Hip-hop as a cultural phenomenon has gradually taken on a position as one of the post popular music genres in recent history. A form of music that still strongly relies on its roots as an artform for black males. Which has generated an excluding culture that enhances the dominating norm of masculinity. In regard to Sweden’s case of being an egalitarian country and even so having a hip-hop scene that reflects a different type of discourse in accordance with the dominating masculine norm. This generates an interest in how Swedish hip-hop artists (both female and male) construct gender from 2001 to 2021 which this thesis seeks to contribute to understand. Through critical discourse analysis which aims to facilitate the understanding of song lyrics through a three-step analysis of text, discursive practice, and social practice. Through six albums from 2001, 2011 and 2021 the interpretation and analysis came to an understanding that norms and structural circumstances seeks to exclude women and enhance a continued masculine music industry. With variations in the order of discourse with an underlying will of empowerment and autonomy.

The purpose of this study is to examine how female soldiers view their role as soldiers and what they perceive as good soldier qualities to see if it differentiates from the traditional view of what a soldier perceived as. The study will also deal with the female soldier’s perception of equality within the Swedish military. To gather empirical material the study has uses a qualitative method consisting of five semi structured interviews with the female soldiers. All respondents work in the same group as medic soldiers and are at the start of their soldier career. The theories that have been used to analyse the material gathered from the respondents are of hegemonic masculinity and critical vs gender neutral approach. Within hegemonic masculinity different archetypes exist in a hierarchy, for this study the archetypes have been stripped down to the warrior hero to fit the framework of the military organisation. The warrior hero will be used to analyse the respondents view of themselves as soldiers and the qualities that should be expected of a soldier. Critical vs gender neutral theory will be used to examen the responder’s relation to the organisation.The result for the study is that the view of the female soldiers differed in some aspects from the traditional view of the warrior hero. The respondents also had a joint view of the Swedish military as gender neutral.

This paper discusses the issue of how different masculinities are being represented in the English classroom. It specifically aims to examine how a teacher’s own principals concerning gender will be reflected in the texts she chooses to use. The field was explored through a case study, where interviews with an upper secondary English teacher as well as a content analysis on the texts she chose to use in the classroom were central to the study. The results of the case study showed tendencies towards a discrepancy between the teacher’s self-expressed thoughts on gender issues and her choice of texts. The teacher conveyed modern ideas on gender issues, while most of the texts she chose to use in the classroom were positive towards more traditional gender patterns. Therefore, our hypothesis did not correspond to the findings. The findings were analyzed by comparing the teacher’s reported attitudes to the different aspects of gender in the chosen texts. In relation to these findings, the paper focuses on the possibility of further studies within this field of research, such as e.g. observation of how gendered texts are being used in classroom and a more quantified investigation, concerning the number of teachers being studied.

The purpose of this study is to enlighten and discuss if there is any possible differences of how female ice-hockey players experienced norms and the masculine culture within ice-hockey. By asking women from three generations, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, this study wants to find out what these differences might be. Six female ice-hockey players, two born in each decade are interviewed in this study. The study have examined what norms were apparent and how these were dealt with as female ice-hockey players. During what conditions could young girls play ice-hockey and how were they met by people in that environment. Furthermore, the study examines the differences of these experiences.    The primary result of the study shows that it´s a bigger difference between the experiences of the women born in the 1970s and 1980s than the difference between the ones born 1980s and 1990s. Primarily the differences are of how they were met and what others thought of women playing ice-hockey. The conditions of playing ice-hockey have, throughout the generations, stayed the same as well as the norms within the sport.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how femininity is portrayed in relation to power in the Swedish documentary series Drottningarna, which follows the life experience of 8 Swedish queens. This will be researched based on the theories of hegemonic masculinity and femininity. The study also aims to investigate what purposes might have contributed to how the different queens are portrayed in the series, and how truthful the representation of them is. The results shows that power in the series is often associated with breaking and opposing the power structures, but also with typically hegemonic masculine traits such as assertiveness, independence and aggressivity. the series also seems to primarily have a commercial purpose, even though it contains both cognitive, moral, and aesthetic intentions. This in turn affects the credibility of the series in a negative way, as the focus is on making good television instead of sticking to historical truths.

While the idea of self-help has historically been associated with women the growing popularity of online self-improvement groups has attracted both sexes. The growing popularity of people like Jordan Peterson and Andrew Tate - who speak of the importance of self-improvement alongside anti-feminist rhetoric - within the Manosphere online community also shows a trend of self-improvement moving towards a male audience. This study aims to examine the foundations of the self-improvement rhetoric and its relation to Michel Foucualt’s theory of the discourse of discipline and Raewyn Connell’s theory of hegemonic masculinity. Previous research on the topic of self-improvement has found arguments for the rhetoric as containing and perpetrating ideals of neoliberalism as well as the forming of citizens in line with the needs of capitalism. With the growing presence of more explicit promotions of masculine hegemony our study aims to provide another look into the world of hegemonic masculinity through less obvious promotions of it. With a thematic analysis of a Reddit-thread on self-improvement, our study finds that the rhetoric of the subreddit relies on (1) the presumed knowledge of a rational subject, (2) an ideal of control as the ultimate goal and (3) the reinforcement of these through specific strategies. Furthermore we find that the ideals that are perpetuated through this discourse are gendered in nature and correlate to the depiction of Connell’s transnational business masculinity. / Medan idén om självhjälp historiskt sett har associerats med kvinnor, har den växande populariteten av självförbättringsgrupper online lockat båda könen. Den växande populariteten av personer som Jordan Peterson och Andrew Tate – som talar om vikten av självförbättring samtidigt med användandet av antifeministisk retorik – inom Manosphere online-communityn visar också en trend av att självförbättringsämnet numera rör en manlig publik. Denna studie syftar till att undersöka grunderna för självförbättringens retorik och dess relation till Michel Foucaults teori om diskursen kring disciplin och Raewyn Connells teori om hegemonisk maskulinitet. Tidigare forskning på ämnet självförbättring har funnit argument för att retoriken innehåller och bevarar ideal om nyliberalism såväl som formandet av medborgare i linje med kapitalismens behov. Med den växande närvaron av mer explicita främjande av maskulin hegemoni syftar vår studie till att ge en ny inblick i världen av hegemonisk maskulinitet genom mindre uppenbara skildringar av den. Med en tematisk analys av en Reddit-tråd om självförbättring, finner vår studie att trådens retorik bygger på (1) den förgivettagna kunskapen om existensen av ett rationellt subjekt, (2) ett ideal om kontroll som det slutliga målet och (3) förstärkningen av dessa genom specifika strategier. Vidare finner vi att de ideal som bevaras genom denna diskurs är könsbaserade och korrelerar med skildringen av Connells transnationella affärsmaskulinitet.

This study explores the (hetero)sexualized online space that is the category “Pools, Hot Tubsand Beaches” on the streaming platform Twitch.tv. The aim of the study is to gain a further understanding of how gender and sexuality is performed under the specific conditions offered by the space. Interactions between livestreamer and chat in three livestreams have been transcribed and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. I find that the space is characterized by the logic of the heterosexual matrix as defined by Judith Butler, as well by two foundational asymmetries that inform the way that gender and sexuality is performed in the spaces studied: the asymmetry of perspective and the asymmetry of performativity. These conditions are actively negotiated with by the subjects that interact in the space. Furthermore, relying on the work of Raewyn Connell, I find that the subjects conduct a labor of positionality with regards to notions of good and bad masculinity, basing their sense ofcommunity on the abjectification of “other men” in order to construct their own masculinity.

John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men explores themes of morality and masculinity through its many male characters. With the use of hegemonic masculinity theory, this essay analyzes how different elements of masculinity are characterized, constructed, and valued in relation to one another. Masculinity is defined by a utilitarian sense of purpose, systematic loss, and homosocial desire in Of Mice and Men. The men in this novella yearn for connection and meaning, in contrast to the inevitable nature of violence presented in the novella. Ending the life of an animal or a man that has lost its purpose is considered a compassionate and unavoidable act. In this way, hegemonic masculinity in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice in Men is defined by a duality of homosocial desire and utilitarian violence.

This study examines how masculinity is portrayed in podcasts. Our original material consisted of four episodes of C/o Hannah & Amanda and four episodes of Filip & Fredrik's podcast. We analyzed the programs both individually and in comparison to each other. Using a rhetorical analysis, we found that the perception of men in the podcasts conforms to societal norms. The theoretical basis underlying our analysis can be expected to strengthen our findings and made us also realize that the image of masculinity is constantly evolving.

Résumé : Ce mémoire propose d’étudier les représentations de la masculinité dans les productions cinématographiques post-apocalyptiques. Il consiste plus précisément en une analyse qualitative de contenu qui cible six films et trois séries télévisées, tous réalisés depuis les événements du 11 septembre 2001. Partant du principe que la masculinité hégémonique peut être définie comme le modèle actuel de masculinité idéalisée et imposée, ce mémoire cherche à dégager quels traits de personnalité sont valorisés et lesquels sont dévalués. Les résultats montrent que les représentations de la masculinité sont encore conservatrices : les personnages masculins occupent des rôles plus importants que les personnages féminins et les leaders des groupes restreints sont généralement des hommes blancs, hétérosexuels et âgés de 35 à 44 ans. Cependant, les personnages masculins possèdent une grande variété de traits de personnalités, un changement considérable par rapport aux caractéristiques stéréotypées du Action Hero. / Abstract : The following study pursue an analysis of the various representations of masculinity in post-apocalyptic movies and TV-series. It consists more precisely of a qualitative content analysis, which focus on six movies and three TV-Series pilots, all produced since September 11th 2001. Assuming that hegemonic masculinity can be defined as the current model of imposed and idealized masculinity, this paper seeks to identify which personality traits are valued and which ones are devalued. The results show that the representations of masculinity are still conservative: the male characters occupy more important roles than female characters and leaders of small groups are usually white, heterosexual men aged 35 to 44 years. However, the male characters have a variety of personality traits, a considerable change from the stereotypical characteristics of the Action Hero.