Nine years after the genocide in Rwanda, women won 48 per cent of the seats in the parliament. In the next election of 2008 they became the most gender equal parliament in the world. But does this mean that women have received an extensive influence in decision-making in the Rwandan society? The aim with this study is to develop a deeper understanding of what role women have in decision-making at local political assemblies and in households. A field study with an ethnographical approach including interviews and observations in Rwanda was conducted in November-December 2011. Interviews with female and male farmers and urbanites were performed in order to understand their roles and responsibilities in their home. This thesis also contains a brief analysis of Rwandan women’s role in the pre-genocide society. Through a Neo-institutional approach, this thesis outlines what has contributed to women’s role today. Neo-institutionalism looks at societal changes with a holistic view and from three different aspects: the normative, cultural-cognitive and the regulative aspect. These three components of the theory are vital ingredients for a societal change to occur. My findings show that women participate in decision-making, not only on the central level, but also in local political assemblies. It also indicates that women of today partake in decision-making at the household level, earlier left to men alone. Women have also since 1999 gained equal rights by several legal regulations. My analysis shows that women’s influence in decision-making on central, local and on household level is a collateral consequence of the genocide.

The following study seeks to explore the theme of what has become known as a serious security problem within the genderfield as well as the peace and development field, strategic rape as a weapon in war. More specifically, the essay analyses women's experiences of rape in the Bosnian war, in order to explore how big of a space is dedicated for these experiences to be expressed in the aftermath of war and in the process of building a nation. The empirical findings consist of stories told by women who have experienced rape during the war, available for the general public to find. With a theoretical framework consisting of a combination of feminist theories surrounding the gender order, the analysis seeks to focus on what power relations and different types of silences can be found in the stories told by war rape victims. The conclusion states that all of the power relations are based on the unequal relationship between the male and female, which influences the relationship between war rapevictims and war criminals, politicians and the victims surrounding. The silence brought to life by stigma transforms into various forms, the main ones referring to the war rapevictims and witih the politicial sphere.

This thesis aims to see how individual and partner’s unemployment affect self-rated depressive symptoms, both for individuals separately, and for individuals in a relationship within Europe. The research questions were examined by using European Social Survey (ESS) data from 2014. An index was created in order to capture the phenomena of depressive symptoms. To investigate the effect of unemployment in relation to self-rated depression, multiple regressions analysis were used. The results show that there is a relationship between unemployment and depressive symptoms, for both men and women. However, men tend to be affected by their own unemployment only, whereas evidence was found supporting that having an unemployed partner affect depressive symptoms in a negative way for women. Hence, women are a more vulnerable group on the labour market, because they are not only affected by their own labour market status, but also by the labour market status of their partners.

Forskning har länge bedrivits inom området gällande kvinnors hinder att nå högre chefspositioner. Könsroller, stereotypiska egenskaper, kategoriseringar och negativa attityder tycktes vara centrala i problematiken. Syftet med föreliggande studie var att undersöka hur högskolestudenter skattade sina attityder till kvinnor som chefer (n = 193, varav 124 kvinnor). En vinjettstudie med experimentell mellangruppsdesign genomfördes där materialet analyserades med tvåvägs ANOVOR för oberoende mätningar. Resultatet visade att kvinnliga högskolestudenter hade en signifikant mer positiv attityd till kvinnor som chefer jämfört med manliga högskolestudenter. Det påvisades även en signifikant skillnad i skattad attityd till kvinnor som chefer beroende på läst vinjett där kvinnliga högskolestudenter skattade kvinnor som chefer mer positivt efter att ha läst en vinjett om en kvinna som chef. Dock hade utbildning inom beteendevetenskapliga ämnen ingen signifikant inverkan på skattad attityd. Slutsatsen blev att kvinnor som chefer skattades mer positivt än förväntat, och att det tycks ha skett en attitydförändring.

Preventivmedel för kvinnor innefattar en betydande andel biverkningar. Hittills har män inte upplevt några allvarliga biverkningar av de testade preventivmedlen för män, trots detta är det biverkningarna som stoppat preventivmedel för män från att lanseras på marknaden. I denna studie argumenteras för att en möjlig förklaring till detta ligger i skilda riskuppfattningar om preventivmedel för män och kvinnor. Studien undersöker riskuppfattningar om preventivmedel samt hur individers egenskaper kan påverka denna riskuppfattning. Studien analyserar hur altruism, riskbenägenhet, föreställningar om könsroller och kön påverkar riskuppfattningar om preventivmedel för män respektive för kvinnor. För att undersöka detta utfördes en enkätundersökning bland 413 studenter vid Linköpings universitet. Respondenterna fick uppge sina uppfattningar om risker kring preventivmedel för antingen män eller kvinnor, samt förhålla sig till påståenden och besvara frågor om altruism, riskbenägenhet och könsroller. Vilka preventivmedel (för män eller kvinnor) en respondent tillfrågades att beakta bestämdes slumpmässigt. Datamaterialet analyserades sedan med hjälp av linjär regressionsanalys. Resultaten visar att respondenterna uppfattar biverkningarna från preventivmedel som värre för kvinnor än för män, där riskbenägenheten hos respondenterna spelade störst roll i deras riskuppfattning. Risksökande och mer altruistiska individer upplever riskerna som större medan den föreställningar om könsroller hade en liten påverkan på resultatet. Avslutningsvis visar resultaten en viss könsbias och den största skillnaden mellan könen är att män som är mindre altruistiska ser mindre risker med preventivmedel medan kvinnor som är mer altruistiska ser mer risker med preventivmedel. / Contraception for women entail a considerable amount of side effects. Even though men so far have not experience serious side effects from the tested contraceptive for men. These side effects have proven to inhibit the availability of male contraception on the market. In this study argumentation is made that one possible explanation for this dwells in a difference in risk perception between contraception for men versus for women, were side effects for contraception for men is preceded as more severe. The aim of this study is to evaluate four traits in individuals which arguably is affecting this risk perception, these are traditional views of gender roles, altruism, risk attitude and a difference in perceptions between genders. To test this, a survey with 413 respondents was conducted at Linköping University. The respondents had to report their perceptions about risks regarding contraception for either men or women, as well as respond to statements about altruism, risk attitudes and traditional gender roles. It was randomized what kind of contraception (for men or for women) the respondents answered. The data material was analyzed through linear regressions. The results show that the respondents, both the women and the men, perceive side effects for contraceptive for women as more severe were their risk attitude have the biggest effect on their risk perception. Furthermore, individuals who are more altruistic and risk seeking perceive larger risks with contraception while the individuals view on traditional gender roles have negligible effect on the respondent’s risk perception. A gender bias dwells in the respondents answer and the biggest difference between the genders is that men who are less altruistic see less risks with contraception while women who are more altruistic see more risks with contraception.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / Marjorie R. Hancock / Linda P. Thurston / The purpose of this qualitative collective case study was to examine the sociocultural and gender role expectation factors that contributed to the success of 10 Latina/Hispanic female high school graduates now attending a large university in the Midwest. Additionally, the study investigated the characteristics of resilience and persistence that helped these women continue their pursuit of higher education in spite of the challenges they faced. The participants in this study were identified as recent immigrants from Mexico or Mexican-Americans born in the United States of Mexican immigrant parents. All of these respondents graduated from a midwestern K-12 public school system and are now attending a large Midwestern university. This study used a qualitative paradigm and open-ended, in-depth interviews for data collection. The 17 question interview focused on the areas of sociocultural backgrounds, resilience/persistence factors, and gender role expectations. Demographic data about the participants’ life histories and educational experiences were collected during the 90-minute interviews. Findings in the study indicated that Latinas are faced with many conflicts. They have specific gender role expectations placed on them and are limited by cultural rules and norms. Along with these conflicts they learn to build resilience/persistence attributes to help them succeed in their academic careers. The seven factors that contributed to the lived experiences and factors of resilience/persistence of Latina/Hispanic female academic success included: 1) lived discrimination; 2) the need to obtain an education that would lead to a better life; 3) active involvement in extracurricular activities in school; 4) strict and protective parents; 5) positive role models from family and other Latinas; 6) traumatic life experiences; 7) and strong familial/parental support. Additionally, the study also revealed six more contributing factors to the sociocultural and gender role expectations and pressures that impact the success of Latina/Hispanic female students in a K-12 public school system. Those factors included traditional Hispanic households, living in two worlds, traditional gender role expectations, independence from family, transference of parental gender role expectations, and the behavioral expectations for Latinas. The study offers recommendations for future studies and implications for practice advising and encouraging Hispanic females to pursue their academic goals.

The purpose of this study was to examine how the intersection of gender scripts, gender identity, and sexual orientation impact perceived narratives and power hierarchies in sexual relationships. To drive participants to verbalize their underlying views about sexual scripts, two highly sexualized and controversial sexual cultures will be examined: casual sex and pornography. Feminist academics and advocates have long argued for a restructuring of sexual politics by implementing feminist principles into personal relations and public life (Connell, 1997). Therefore, competing feminist ideologies will also be assessed to gauge the campus’s feminist climate regarding self-identified feminists’ views on the exploitation and/or the empowerment of women within pornography. Findings from this study indicated that respondents view women’s participation in hookups or pornographic situations similar to how they viewed men’s participation. However, internalized homophobic messages were discovered, particularly from male respondents. The findings also suggest that feminists in this sample were generally accepting of pornography, but that feminism did not play a key role in shaping respondents beliefs.

Psychological aggression is present in as many as 89-97% of college women’s intimate relationships (Cercone, Beach, & Arias, 2005; Riggs & O’Leary, 1996). Victimization has been linked to negative physical and mental health consequences including depression, anxiety, and chronic pain (Coker, Smith, Bethea, King, & McKeown, 2000; Derrick, Testa, & Leonard, 2014; Pico-Alfonso et al., 2006). Psychological aggression also serves as a risk factor for future or continued physical intimate partner violence (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2014), which can result in bruises, broken bones, or in extreme cases, even death. Parental modeling of appropriate relationship behaviors may be an important factor in young adult women’s learning how to behave in their own intimate relationships. Studies have produced mixed results when assessing the role of engendered cultural influences on this phenomenon, with many reporting that women holding traditional gender role beliefs are at an increased risk for experiencing relationship aggression (Brownridge, 2002; CDC, 2014; Eaton & Matamala, 2014; Fitzpatrick, Salgado, Suvak, King, & King, 2004). The current dissertation seeks to investigate the roles of traditional, culturally informed gender role beliefs in the intergenerational modeling of psychological aggression in Hispanic college women’s intimate relationships. A total of 687 students from a large Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) in the southeastern United States participated in this study. The results of Study 1 showed that parental use of psychological aggression and participants’ beliefs consistent with caballerismo influenced Hispanic college women’s victimization in their intimate relationships. The results of Study 2 indicated that parental use of psychological aggression, participants’ beliefs consistent with marianismo, and participants’ beliefs sanctioning their own use of psychological aggression toward their boyfriends significantly influenced Hispanic college women’s perpetration of this type of aggression in their intimate relationships. The findings from this dissertation are important as few studies have examined intimate partner violence or conflict strategies in Hispanic college populations, despite the fact that they constitute the largest group of ethnic minority women on campuses today (Fry, 2011). Further, they contribute to our ability to effectively critique traditional gender beliefs used to examine Hispanic women’s behavioral and psychological outcomes.

One major question in the area of Feminist Media Studies is to analyze the stereotypical female role portrayals in media. Researchers in this area have examined diverse media including television, radio, films, textbooks, literature and so on. Empirical evidence provided by these studies shows that women in media are often underrepresented or stereotypically portrayed in traditional roles such as housewives or mothers associated with feminine values, such as dependent, submissive, and passive. Using content analysis and semiotic analysis, this study is designed to examine the portrayals of female roles in a sample of contemporary (1949-2010) Chinese films. Content analysis is employed to examine how women have been portrayed in films, with the primary focus on the frequency of three types of female roles including (1) traditional roles, (2) modern role, and (3) ideal role. Results suggest that during this long period of time, representations and constructions of women in films have shifted from promotion of gender equality, to diminishing and erasing gender difference, and finally regressed to confining them to traditional roles while emphasizing traditional feminine values and expectations. In using semiotic analysis, this research is able to outline the connotative meanings of the female characters as well as the implicit cultural values and messages of gender that are embedded in films. On this cultural analysis, the findings reveal that female role portrayals in films, which are influenced by political, cultural, and social changes, remained associated with traditional feminine stereotypes, values, and expectations.

The aim of this study is to investigate stereotypical gender roles in ten fiction-related chapter books for children and young adults from a gender perspective. The selection of fictions has been made randomly from the decades of the 1940s, 1970s, 1990s and 2010s, of which nine books are from the three later decades, three from each decade, and one from the 1940s. The book from the 1940s, Fem söker en skatt, has together with research on gender and stereotypical gender roles in children's and youth literature, worked as a guideline on stereotypical gender roles. The study shows that characters following the stereotypical gender roles are getting fewer and fewer over the years, and that it is of the utmost importance to discuss gender equality from an early age. Here, teachers have an important role to strengthen children and young adult's awareness and acceptance for all human being's own worth. / Syftet med den här studien är att ur ett genusperspektiv undersöka stereotypa könsroller i tio skönlitterära kapitelböcker för barn och unga. Urvalet av skönlitteratur har gjorts slumpmässigt utifrån årtiondena 1940-, 1970-, 1990- samt 2010-talet varav tre böcker är från vardera av de tre senare årtiondena, och en från 1940-talet. Boken från 1940-talet, Fem söker en skatt, har tillsammans med forskning kring genus och stereotypa könsroller i barn- och ungdomslitteratur fungerat som en ledstjärna kring stereotypa könsroller. Studien visar på att karaktärer som följer stereotypa könsroller blir färre och färre med åren, samt att det är av högsta vikt att diskutera jämställdhet mellan könen redan från tidig ålder. Här har lärarna en viktig roll för att stärka barn och ungas medvetenhet och acceptans för alla människors egenvärde.