Since the early 1990s, there has been an increasing focus on the education of boys in the media, impacting more recently on education policy processes. Some previous research has documented the background to this focus, including the impact on earlier policies and programs addressing the education of girls. However, the ways in which discourses about masculinity have informed gender equity policies in education have not been analysed at a fine-grained level. This study identifies the major perspectives involved in debates about the education of boys, and the various discourses informing them 1) advocates for boys' perspectives informed by discourses including biological essentialism and anti-feminism; 2) feminist and profeminist perspectives and discourses; and 3) social psychological perspectives and discourses. A theoretical framework for understanding discourse and policy, as well as gender and masculinities is developed, drawing on critical discourse theory and theories about gender relations. Using critical discourse analysis, drawing on the work of Fairclough, I analyse the discourses about masculinity informing two recent policy documents: Gender Equity: A Framework for Australian Schools and Education Queensland's Boys Education Strategy. The study found that the Gender Equity Framework was primarily informed by (pro)feminist discourses, although advocates for boys discourses informed the Framework in significant ways as well. The Boys Education Strategy, while primarily framed by advocates for boys' discourses, was largely informed by (pro)feminist discourses at the micro level. In both cases, discourses marginalised in the broader culture and in the debates generally, such as those associated with marginal sexualities or minority cultural groups, were found to be marginal. These findings have implications for policy and policy processes, gender equity policy and for teacher education. In particular there is a need for further research on the role of the media in policy processes as well as work on developing teacher understanding of and responses to policy processes and the construction of gender and masculinities.

This study examines how women are portrayed in four of Disney’s feature films, withthe focus on the presentation of relations between women. The films examined areSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Sleeping Beauty (1959), The Little Mermaid(1989) and Frozen (2013). The aim is to analyse the development that has taken placefrom a gender perspective, from the earliest film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs(1937), to the latest, Frozen (2013), and to reveal the significance of the femalecharacters for each other. The films’ portrayal of women and female relations isdiscussed in relation to previous criticism of Disney for their stereotyped portrayal ofwomen, and through a thematic comparison with the known fairytales on which thefilms are based. The analysis has been performed with the aid of content analysis basedon Stukát (2011) and Ledin & Moberg (2010). The theoretical foundation is gendertheory, chiefly using Jarlbro (2006), Nilson (2010) and Davies (2003).One finding of this study is that it is only in the recent films that more room has beengiven to a positive relationship between women. In the early films there is more hatebetween women, who are therefore not shown as good objects for young girls toidentify with, whereas the later films often depict relations between women as loving.However, the mother figure and female friends are often absent from Disney’s films.These relationships are often described as being the most important for girls’ identitydevelopment, and therefore the early Disney films can be assumed to lack goodidentification possibilities for girls. Another finding is that the female characters havebecome more complex in the recent films, not following traditional female behaviour.

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In 2016, the actress Meghan Markle met prince Harry, duke of Sussex which later on led to amarriage. This has resulted in intense media coverage of her, especially by the tabloid press,depicting her in a manner that incorporates both sexist and racist elements. This study aims toanalyze how Markle has been represented in The Sun and Daily Mail during the two firstweeks following the announcement of her relationship with Prince Harry, with a particularfocus on potential racist and sexist discourses. The material used for the study consists ofeleven articles in total, five from The Sun and six from Daily Mail. Fairclough’s criticaldiscourse analysis is used as a method to answer the research questions, along with Foucault'sdiscourse theory and intersectionality as part of the theoretical framework of the study. Theseare applied in order to add another dimension to the study and fill the research gap. The mainfindings indicate sexist and racist discourses in the representation of Meghan Markle in TheSun and Daily Mail. As for Foucault’s discourse theory these discourses constitute a reality inwhich women with diverse ethnic backgrounds are portrayed derogatorily, and whereindividuals in these categories are perceived to have less power in society. Through anintersectionality perspective, Markle is predominantly constructed as an assertive biracialwoman who frequently self-promotes, actively seeks media attention and is perceived ashaving difficulty initiating serious relationships. This shows how both sexist and racistdiscourses work together to construct Markle unfavorably.Key words: Intersectionality; Discourse; Tabloid press; Gender; Critical discourse analysis;Sexism; Racism; Media.1

The dissertation connects areas of critical-animal studies and feminist studies over the question of picturing bodies of animals and women including visual violence. In particular it addresses the use of mentioned picturing methods by an animal rights movement. I understand women and animals to be marginalised groups in patriarchal society on which is represented the power of hegemonic masculinity by denigrating, violent and sexual representation, even though each group has its specifics. The method of representation serves as means of confirmation and embedding of hegemonic masculinity, anthropocentric system built on binary oppositions man/woman, human/animal, and with them related discourse of difference. The aim of the dissertation is to point out common characteristics of denigrating representation including violence (with sexual meaning) on animals and women who are reduced to objects, on which visualisation of violence is socially accepted. The initial point comes from feminist theories of Carol J. Adams and her concept of absent referent. Further it works with concept of intersectionality and fluid identity according to Rosi Braidotti, which enables consideration of assigning a claim of personal identity also to animals. From the methodological position, the dissertation is based on...

This paper examines how femininity is portrayed in the Harry Potter-series. Many female characters display certain feminine traits which are deemed as negative in the novels, and they are treated as less than because of it. Specifically Dolores Umbridge, Fleur Delacour and Luna Lovegood are disliked or ridiculed because of their feminine expressions. With help from theories about gender performativity, femininity as a scapegoat and texts about feminity this essay is demonstrating how the characters' characteristics and actions of three characters contributes to a misogynistic portrayal of women. It argues that female characters are unable to succeed unless they conform to the series' established norms for women. Keywords: Harry Potter, femininity, performativity, gender norms, gender critical, Dolores Umbridge, Fleur Delacour, Luna Lovegood

Den här studien undersöker om det kan utrönas skillnader, och om så är fallet, i vad dessa skillnader består i, mellan manligt och kvinnligt skriftspråk i katastrofjournalistik med avseende på diskoteksbranden i Göteborg 1998 och tsunamikatastrofen 2004.    Dessa händelser valdes med utgångspunkt av att de liknar varandra, inte bara i att de faller under katastrofjournalistik, utan för att de båda krävde ett stort antal svenska dödsoffer och genom detta haft djupgående påverkan på det svenska samhället. Studiens empiri består av 78 nyhetsartiklar från Dagens Nyheteroch Svenska Dagbladet, vilka genererats med hjälp av databasen Retriever. Dessa har sedan undersökt noga genom text- och innehållsanalys med både kvantitativa och kvalitativa inslag.    Resultatet av studien visade att det i materialet fanns språkmässiga skillnader mellan könen. De kvinnliga journalisterna tenderade att använda fler pronomen i sina texter och att beskriva händelserna mer detaljrikt än männen. Dessutom tenderade nyhetstexterna som författats av kvinnor att vara mer emotionella och innehålla fler ord än de som författats av män, samtidigt som meningslängden i deras artiklar var kortare än männens. / This study is aiming to investigate if there is a detectable difference, and if so, what characterizes that difference, between female and male written language in news reports from two catastrophic events that have had great impact on the Swedish society, namely the disco fire in Gothenburg in 1998 and the tsunami that hit the Bay of Bengal in 2004.   For the purpose of the investigation, 78 articles were pulled from the Swedish newspapers Dagens Nyheterand Svenska Dagbladet, with help by the newspaper search engine Retriever. Those articles were then closely examined through the use of both qualitative and quantitative content analysis.    The study showed that there were some differences to be found in the language use of female and male journalists concerning the two news events. Some of these differences being that the female reporters both tended to use more pronouns in their texts, and too describe events in more detail than their male colleagues. Other features that set female and male articles apart, were that female texts tended to contain more words than male texts at the same time as being more emotionally orientated. Articles by female writers also tended to be divided into shorter sentences than articles by male writers.