This paper investigates how Aphra Behn's The Rover and Thomas Middleton's A Chaste Maid in Cheapside complicate understandings of femininity and masculine dominance over female sexuality. The paper looks specifically at the "rake," and how he instigates questions about female identity and sexual assault. The paper also looks at the rake in regards to adulterous relationships. Finally, the paper analyzes the use of the female perspective in The Rover to highlight the importance of framing discussions about femininity and female sexuality outside of male discourse.

In a territorial population of pronghorn from Antelope Island, UT, interaction between male dominance and territory defense was examined. High-ranking males were more likely to defend territories. Closely ranked animals engaged in more dominance interactions than distantly ranked individuals, and middle-ranked animals were involved in disproportionately more interactions than either high- or low-ranking animals. Large males possessed large horns and prongs as well as small cheek patches. Results from a factor analysis suggested that large males defended territories with a high density of sage. However, in this study, we did not observe pronghorn feed on sage during the territorial season. Though male pronghorn practiced resource defense polygyny, large, dominant males did not defend territories with a high density of green vegetation or green forbs. Large males appeared to defend territories with low visibility. In 1996, intruders entered areas that contained females throughout the territorial season. During the next year, highly visible, small territories received the most intrusions. Together, these observations suggest defense of tactical locations. Defending a tactical location may help females avoid harassment and males hide the presence of females. Different populations of pronghorn practice different mating systems. To understand this variation, we examined the behavior patterns/rates of individual territorial and bachelor males. The highest rates of activity and behavior patterns occurred in March/April and in September. Territorial males cheek rubbed at a higher rate than bachelors. Territorial males were more active and SPUD (sniff, paw, urinate, and defecate) marked at a higher rate than bachelor males in 1996. After the formation of a bachelor herd in 1997, bachelor males showed higher rates of male-male interactions than territorial males. Territorial males maintained the same activity and behavioral rates in the presence and absence of females. Dispersion pattern of scent marks was more clumped in the presence of females. These findings suggest cheek rubs function more as a space-claiming behavior while SPUD marking is more strongly associated with male-male interactions. Comparison to male behavior in nonterritorial populations indicates that the behavioral mechanisms are present in all populations to accommodate shifts in social systems.

This essay concerns Purple Hibiscus and Kambili's emotional development, and explores how violence, submission and emotional dependence along with a traditional feminine gender role can hinder acknowledgement of trauma. I propose that Kambili is encouraged to take on a culturally expected feminine gender role, and her submissive disposition is discussed and connected to her constant search for a father figure. The notion of personal and collective postcolonial trauma is explained and applied to contextualise her inability to question either her father or the political situation in Nigeria. I read Kambili's change as negative and aim to show that she has internalised patriarchal structures. Her change is contrasted to the change in her brother Jaja, to show how and why they develop in different directions. Traditional gender roles are discussed from a rather general perspective, but also in a context that concern masculinity, violence and power relations.

Margaret Atwood’s novel Surfacing has received considerable critical attention on the issue of “a positive female identity” in a patriarchal society. However, given Atwood’s own stress on the fact that the novel is about the ways both genders work in relation to each other, this criticism has lacked in scrutiny of the novel’s male characters. With a relational approach to the female and male characters, this thesis argues that while creating a positive identity for its female protagonist, the novel effectively creates a rather negative one for its male characters. In order to examine certain sets of relations and the qualities which represent the most honored way of being a man in the novel, I apply the concept of “hegemonic masculinity,” which can be understood as the pattern of practices that explain male domination over women. It is indeed this hegemonic masculinity that the Surfacer rejects in her quest for emancipation. By looking at the hegemonic masculinity in Surfacing, I argue that the novel depicts very typically patriarchal characters in Joe and David and that the society is typically patriarchal. The thesis is divided into three main sections, each examining the most important sets of relations concerning Atwood’s female emancipation. First, I analyze hegemonic structures in the world of the protagonist, including the issues of power, emancipation, and complicity. Then I look into the sexual division of labor to show that the characters assume their default roles without much reflection. Finally, I scrutinize the characters’ relation to the Symbolic and how it affects their sense of identity. In each section, the analyses show that the male characters are reduced to tropes who only serve one function: to be stereotypically oppressive, patriarchal figures in order to facilitate the protagonist’s positive change and empowerment. I argue that Atwood’s failure to imagine male emancipation somewhat taints the development of female identity because the female emancipation becomes arrested.

The main purpose of this essay has been to discover shortcomings in the Criminal law conserning sexual offences and in the application of this law. The primary material of the study has therefore been two different government bills considering 2005 and 2013 years’ provisions on rape, three rape cases, and the proposal for a new provision on rape based on consent as the primary legal definition of rape. From gender theories about power, gender and sexuality I have used discourse analysis as a method to analyze the material to see how the government relates to these questions when reasoning around a new provision on rape. I have also tried to examine why there are so few rape cases that get convicted by analyzing the cases to see how the judges reason around the woman´s responsibility in the events. Another purpose has been to examine how the new potential provision on rape built on consent could change the situation for the woman in rape cases. My conclusions are that there are flaws in the way that the rape provision is built and that a new law built on consent probably won´t have a significant impact on the situation of the woman other than that it might have a normative effect. The study has also shown that the government doesn’t consider elements as male dominance, gender and sexuality when arguing for a new law, which undermines the women’s situation. The study has also shown that the judges in rape cases has indirectly put responsibility on the women, while the prosecuted is acquitted due to his lack of understanding of the women’s resistance. / Huvudsyftet med denna uppsats har varit att synliggöra brister i sexualbrottslagstiftningen och tillämpningen av denna. Det primära materialet i studien har därför varit två propositioner som behandlar våldtäktsbestämmelsen, den ena från år 2005 och den andra från 2013, tre olika rättsfall samt det nya förslaget till en samtyckeslag. Utifrån genusvetenskapliga teorier om makt, kön och sexualitet har jag använt diskursanalysen som metod för att analysera materialet för att se hur regeringen förhåller sig till dessa typer av frågor när de resonerar kring en ny våldtäktslag. Jag har också försökt undersöka varför det är så få våldtäktsfall som får fällande domar genom att analysera de olika fallen för att se hur domarna resonerar kring kvinnan och hennes ansvar under händelserna. Ett annat syfte har varit att undersöka hur det nya samtyckesförslaget skulle kunna förändra kvinnans situation i rättsfall. Mina slutsatser är att det finns brister i de sätt som våldtäktsbestämmelsen är uppbyggd på och att en ny samtyckeslag förmodligen inte har någon större inverkan på kvinnans situation förutom att den kan ha en normativ effekt. Studien har också visat att regeringen inte tar hänsyn till frågor som manlig dominans, kön och sexualitet i argumenten för en ny lag, vilket leder till att kvinnornas situation undergrävs. Studien har också visat att domarna i våldtäktsmål ställer ansvar på kvinnorna, medan den åtalade frikänns p.g.a. dennes bristande förståelse för kvinnornas motstånd.

I uppsatsen studeras unga kvinnors upplevelser av våld i nära relationer. I uppsatsen har kvalitativ metod använts, och vi har genomfört åtta intervjuer. Kvalitativ metod valdes för att få en djupare förståelse hur kvinnor påverkas efter att ha levt i en våldsam relation. Ämnet valdes för att uppmärksamma omvärlden kring kvinnors erfarenheter och upplevelser. I analysen har vi att utgå ifrån Scheffs teori om hur människan formas av de sociala banden till andra människor, och därigenom använt oss av begreppen optimal, öppen- och underdifferentiering samt skam och stolthet. Vi har även använt oss av Goffmans dramaturgiska perspektiv, inkluderat med främre och bakre region samt give expression och give off expression. Slutligen har vi valt att använda Giddens teori om intimitet och rena relationer. Våra respondenter har upplevt bland annat fysiska slag, kränkningar och sönderslagna tillhörigheter. Dessa upplevelser har påverkat deras välmående i form av kontrollbehov, PTSD och mardrömmar. Respondenterna har mycket gemensamt när det kommer till erfarenheter, känslor och upplevelser. De tycker även att samhället behöver införa fler insatser för kvinnor som blir/har blivit utsatta för våld, vilket skulle kunna genomföras i form av föreläsningar, utbildningar eller krav på personal i form av att de måste våga ingripa med åtgärder när de anar att någon blir utsatt för våld. / This essay has been completed with qualitative method, and so we have interviewed eight women. We chose this method to receive a deeper understanding for women’s experiences after going through a violent relationship. It is important to enlighten the society when it comes to these exposed women, to be able to offer them the right help. For the analysis, we have chosen Scheff’s theory about social bonding and how it defines a person, and from this theory we have also used the ideas optimal, open and under differentiation together with shame and pride. We have also used Goffman’s dramaturgical perspective, in which he talks about a front and a back region together with give expression and give off expression. Lastly we have also brought up Giddens theory about intimacy and pure relationships. Our respondents are deeply affected by violence that among other things includes; punches, offensive comments and ruined belongings. When the relationship is over, they are still affected in ways of control issues, PTSD and nightmares. The respondents experiences and feelings are similar to each other. They also have in common that they think that the society needs to contribute with more efforts to help women who have been through a violent relationship. These kind of efforts could take place in lectures, education and demanding staff in school to have civil courage, meaning they must help when needed.

This essay is based on a study that presents the result of interviews directed at women who are integrated in the gaming community. The purpose is to get clarification on the topic about how women experience gaming and if they are treated differently than men in the community. With the question “How do women experience the male dominated gaming world and how does it affect them?”, subordination, misogyny, male dominance and gender are keywords that can be identified within the targeted area. The theoretical framework has been based on Sylvia Walby's theoretical interpretation of patriarchy, Judith Butler’s performativity theory, and Eve, K Sedgwick’s theory about homosociality. The results show that women are worse treated in the gaming community than men.  The women experience that they are subordinate men where her entry in the gaming world is considered to be deviant. The gaming world has patriarchal traits where the men through performative and homosocial behaviour reproduce and maintain these structures. The effects have been that the gaming world is now characterized by misogynistic premises where the man can get away with hate speech against women without consequences.

Ce mémoire présente une étude genrée du roman En finir avec Eddy Bellegueule de l´auteur Édouard Louis. L´oeuvre se construit comme un récit autobiographique dans lequel le narrateur décrit la construction de sa propre identité, celle d´un homme homosexuel, dans un environnement provincial enfermé dans des valeurs traditionnelles et patriarcales. En utilisant les outils théoriques offerts par le domaine des études de genre (Gender Studies), nous allons décomposer la notion de masculinité exprimée dans l´oeuvre en nous focalisant sur la signification et les valeurs accordées à la virilité. L’objectif de ce mémoire consiste à dévoiler comment l´image idéalisée de l´homme viril constitue le fondement de l’identité masculine, fonctionnant à la fois comme la pierre angulaire de la domination masculine, mais, également, du processus de marginalisation de l´individu homosexuel. / This thesis presents a gendered study of the novel En finir avec Eddy Bellegueule, [The end of Eddy] by the author Édouard Louis. In his novel the author autobiographically describes not only the development of his own identity, being a homosexual man, but also the rural environment of his childhood, which is defined by the values of the patriarchal system. The goal of this thesis is to reveal how the idealized image of the virile man emerges in the novel and how it constitutes the basis of a gendered role, which is expressed through male domination and the marginalization of the homosexual individual. In our work, we will thus for this purpose, examine the notion of masculinity expressed in the novel by emphasizing the meaning of virility. Using the theoretical tools offered to us by the field of Gender Studies, we will analyze how virility is expressed through the narrative and its creative role as well as its an active part in justifying male dominance in relation to the patriarchal system and to homosexuality.

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This study examines through an equality lens, the lived experiences of nine female leaders in the male-dominated film industry in Sweden. The aim was to explore how women perceived equality in their workplace, their perception of the issue, and the coping strategies used by these women. In-depth interviews were done through a qualitative phenomenological approach. The theoretical framework used in this thesis is gendered organizations by Acker (2012), a social psychological perspective of gender gaps by Garcia and Hanek (2022), and how women can contribute to inequality by Parks-Stamm et al. (2008). I found themes influenced by a gendered industry, including masculine stereotypes and norms that affect employee behavior, and unintentionally contribute to organizational inequality.  My findings illustrate career obstacles for female leaders, in contrast to males who for instance, benefit from brotherhood, and loose requirements such as social skills. To succeed, women must work hard, act suitably, educate- and convince themselves, and use creative tactics for approval. I highlight strategies such as the competitive strategy to become “one of the boys”, and the chameleon strategy by adapting like a stereotypical female or male by mindset, male behaviors, or using male outfits. And specialization strategy, to ally with other women. Strategies were used to get access to particular environments and reach different goals. Two women didn’t experience gender discrimination, and the issue of equality was perceived in various ways. Collaborating with men had mutual benefits, as male mentors were well-intentioned, and male dominance didn’t exclusively drive inequality. My research also revealed contradictions in female rivalry showing disloyalty, abusive, unfavorable, and competitive behaviors rooted in self-protection and limited opportunities. However, the study illuminates the challenges and strategies of female leaders in a male-dominated industry. The women are creative, brave, and inspiring for other women by navigating against all odds in a profession they love.