Women's Sexuality Across the Life Span

Self-Study Examination

Instructions: After studying the text answer the following true/false or multiple choice questions.  Remember, there's only one answer to each question.

1. According to the author, whether a woman experiences an encounter as sexual or not depends on the meaning she ascribes to the encounter.

a) true
b) false

2. To understand how women define and experience their sexuality, it is necessary to focus on:

a) their internal environments and changing bodies
b) the social context that helps give meaning to their experiences
c) their evolving sense of themselves as sexual people
d) all of the above

3. The meaning any woman makes of her sexuality is the product of the messages of her body and of her environment, interpreted through the lenses of the values, beliefs, and sexual self-perceptions she has.

a) true
b) false

4. The author states that we know quite a bit of information about children's psychological experiencing of themselves as sexual people.

a) true
b) false

5. Caretakers and family members are particularly significant in shaping girls' sexual meanings and self-conceptions.

a) true
b) false

6. Parents who build on their daughters' strengths and competencies in all areas of their lives help to reinforce self-acceptance and more affirming sexual self-constructions.

a) true
b) false

7. Body image is not generally considered a significant component in the process of gender-identity development during adolescence.

a) true
b) false

8. Body image appears to involve all of the following except:

a) "core" body image
b) gender-role identity
c) genetic factors
d) self-esteem

9. Some theorists see sexual orientation and identity formation as components of the larger process of gender identity development.

a) true
b) false

10. According to Brooks-Gunn, 1988, which of the following typically happens at the onset of menstruation?

a) more emotional and physical distancing
b) a decrease in appetite
c) greater parent-daughter conflict
d) a and c

11. The author states that, aside from parents, many of the messages girls receive regarding menarche come from peers, the media, religion, and medicine.

a) true
b) false

12. Counselors can serve an important role in helping girls prepare for and appreciate menstruation as they present more positive, woman-affirming messages that reinforce its significance.

a) true
b) false

13. Girls who mature early tend to experience all of the following except:

a) lower self-esteem
b) higher self-consciousness
c) a more negative menarche
d) greater social and emotional maturity

14. When working with adolescent girls, the goal should include helping them:

a) reconnect with their bodies
b) come to a place of self-acceptance
c) both a and b
d) neither a nor b

15. While the mother-daughter relationship is considered by many to be important in girls' development, many other factors are also salient in shaping girls' body image perceptions during adolescence.

a) true
b) false

16. When working with adolescent girls, there are a number of activities that can be used to help them explore their beliefs. The author mentions all of the following except:

a) word-association activity
b) examining sexual scripts in popular culture
c) watching sex education films
d) writing an anonymous letter to "Dear Abby"

17. The author states that "guided fantasy" can include the process of an adolescent portraying her sexual energy through a picture or painting.

a) true
b) false

18. Adolescent girls, according to the author, should be encouraged to utilize conventional sexual language, instead of constructing their own sexual vocabulary.

a) true
b) false

19. According to research cited by the author, most women in young adulthood (20-40 years old) experience relatively few changes in their reproductive functioning, except for a slight decline in fertility and slightly higher risks of complications during preg

a) true
b) false

20. Almost no attention has been paid in the literature to the sexual needs, desires, or experiences of women once they make the transition to motherhood.

a) true
b) false

21. According to Lewis (1980), the psychology of female sexuality is much more formulated and understood now than it was in Freud's time.

a) true
b) false

22. When working with young adult women, counselors can play an important role in validating their reproductive choices and sexuality.

a) true
b) false

23. Integrating the social and emotional realities of motherhood into their sexual self-constructions does not usually seem challenging for most women.

a) true
b) false

24. Grief work is a significant part of the therapeutic process when working with women who suffer reproductive losses.

a) true
b) false

25. Counselors may encourage women to use metaphors to identify and explore their perceptions of their bodies, and to:

a) describe their ideal body image
b) describe feelings about their bodies
c) describe their relationship with their bodies
d) all of the above

26. In helping women to begin to identify the sources of the messages they receive regarding the inadequacy of their bodies, it is useful first to guide them through a progressive relaxation exercise.

a) true
b) false

27. Bibliotherapy can be a way to help clients begin to recognize the extent to which societal standards of feminine beauty contribute to their feelings of inadequacy.

a) true
b) false

28. On both an individual and an inter-personal level, women and their partners do not have any latitude in the degree to which they accept or reject the dominant model of sexual expression.

a) true
b) false

29. Assessing the nature of young women's concerns related to their sexuality and sexual expression requires exploration on all of the following levels except:

a) the biological level
b) the individual level
c) the level of the larger social context
d) the relational/intersubjective level

30. The differences in the male sexual script versus the female sexual script can become very apparent through the completion of the "as if" autobiography.

a) true
b) false

31. By far, the most frequently reported (60-89%) menopausal symptom is sleep disturbance.

a) true
b) false

32. Many postmenopausal women report feeling better, more confident, calmer, and freer than they did before menopause.

a) true
b) false

33. The term "adaptive misperception of self" is defined as when older women distort their perceptions of their appearance and body image in favor of maintaining a younger self-perception.

a) true
b) false

34. Fears and concerns about menopause often have their genesis in a woman's own family of origin.

a) true
b) false

35. Which of the following does the author state can be "very helpful in letting go of past hopes, expectations, or self-perceptions" when working with menopausal women?

a) prescription medication
b) bibliotherapy
c) rituals
d) journaling

36. Individually or within a group, women can be encouraged to rename and create new language to describe their menopausal experiences.

a) true
b) false

37. According to Sontag (1979), aging is much more a biological eventuality than a social judgment.

a) true
b) false

38. A physical "life review" is defined as the process of guiding women through an exploration of their personal body image histories.

a) true
b) false

39. According to Barbach (1993), the greatest fear of midlife women during and following menopause may be:

a) weight gain
b) wrinkles and hair loss
c) osteoporosis
d) loss of sexual desire and desirability

40. According to Dowling (1996), the dilemma of the midlife woman entering a new heterosexual relationship is that while she has gained in sexual maturity and knowledge, she is often painfully uncertain about the sexual desirability of her aging body.

a) true
b) false

41. Anderson and Stewart (1994) emphasize the importance of counselors helping single women at midlife to embrace the idea that they are simply temporarily "between men."

a) true
b) false

42. Counselors can ask women to look within their own families and lives for images of older women whom they perceive to represent an image of midlife sexual vitality.

a) true
b) false

43. Rotberg (1987) states that the most important determining factor regarding the sexual expression of older women, other than physical health and fitness, may well be "the attitudes that women hold."

a) true
b) false

44. Acknowledgement of the sexuality of postmenopausal women is surprisingly widespread in books and magazines, on television, and in the movies.

a) true
b) false

45. Counselors should normalize and validate the rights of older women to engage in whatever form of sexual expression they desire and feel is comfortable for them.

a) true
b) false