should the U.S. accept another country’s culture?