The sexualization of women in advertisements remains a controversial form of media, specifically infantilization. Infantilization is defined as the portrayal of adult women acting and looking childish through attire and demeanor. This study examines consumers’ perceptions of infantilized women in advertisements. Students (n = 100) from a 4-year university participated in an online questionnaire examining measures of morality, objectionability, and ubiquity of five advertisements. Three out of the five advertisements display infantilized female models. The others show women in a non-infantilizing manner. A single chi-square conducted on the participants found significant differences in if students can correctly identify in ads. Additionally, a series of analyses of variance (ANOVA) also found significant differences between males and females in their perception of the infantilization of women in advertisements. Overall, the results indicated that participants incorrectly identified infantilization, and males rated it lower in morality and higher in objectionability than females. These findings support the need for a more critical analysis of the infantilization of women.

This study examines the adult Swedish language education for immigrants, SFI, as a system with functions in the Swedish society. The practical teaching of the Swedish language is lifted out and the remaining knowledge is studied. The aim is to apply a system theoretical approach in order to describe how SFI has different functions in society and furthermore, how the knowledge SFI mediates also have functions. Parsons’ system theory serves as the theoretical foundation for this study, but a perspective of stereotypes as well as infantilization broadens the study. The empirical material which this study is based on is gathered through 13 classroom observations and six interviews. The material shows that SFI has the functions to inform, affect, prepare and prevent immigrants in different ways. It concerns matters such as democratic and equal values, medical care, dental care and the tax system. All these functions aim to change the behaviors and thoughts of immigrants so that their behaviors and thoughts better correspond with those of other members of the Swedish society. Noticed and addressed is that these functions appear to have somewhat stereotyping and infantilizing consequences. Thus, SFI as an institution plays a significant part in the integration process of immigrants.

Some studies have demonstrated that Adult day services (ADS) benefit elders' and caregivers' well-being; however, others indicated that infantilization exists in some ADS centers where staff ignore the lifetime of elders' experiences. Many ADS environments in the United States are socially constructed as places for incompetent elders, and ADS clients may be labeled as child-like dependents. Most ADS research has been performed in Western society; little is known about ADS centers in Asian countries. Because ADS programs are promoted by the Taiwanese government to meet the needs of a growing aging population, it becomes essential to examine ADS centers and their practices in Taiwan in order to provide suggestions for future research and professional practice that supports respectful care of elders. This dissertation examined how elders experienced their daily life within the physical and social environment of two different types of ADS centers in Taiwan. I utilized theories of environmental press, place rules, and the total institution to shape my research framework. Using ethnographic data from two ADS centers with 270 hours of observations and 23 interviews with staff and clients, I analyzed staff-client interactions and clients' reactions toward staff behavior. The results are based on the analysis of clients' competencies, each center's approach to care, and their physical and social environments. Staff-client interactions within the two centers occurred not only in the form of infantilization but also with age-appropriate treatment in which staff paid respect to clients. I found two formats of staff-client interactions that reflected a culture of care uniquely Taiwanese yet also reminiscent of western programs: teacher-student format and nurse-patient interactions predominated. In one center, staff-client interactions were oriented toward a teacher-student relationship in which staff played the role of a teacher during activities by giving directions that controlled clients' behavior. In the other center, staff-clients relationships were focused on physical care and therapeutic practices. Staff treated the clients as patients and had the power to rule over clients' behavior by directing them how to eat and when to use the restroom. These patterns were neither inherently ageist nor absent of ageism. These differences stemmed from different models but each was supported within the context of Taiwanese culture derived from Confucianism and Japanese colonization, which emphasize hierarchical relationships. The findings also reveal that clients' individual differences influenced how they reacted toward both infantilizing and age-appropriate interactions. The differences were not only related to their competencies but also their different life experiences. These findings may inform a new approach to professional practice that incorporates a home-like environment that fosters autonomy and inhibits ageist treatment of differently-abled adults, thereby achieving a positive person-environment fit in the long-term care setting. / Ph. D.

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We studied close to 100 articles about the Swedish cup in cross country skiing, published by the three media outlets that cover the entire series; www.sweski.com , www.langd.se and www.skidzonen.com. The articles were published between 2015 and 2018 and by using a quantitative analysis we discovered that in these articles, the men and the women received almost exactly the same amount of attention, as far as counting words goes. In the articles which focused on both the female and the male athletes, the editors usually chose a picture from the women’s competition as the top image. We also saw a pattern where the women were far more often mentioned by their first names only, whereas the men were usually mentioned by their full names or their last names only. Another interesting theme that we found through a qualitative text analysis regarded how the athletes were portrayed in the articles, where the women seemed to be looked upon as less mature than the men. For example, they were often called “girls” instead of “women”, but the men the same age were never referred to as “boys”. These are seen by us as signs of trivialization and infantlization of the female athletes. However, we did not find any signs of the women being described as weak, or with a focus on their appearances and private lives. These were common patterns in the previous research on the subject. / Vi undersökte knappt 100 artiklar om den svenska cupen i längdskidåkning, publicerade av de tre medierna som bevakar hela serien; www.sweski.com , www.langd.se och www.skidzonen.com. Artiklarna publicerades mellan 2015 och 2018 och med hjälp av en kvantitativ innehållsanalys fann vi att damerna och herrarna fick nästan exakt lika mycket utrymme i dessa artiklar, räknat i antal ord. I de artiklar där båda könen stod i fokus var det  betydligt oftare som en bild från damklassen valdes som toppbild. Vi såg ett mönster där damerna oftare blev omnämnda med enbart sina förnamn, jämfört med herrarna som oftast omtalades med sina hela namn eller enbart efternamn. Ett annat intressant tema som vi fann genom en kvalitativ textanalys gällde hur utövarna porträtterades i artiklarna, där damerna tycktes bli sedda som mindre mogna och vuxna än herrarna. Till exempel kallades de ofta “tjejer” istället för “kvinnor” eller “damer”, samtidigt som de jämnåriga herrarna aldrig blev kallade “killar”. Dessa ser vi som tecken på en trivialisering och en infantilisering av de kvinnliga utövarna. Däremot hittade vi inga tecken på att kvinnorna beskrevs som svaga eller med ett större fokus på deras utseenden och deras privatliv, fenomen som har varit tydligt framträdande i tidigare forskning på ämnet.

Anna Jagošová, Slovácký verbuňk v interpretaci dětských tanečníků Abstract The presented thesis deals with the phenomenon of the male solo dance otherwise known as "The Slovacko Verbunk" and its contemporary interpretations performed by child dancers. This phenomenon is a modern element of folklorism and can be observed Moravian Slovakia region in the past two decades. The main theme of the research and subsequent analysis is the form and performance of "Verbunk" by child dancers. Marginal attention is also paid to their own opinions and attitudes towards "Verbunk" as it is traditionally performed by adult male dancers. Moreover, the thesis deals with "Národní přehlídka dětských verbířů," roughly translated as "The National Exhibition of the Child Verbunk Dancer." This exhibition is organized in cooperation within The International Child Folklore Festival called "Kunovské léto" (The Summer of Kunovice) which has undoubtedly influenced the phenomenon of children reinterpreting "Verbunk" dance the most. The backbone of the thesis is a qualitative research based on interviews conducted mostly with the adults involved in the phenomenon - tutors and adult dancers of "Slovacko Verbunk," leaders of the children's folklore ensembles and the children's parents. The aim of this thesis is not only to describe the...