The reproduction of the gender system and gender hierarchies is a well-researched area in society. However, there is a lack of research on gender relations in Swedish churches, more specifically in the Pentecostal movement. The aim of this essay is to use qualitative content analysis to examine four Christian podcasts known in the Swedish Pentecostal movement, to discover if they reproduce and/or challenge gender roles, hierarchies, and heteronormative sexuality. The essay identified three main categories: gendered characteristics, non-normative sexuality, and family life. The findings suggest that gender is reproduced in the four podcasts on different levels, both implicitly and explicitly, for example by assigning gender-specific characteristics to men and women and explaining that women are the weaker sex that men must take care of. The pastors/preachers in the podcasts also speak in a heteronormative way, excluding other sexualities or declaring other sexualities as sinful. Finally, the podcasts express the different roles of men and women in the home and family, with women being the caregivers and men being the authoritative influences needed to lead a family. Even though the national board of the Pentecostal movement in Sweden is explicitly concerned with gender issues, the essay shows that more needs to be done to influence preachers and pastors in the movement. The churches are active in many societies and reach many children in the communities with different activities. Therefore, it is important for teachers and other adults to be aware of the attitudes and perspectives on gender and sexuality that young people encounter in their everyday lives, and the essay can provide insight into the reproduction of norms in society. The findings of the essay can help teachers to create a more inclusive and stereotype-free classroom.

This study is based on a qualitative method to investigate how female police students and female police officers experience gender norms and how they are attributed gender roles during their education and in their workplace, which was done with semi-structured interviews. In summary, our study concludes that the female police students and female police officers are aware that gender norms exist within their profession. Because of these norms gender roles are assigned, and depending on one’s gender the individual is expected to have specific characteristics, which both produces and reproduces gender roles. Because of these norms and structures, gender differences arise that affects women, partly how others expect them to act and how it affects their work assignments.

From 2001-2007, students from India have consistently comprised the largest ethnic group of international students on college campuses across the United States (Open Doors: Report on International Educational Exchange, 2007). Despite a number of studies that have researched the mental health of international students in the U.S., none have done so primarily with Indian graduate students. Theoretical and empirical literature regarding the psychological changes and acculturation patterns that international students undergo after their transition do not explore the possibility of multiple pathways of change. The current study identified four separate mental health trajectories for Indian international graduate students during their first year in the U.S. It also found three distinct patterns of acculturation for the Indian culture and four acculturation trajectories for the European American culture. The size of one's adjustment, feelings about transition, gender role attitudes, and availability of out-group support were all significant contributors to the variability among empirically derived mental health trajectories.

In this essay, an analysis of Lucy Montgomery's bildungsroman Anne of Green Gables has been conducted. The story of the protagonist Anne Shirley’s development into adulthood displays many aspects of the gender roles of the twentieth century in Canada as a result of her gendered upbringing. Anne's conformity to the private sphere stems from a need to solve her inherent crisis as an orphan but has the purpose of making domestic life seem desirable to the young reader. Anne of Green Gables was released in the twentieth century when women were considered to have universal traits that benefited the conservative gender roles. Therefore this essay analyses the didactic purpose of the novel, theorizing to find that the novel's purpose is to steer the reader's development toward conservative gender roles. Feminist theory provides this essay with explanations of the cause and effect of the notion of gender roles and is used as a guideline throughout the analysis. The results of this essay demonstrate that the bildungsroman Anne of Green Gables has a didactic purpose of steering the development of the reader toward the acceptance of conservative gender roles.

Southern concepts of gender influenced Appalachian society throughout the antebellum and Civil War eras. Concepts of masculinity and femininity, including “the cult of true womanhood” and Southern manhood, shifted and broaden throughout the South due to wartime stressors. Appalachians adjusted these gender roles in order to survive chaos and turmoil in their region. The brutal political and community divisions, high rates of desertion, guerilla warfare, and threats of invasion in the mountain regions intensified these concepts of gender. Southern constructions of gender molded the Appalachian experience of war but the high level of conflict strengthened these new roles as a means of survival.

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This qualitative study explores Second Generation South Asian American (SG SAA) Hindus' ideals, values, and meanings associated with gender, and how these ideals affect their attitudes towards unwanted sexual contact of women/girls. SG SAAs are an understudied population that report high levels of stress due to bicultural identity issues and ethnic discrimination, and yet are unlikely to display help-seeking behaviors. This study explores some of the cultural factors behind this phenomenon, particularly in terms of topics such as unwanted sexual contact (including sexual harassment, coercion, incest, and rape). Using an internet-based convenience sampling method, the researcher collected data using an anonymous online questionnaire with multiple open-ended questions. After using qualitative data analysis software, the researcher interprets and discusses the results by drawing on psychological and anthropological literature on gender in contemporary Hindu culture, identity in diaspora, and cultural/structural violence. The researcher explains how the results reveal the participants' internalized messages about women's value and expectations, particularly in regards to sexuality and family roles. Expected to be independent as well as submissive, modern as well as traditional, female SG SAA Hindus are faced with impossible expectations that erase their subjectivity and silence their voices. The negative ramifications of this are explored, particularly as the participants' describe the messages they learned about Hinduism and the blaming of female victims of sexual abuse. The study contextualizes SG SAAs in terms of contemporary Hindu cultures, and illuminates the ways that certain Hindu gender role expectations and attitudes have oppressed women, punished victims of unwanted sexual contact, and perpetuated cultures of silence, secrecy, and shame. The researcher calls for re-interpretations and re-visioning of contemporary Hindu cultures, not only to end alleviate cycles of abuse, but also to address this population's unique bicultural identity issues. Future research and widespread education is needed to explore the clinical implications of this study, and to develop culturally specific interventions for this silenced population.

This thesis delves into the relationship between religion and feminism in the context of Muslim women residing in Mallorca. The study conducts a qualitative analysis to evaluate the impact of defined gender roles on their everyday experiences. We compare Islamic and secular feminist theories with the viewpoints of young women in Mallorca to determine how individuals engage with religious ideals that may contain misogynistic content. We also examine whether women are disproportionately affected by societal judgment, its impact on their sexual autonomy, and the role of marriage in reinforcing or challenging structural gender inequalities. The conclusions of this research shed light on the complex experiences of these women as they navigate their place in a society shaped by faith, culture, and evolving feminist discourse.

In today's society, most media users are aware that the image of reality that media producers create differs from real life. However, the knowledge about the power that the media holds is forgotten in daily media use. This is due, among other things, to the fact that the image of reality that the media communicates is in many cases more tangible than the actual reality. The media thus has a decisive role in how reality is perceived, and in this case how relationships are perceived. A negative or unrealistic representation of romantic relationships can cause a problem for individuals' perception and attitudes towards their partners, or future partners. In recent years, romantic comedies have slowly become more popular with both men and women. They have started spreading from their conventional and traditional structure to other territories and areas. The genre is characterized by a focus on idealized love. It usually consists of suspense with love being challenged and a happy ending to the story. The plot keeps the audience glued to their seats hoping that love will triumph in the end. This study aims to investigate the representation of relationships in three romantic comedies from the 2010s. Certain expectations of a romantic relationship can be constructed in the films. By scanning the movie database IMDb for the top rated romantic comedies from the 2010s the top three movies were selected, with the three movies being Leap Year (2010), Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011) and Something Borrowed (2011). By applying a thematic analysis, the representation of the main relationships in the movies will be analyzed. Themes will be selected in relevance to the research question.  The relationships in the movies showed interesting similarities and differences in the way gender roles, initiative and complications were represented. Stuart Hall's theory of representation supports the study´s emphasis on the importance of the topic and explains how stereotyping can be used by producers to promote a specific demeanor.

Sexual assault on college campuses is a pervasive issue that continues to affect women from a variety of backgrounds. Unfortunately, the narratives of women of color, especially black women are often marginalized even though data shows that they tend to be more susceptible to sexual assault. Using survey questions concerning traditional gender roles, and situations of sexual assault (while considering race and gender), this study will measure the attitudes of 300 college-aged individuals. Data will be analyzed using an ANOVA test to study the combined effects that race and gender may have on the respondents’ perception of victims. Historically, African American/black women have faced unique stereotypes about their sexuality that dehumanizes and normalizes sexual aggression towards them. This study aims to explore perceptions about sexual assault as it relates to college-age black women and expand the scope of research currently being done on victimization.