Selected Rethink Answers

1. Armed forces: Laws may be both protective and sexist. Protective in that some people, particularly men, may need to see themselves as the stronger sex. Sexist in that an assumption that the skills needed to be a solder can only be acquired by men. Yes. This is an example of benevolent sexism. It places women in stereotypical and restrictive roles that appear, on the surface, to be positive.

2. To raise a more androgynous child, one might give equal access to toys, games, and activities open to both sexes. Parents could be role models by exhibiting more androgyny in their own lives. A problem might be that a child may be teased or excluded from activities because of his or her sex. Children should be given opportunity and freedom to choose. Both sexes have qualities that society has labeled as masculine or feminine. These could and should be shared by both sexes.

4. Societies and cultures tend to agree on what represents an erotic stimulus. Although in Western cultures, breast size might be considered erotic, in others, size is irrelevant. We learn from what society shows us through books, arts, movies, and modeling of others. Messages come from our parents, peers, and the larger society as a whole.

5. Societal factors would include improvised methods of birth control, increasing educational levels of women and more women in the workforce. The double standard still exists. Males still have more sexual freedom but females in relationships based on affection for the other partner has changed the attitude to something referred to as permissiveness with affection.