Educational textbooks have the power to influence pupils’ perception of the world. In the subject of English, this specifically concerns learning about cultures in different parts of the world where English is used. The purpose of this study is to identify the characteristics of cultural representation in two English Language Teaching (ELT) textbooks with the aim to make the hidden curriculum visible and to raise awareness among publishing houses and teachers. Using a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) based on Fairclough’s (2001) three-dimensional model in combination with Barthes’ (1977) Visual Semiotics methodology, we investigated which regions and countries were presented and how their cultures were constructed through texts and images. These findings were further compared to the cultural values and content of the Swedish curriculum, the genre of textbooks, and existing hegemonic discourses in society. In the analysis, Kachru’s (1986) Circles of World Englishes, Machin and Mayr’s (2012) toolkit for CDA, McKay’s (2010) interpretation of Anderson’s (1983) imagined communities, and Said’s (2003) concept of Orientalism were applied. Our findings show that the inner circle dominates and is depicted as superior in contrast to the outer and expanding circles. Although the textbooks include a variation of different cultures which is in line with the curriculum, representation of the outer and expanding circles is often stereotypical and underdeveloped which reinforces hegemonic discourses instead of acting to restructure them. This corresponds to previous studies in the genre, and hence, educators must work to ensure that the hidden curriculum in ELT textbooks is continuously made visible and challenged.

The present thesis compares media representations of Yekîneyên Parastina Jin (YPJ or the Women’s Protection Units), an all-female Kurdish military organisation, in British media versus the organisation’s own media outlets, with the aim to see how they differ, more specifically in terms of representations of their ideological agency. By utilizing critical discourse analysis (CDA) in combination with postcolonial theory, the media construction of four soldiers’ deaths have been scrutinized in 30 media texts in order to provide a deeper understanding of the hegemonic discourses and sociocultural practices which underpin these constructions. The result shows a discrepancy in terms of representations of YPJ’s ideological agency. On the one hand, YPJ adopts an explicit effort to assert their ideology through a propagandistic discourse that emphasises their values of resistance, freedom, egalitarianism, gender emancipation and democratic confederalism, portraying their fighters as fearless martyrs and heroines that are determined to die for their cause. On the other hand, the UK media represent YPJ’s ideology in generic ways in which hidden ideological ‘us vs. them’ representations are deeply rooted in a broader naturalised Western hegemonic discourse, with portrayals of YPJ’s fallen soldiers mostly characterised by sensationalism and victimisation. One part of such hidden ideological agenda is the way in which YPJ constantly gets included in, and excluded from, ‘us’ (the West), depending on who the enemy is, in addition to mainly receiving media coverage in direct relation to ISIS, a common Western enemy. The result is a representation that endorses YPJ’s fight within a hegemonic Western discourse, neglecting their ideological agency. This has sociocultural implications since such hegemonic discourse misrepresents YPJ’s struggle, constructing their fight mostly as part of a Western counterterrorist strategy, which further legitimises the Western power to construct history based on its own premises and claims of truth.

By using a poststructural discourse analysis, this study aims to investigate how the Swedish Armed Forces formulates the preventive work against discrimination due to sexual orientation and transgender identity or expression. The aim is to also bring knowledge of how the preventive work affect the work environment and the possible consequences for LGBTQ-people within the organisation.  The method “What’s the problem represented to be” by Carol Bacchi is used to analyse the chosen material of policies and qualitative interviews to find out what shapes the preventive work, how it has come about and the effects on different groups in the organisation. Theoretical concepts as hegemonic masculinity, queer, heteronormativity, peripheral inclusion and homonationalism is used as theoretical frame and applied throughout the method. This study shows preventive work tend to focus on Pride and attitudes, rather than questioning structures within the organisation. As result, the heteronormativity and hegemonic masculinity within the organisation is not disrupted and LGB-people in the organisation still perceive homophobic tendencies as part of the work environment.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / A 2004 New York Times’ article regarding the role of potential First Ladies at political conventions wrote, “The public will someday accept a fully independent first lady, Ms. Gibbons predicted, 'I don't see how we can go backwards.’'' (Purnick, 2004) That isn’t to say, however, we have continued moving forward. Perpetuating the trend that began two decades ago, in 2012 both Ann Romney and Michelle Obama delivered speeches at the Republic National Convention (RNC) and Democratic National Convention (DNC) respectively. Prompting a continued study of the first lady include not only Michelle Obama’s self-titled “Mom-in-Chief” speech or the ever present role of fashion and the First Lady, but also her permanent role as the candidate’s feminine counterpart and its close management demand examination. To be sure, this thesis comes at a time of significant importance, with Hillary Clinton vying for the 2016 Democratic Presidential nomination. I agree with past scholars that presidential spouses, as part of the presidential institution, have ushered in a level of public power not previously possible for women (Anderson, Campbell, Jamieson, Sheeler, et al). However, the power of the first lady is constrained by feminine expectations that prevent the emergence of a fully independent first lady. We should question the limitations of the spousal role and challenge the discourses that create those limitations, as they hinder the realization of a fully independent first lady. Since 1992, nearly every spouse has given a public address at the presidential nominating convention, with all candidate wives from 2000-2012 taking part. The emergence of this campaign trend has prompted communication scholars to call for the expansion of research surrounding these speeches (Brown, 2012). Scholars have previously noted that first lady campaign discourse provides a sandbox in which our country experiments with various levels of first lady independence (Parry-Giles, 1996, Campbell, 1998, Anderson, 2002). That is to say, how the wives consistently talk about themselves, their husbands and the country, as well as how the media reports on the potential first lady during coverage of convention oratory, sheds light on the national tone of feminine ideologies. Therefore, I contend that a genre exists governing first lady convention speeches which, along with the mediated discourses surrounding these speeches, constructs and reinforces the ideal femininity of the First Lady. As a result, the hegemonic masculinity of the presidency is further reified with important consequences for our ability to accept an independent first lady which makes it more difficult to accept a woman president. This thesis examines the dual role of the feminine ideal of US first ladies and the masculinity of the presidency. Examining the generic constraints of 20 years of presidential candidate wives convention speeches and the associated media coverage will uncover dominant themes that aim to vilify certain wives—for their speech style and content—and celebrate others. By assessing what points of struggle we witness in these discourses, we note opportunities where first ladies and potential first ladies challenge these generic constraints and have the potential to reveal shifts and expansions in the discourses. The result may lead to a new understanding of gender in relation to the presidency.

Abstract This research is dedicated to increasing the understanding of the phenomenon of conflict-related violence against men. The topic of conflict-related violence against men has through history been unnoticed, unaddressed, and unrecognized in the field of gender-based violence. Most of the literature, research, and documentation of sexual violence is subsequently more dedicated to women. However, even though there is limited research on the topic there has been an increase in research during the previous years. Moreover, research that does exist on conflict-related sexual violence against men is scarce and missing significant evidence due to underreporting on the issue. The objective of the research is to highlight the consequential gap in research regarding sexually violated men. Doing so by composing a case study on Uganda and analyzing how masculinities, gender norms, gender identity along with others affect sexually violated men, in distinction to the theoretical framework of hegemonic masculinity. Along with analyzing how two substantial organizations, Refugee Law Project, and Men of Hope Refugee Association Uganda, in Uganda, work with male victims of conflict-related sexual violence. This research is composed as a qualitative desk study using abductive reasoning as the analytical framework. The collected data is analyzed through content analysis followed by thematic analysis. The methodological approach and the analytical framework have been chosen to comprehend and achieve an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon of conflict-related sexual violence against men more fully.

This essay focuses on how masculinities are performed and portrayed in Annie Proulx’s novella “Brokeback Mountain” (1997). The thesis argues that through examining the characters’ portrayals of masculinity, readers might develop a deeper, nuanced understanding of gender normativity today. The novella is analysed through a queer perspective with hegemonic gender traits as the main tools for the analysis. The analysis shows how the protagonists Ennis and Jack perform their masculinities in accordance with the heterosexual matrix, while also living in fear of deviating from it. The essay also includes a pedagogical section in which the value of incorporating “Brokeback Mountain” in the EFL classroom is advocated to promote inclusive teaching and question gender normativity. Additionally, the pedagogical implications discuss the relationship between gender normativity and intolerance and homophobia.

No description available.

Brandmansyrket har under lång tid varit mansdominerat, trots att antalet kvinnor inom yrket har ökat går det än idag att se en tydlig skillnad mellan antalet kvinnliga respektive manliga brandmän. Med grund i denna problematik har denna studie syftat till att undersöka kvinnliga brandmäns upplevelser av kulturen i ett mansdominerat yrke. Studien har utgått ifrån frågeställningarna “Påverkas kulturen på arbetsplatsen av att det är ett mansdominerat yrke?” samt “Hur upplever kvinnliga brandmän att arbeta i ett mansdominerat yrke?”. För att undersöka detta har empiri samlats in genom kvalitativa intervjuer med nio kvinnliga brandmän. Med hjälp av Raewyn Connells teori om genusrelationer och hegemonisk maskulinitet samt Erving Goffmans begrepp taktfullhet, har det insamlade materialet analyserats. Intervjuerna har bidragit med förståelse för de kvinnliga brandmännens upplevelser av att arbeta i ett mansdominerat yrke. Resultatet har visat att de kvinnliga brandmännen har en positiv inställning till att arbeta i ett mansdominerat yrke samt att det har skett förändring i kulturen, men belyser vikten av en fortsatt utveckling av jämställdhetsarbetet. / For a long time firefighter has been a male dominated profession. Even though the number of female firefighters has increased there is still a distinct difference between the amount of female- and male firefighters. Based on this problem this study aimed to examine female firefighters experience of the culture in a male dominated profession. The framing questions of the study was ”Does the fact that it is a male dominated profession affect the culture in the workplace?” and ”How does female firefighters experience working in a male dominated profession?”. The study is of qualitative character and the empirical material has been collected through nine qualitative interviews with female firefighters. The empirical material has been analysed using Raewyn Connells Theory of gender realisations and hegemonic masculinity, as well as Erving Goffmans concept Tact. The interviews has contributed with understanding of the female firefighters experience of working in a male dominated profession. The results has shown that female firefighters has a positive attitude towards working in a male dominated profession and their experience is that there has been a change in the culture. Despite that they also highlight the importance of continued development of gender equality work.

The aim of the study was to see how work groups in the Correctional Service perceived and expressed masculinity norms and how the work group experienced that the phenomenon affected their meetings with clients. To meet the aim two qualitative group interviews were conducted with two and three people respectively in each group. The participants belonged to working groups within the Correctional System Service from two different regions. The results were analysed through theories of hegemonic masculinity and queer theory. The study showed a perception that masculinity norms did affect the client work because of how the client’s expressed masculinity but that the work group lacked expressions of masculinity norms. In the discussion the results are being discussed through previous research and theory. / Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur personal inom Kriminalvårdens frivård uppfattade maskulinitetsnormer i arbetsgruppen samt hur arbetsgrupperna upplevde att fenomenet påverkade klientarbetet. För att besvara syftet genomfördes två kvalitativa gruppintervjuer med två respektive tre informanter i varje grupp. Informanterna tillhörde arbetsgrupper inom Kriminalvårdens frivårdkontor från två olika regioner. Resultatet analyserades genom teori kring hegemonisk maskulinitet samt queerteori. Studien visade en uppfattning om att maskulinitetsnormer kunde påverka klientarbetet beroende på hur klienter uttryckte maskulinitet, men att arbetsgruppen ansåg sig själva sakna uttryck och påverkan av maskulinitetsnormer i klientarbetet. I diskussionen diskuteras förklaringsmodeller till resultatet utifrån tidigare forskning och teori.

This essay aims to investigate the meaning of masculinity norms within the forestry sector in Sweden, and how these norms affect the gender equality within the industry. A qualitative research method was applied to highlight and investigate the research aim and questions. Six semi-structured interviews were conducted and furthermore analyzed with a discursive analysis method and a gender theoretical perspective. This study is a continuation of and has its starting point, where the project Jämställdhet i skogsbranschen, implemented by Länsstyrelsen in Västernorrland and other actors, left off. The fourth aim of that project became an object of focus for us and this essay as a whole. The results of this study implied that there are several masculinity norms within the Swedish forestry sector and that the norms influence both men and women. A hegemonic masculinity within the industry became apparent that affected women as well as men. Finally, the gender equality work within the sector could be affected by masculinity norms, that could be considered to prohibit existing and ongoing gender equality work.