This thesis explores why gender hierarchy remains resilient and entrenched in contemporary political life, despite efforts to challenge and transform it. I approach this question by focussing on the reproduction of gendered subjects, which I argue is integral to the reproduction of what I term ‘gender orders’. This reproduction is interrogated through an analysis of the reproduction of homosexuality in the contemporary British armed forces. A review of the literature in feminist International Relations (IR) shows feminists have engaged with poststructural thought to develop sophisticated analyses of the subject as an effect of power. I argue that there might be further resources in post structural thought which could be mobilised to expose the incompleteness and failure of all attempts to reproduce subjectivity which might open up new ways to intervene and subvert gender. Drawing on the thought of Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida and Judith Butler I develop a critical methodology for analysing the reproduction of gendered subjects in the contemporary British armed forces. I argue that the military gender order is traditionally sustained through the segregation of women and the exclusion of homosexuals. As such it is pervasively heteronormative. For this reason I argue that the potential ‘integration’ of homosexuals did pose a significant threat to the gender order. However I will argue the threat posed by the integration of LGBT personnel has been neutralised by a series of responses which ‘re-inscribe’ them into the gender order, although these responses are always unstable. I demonstrate that gender often fails to guarantee the intelligibility it promises, and attempts to order gender necessarily break down. However I will argue that this cannot be exploited instrumentally in order to subvert gender because the gender order is better characterised as being in perpetual crisis, and any attempt to reproduce gender differently will also be unstable and prone to crisis. Consequently critique then becomes a relentless call to question, undermine and deconstruct all attempts to secure political orders, with no guarantees. Ultimately the thesis demonstrates that gender orders are complex, mobile and resilient and argues that modes of feminist critique need to be similarly mobile and responsive to a constantly shifting discursive terrain.

The thesis focuses on gender in primary school and the aim was to study how girls and boys construct their subjectivities in accordance with current gender discourses and how they take up those discourses in school practices. Special attention has been paid to the students' fluid subjectivities. The theoretical frameworks used are Bronwyn Davies' postructural subjectivity theory, Robert W Connells' structural concepts and cultural-sociological research studies concerning multicultural identity. The study was carried out at two schools, one ethnically homogeneous and one ethnically heterogeneous, in six classes encompassing years 0-2 and 5-6. It is ethnographic in nature and includes classroom observations, diaries, biographies, drawings, interviews with students and schoolteachers/headteachers and videotaping on a restricted scale. Data was collected over a period of approximately two school years. The results consist of local gender discourses emanating from the datamaterial and also of poststructural analyses of protocols from lessons etc. Five feminine and six masculine gender discourses, named student types, have been diagnosed: Sporty girl, Barbie, Feminist, Academic girl and Motherly girl and Macho boy, Honourable boy, Academic, Joker, Gentle boy and Ken. These student types are abstract discursive constructions developed from positions the student took up in a more or less repetitive way. They apperar in all classes but with varying frequency due to the influence of the schools' interest profile, leading teachers or leading students. Certain gender discourses are influenced by commercial trends in society, others are characterized by reactions towards the school's academic discourses. Students from working class backgrounds often take up positions as Macho boy or Sporty girl while middle class students dominate the type Academic boy/girl. Otherwise the positions are independent of social class. Immigrant students take up the most common discourses, probably an effect of ambitions to normalise to the majority culture. The analysis reveals that a dualistic and hierarchical gender structure, with male superiority was developed in all school classes and also among the boys in their own gendergroups, and among the girls but in a lesser degree. Teachers' discourses, education strategies, group size and the student's ages influence the gender order during lessons but less so during breaks. Both girls and boys, and some teachers, shift positions and even cross gender boundaries and the younger students (year 0-2) are more flexiable as also are the girls. This is considered to provide openings for changes in gender patterns. Consistently taking up equality discourse in practice influenced the gender order in one class. Some boys showed multiple subjectivities free from desire for power and some girls also wanted to break the gender barrier. Ideas about innate equalities between the genders were common and these circumstances might provide good resources for work aimed at changing gender structures. Macho and Barbie discourses ought to be questioned from the perspective of power. The results also show that cultural meetings in the classroom are characterised by the dominance of the majority culture. Immigrant students in accordance with the curriculum should experience integration taking place from two directions, enriching and strengthing their subjectivity process and also that of their fellow students. / digitalisering@umu

No description available.

Denna uppsats avser att undersöka och kartlägga från ett genusperspektiv hur en könsmaktsordning och patriarkala strukturer påverkar och bidrar till att traditionen chaupadi följs. Det är en tradition där kvinnan antas vara oren och bringar otur kring sin omgivning och bör därför i vissa fall bo i en menshydda under sin menstruation. Detta är olagligt i Nepal och denna uppsats avser därför att undersöka förklaringar till varför traditionen följs trots en lagstiftning som förbjuder praktiken. Uppsatsen utgår ifrån att det finns en rådande könsmaktsordning och patriarkal struktur som påverkar och även har en del i att traditionen, trots lagstiftning, följs. I materialet som presenteras i uppsatsen anses även skam och stigmatisering av både kvinnan och menstruation har en roll i chaupadi och detta undersöks även utifrån ett genusperspektiv. / This essay aims to examine and sort out from a gender perspective how a gender order and patriarchal structure effect and contribute to the tradition of chaupadi. Chaupadi is a custom where the women is perceived to be impure and brings misfortunes for her surroundings when menstruating. Because of this she is prompted to stay in a menstrual hut during her period. This custom has been illegal in Nepal since 2005. This essay intends to sort out explanations for why the custom to continue to get practiced even though it has been illegal for 15 years. This study assumes that there is an existing gender order and patriarchal structures that affect and influence the custom and uphold the practice even though there is a law against it. In the material that is presented in the essay, shame and stigma attached to the female menstruating body play a central part in the enforcement, and in the upholding, of the custom. This is also analyzed form a feministic perspective.

In February 2022 the lives of millions of people all over Europe have been divided into two parts – before and after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Fearing for their lives, 5,2 million Ukrainians were forced to relocate to neighbouring countries, women and children accounting for about 90% of all refugees leaving Ukraine, as with few exceptions men are prohibited from leaving Ukraine by law. The law has created an advantage and an ethical dilemma for numerous women: they can either seek safety outside Ukraine, meaning they would have to leave their husbands, brothers, and fathers, or stay together but risk their own lives instead. This thesis aims to investigate the effect of the war on women’s rights and the nature of artificially created gender advantage. It aims to answer the following research questions: what current implications does the war in Ukraine have on women’s rights and how do these implications affect women’s decision to leave Ukraine? Through interviewing volunteers who work with Ukrainian refugees it was discovered that what creates a gender difference and a foundation of an advantage to a certain extent is that women are much more exposed to the danger of sexual violence and human trafficking. They also experience larger financial difficulties resulting in poverty and health complications. But it is the parenthood and the desire to protect their children that actually drives women’s decision to leave Ukraine and seek shelter in other countries, even if it means that they will be separated from their families. By creating a gender advantage, government is trying to rescue children and future generations. They cannot leave alone because someone has to take care of them, and it is usually a mother who would do this in Ukraine due to an existing gender order, so women gain an advantage by proxy, while an actual advantage is given to children.

The aim of this study was to examine how authors on Instagram describe masculinity norms. We aimed to further analyse how the authors illustrate the consequences of masculinity norms in relation to social problems. The study is based on 25 posts from authors on Instagram which were analysed by a content analysis method. The theoretical framework in this study consists of Connells (1995, 2008) theory of masculinity. A conception of socialization is also included (Connell 1995, 2009). The results indicated that masculinity norms have a negative impact on men by how they are expected to be, what they are expected to feel, what is allowed for them to talk about, how they should act and what sexual desires they should have. Furthermore, the study showed how masculinity norms lead up to social problems such as reluctance to seek help and using violence against others. The main conclusion of this study was that social problems often are based on the fact that men, due to present masculinity norms, are in need of proving, defending or maintaining their masculinities in different contexts. The man himself along with everyone around him are the one who pays for the consequences of masculinity norms. / Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka hur författare på Instagram beskriver maskulinitetsnormer. Syftet var även att undersöka hur författare belyser konsekvenser av maskulinitetsnormer i relation till sociala problem. Studiens empiri byggdes på 25 inlägg från medlemmar på Instagram som analyserades med hjälp av en innehållsanalys. Studiens teoretiska referensram utgjordes av Connells (1995, 2008, 2009) maskulinitetsteori. Referensramen utgjordes även av begreppet socialisation (Connell 1995, 2009). Resultatet visade att maskulinitetsnormer har en negativ inverkan på hur män förväntas vara och vad de förväntas känna, vad som är tillåtet att tala om, hur de ska bete sig och vilka sexuella begär de ska ha. Studiens resultat visade även att maskulinitetsnormer leder till sociala problem såsom en motvilja att söka hjälp och ett våldsutövande gentemot andra. Studiens huvudsakliga slutsats blev att sociala problem många gånger grundar sig i att män på grund av rådande maskulinitetsnormer, i olika sammanhang behöver bevisa, försvara eller upprätthålla sina maskuliniteter. De som får betala priset för negativa konsekvenser av maskulinitetsnormer är mannen själv likt alla andra han har runt omkring.

<p>Våldtäkt är ett stort samhällsproblem, med över 3000 anmälda våldtäkter i Sverige 2007. Definitionen av våldtäkt är en tolkningsfråga som påverkas av moraliska synsätt. Denna syn</p><p>bygger på historiska, religiösa och kulturella faktorer och kring dem kretsar ett antal vedertagna myter. Sverige är känt för att ha kommit långt på väg mot ett jämställt samhälle, vilket skulle kunna innebära att svenskar har lägre acceptans för dessa myter. Få studier om våldtäktsmyter har gjorts i Sverige. För att granska ämnet närmare genomfördes en kvantitativ</p><p>studie med syfte att undersöka studenters attityder gentemot myter kring våldtäkt i en heterosexuell kontext. Detta genom att studera om samband förelåg mellan studenternas kön</p><p>och acceptans av dessa myter och utifrån teoretiska ramar analysera resultatet. Undersökningen utfördes med hjälp av en amerikansk framtagen mätskala, designad för just våldtäktsmyter, IRMA-skalan. Materialet analyseras sedan med hjälp av socialkonstruktivistiska angreppssätt, där bl.a. genus, hegemonisk maskulinitet, pornografi, könsroller, samt medias skildring och vinkling av våldtäktsproblematiken.</p><p>Den slutsats som kunnat dras av föreliggande studie var att svenska studenter generellt hade låg acceptans av våldtäktsmyter. Dock kunde könsskillnader skönjas, där kvinnor tenderade att ha lägre acceptans för myterna än männen.</p> / <p>Rape is a severe societal problem, with over 3000 police reports in Sweden in 2007. Defining rape is a question of interpretation, influenced by moral views, which are based on historical, religious and cultural ideas, surrounded by a few accepted myths. Sweden’s well-known for its progress concerning gender equality, which could be an indicator of low rape myth acceptance. There are few Swedish studies about rape myths. To</p><p>explore the subject closer, a quantitative study was carried through, with the aim to examine attitudes of university students, in relation to rape myths in a heterosexual context. This by examining whether a connection between the sex of the students and their acceptance of rape myths was found. The results were then analyzed through a theoretical frame. Using an</p><p>American measuring instrument, the IRMA-scale, the examination was carried out. The material was analyzed through a social constructivist perspective, where gender, hegemonic masculinity, pornography, gender roles and the media was used to explain the problems of rape. The conclusion of this study was that Swedish students had generally low rape myth acceptance. However, gender differences were discovered. Female respondents tended to have lower acceptance of the myths compared to the male.</p>

Våldtäkt är ett stort samhällsproblem, med över 3000 anmälda våldtäkter i Sverige 2007. Definitionen av våldtäkt är en tolkningsfråga som påverkas av moraliska synsätt. Denna syn bygger på historiska, religiösa och kulturella faktorer och kring dem kretsar ett antal vedertagna myter. Sverige är känt för att ha kommit långt på väg mot ett jämställt samhälle, vilket skulle kunna innebära att svenskar har lägre acceptans för dessa myter. Få studier om våldtäktsmyter har gjorts i Sverige. För att granska ämnet närmare genomfördes en kvantitativ studie med syfte att undersöka studenters attityder gentemot myter kring våldtäkt i en heterosexuell kontext. Detta genom att studera om samband förelåg mellan studenternas kön och acceptans av dessa myter och utifrån teoretiska ramar analysera resultatet. Undersökningen utfördes med hjälp av en amerikansk framtagen mätskala, designad för just våldtäktsmyter, IRMA-skalan. Materialet analyseras sedan med hjälp av socialkonstruktivistiska angreppssätt, där bl.a. genus, hegemonisk maskulinitet, pornografi, könsroller, samt medias skildring och vinkling av våldtäktsproblematiken. Den slutsats som kunnat dras av föreliggande studie var att svenska studenter generellt hade låg acceptans av våldtäktsmyter. Dock kunde könsskillnader skönjas, där kvinnor tenderade att ha lägre acceptans för myterna än männen. / Rape is a severe societal problem, with over 3000 police reports in Sweden in 2007. Defining rape is a question of interpretation, influenced by moral views, which are based on historical, religious and cultural ideas, surrounded by a few accepted myths. Sweden’s well-known for its progress concerning gender equality, which could be an indicator of low rape myth acceptance. There are few Swedish studies about rape myths. To explore the subject closer, a quantitative study was carried through, with the aim to examine attitudes of university students, in relation to rape myths in a heterosexual context. This by examining whether a connection between the sex of the students and their acceptance of rape myths was found. The results were then analyzed through a theoretical frame. Using an American measuring instrument, the IRMA-scale, the examination was carried out. The material was analyzed through a social constructivist perspective, where gender, hegemonic masculinity, pornography, gender roles and the media was used to explain the problems of rape. The conclusion of this study was that Swedish students had generally low rape myth acceptance. However, gender differences were discovered. Female respondents tended to have lower acceptance of the myths compared to the male.

Den här studien undersöker hur pojkar i klänning gestaltas i barnlitteratur. Syftet är att ur ett normkritiskt perspektiv synliggöra hur genusnormer bryts och upprätthålls. Studiens datainsamling består av kvalitativ text- och bildanalys av tre stycken barnböcker som riktar sig till barn i åldern 3–6 år.  Tidigare forskning redogör för att traditionella genusnormer gestaltas i berättelser för unga läsare, ett perspektiv som kan påverka barns möjligheter till att uttrycka sin könsidentitet. Enligt resultatet i den här studien bidrar karaktärer och innehåll till att både upprätthålla och bryta normer. Den traditionella genusordningen, som bland annat innebär att det maskulina värderas högre än det feminina, framträder i två av tre böcker. Samtidigt är pojkars handlingsutrymmen för att uttrycka sin könsidentitet snävare än flickors. / This study examines the portrayal of boys in dresses in children's literature. The purpose is to make visible from a norm-critical perspective how gender norms are broken and maintained. The study's data collection consists of qualitative text and image analysis of three children's books for children aged 3–6 years. Previous research reports that traditional gender norms are represented in literature for young readers, a perspective that may affect children's opportunities to make gender. The findings in this study show that characters and content contribute to both maintaining and breaking norms. The traditional gender order, meaning masculine is valued higher than feminine, appears in two out of the analyzed books. At the same time, masculine characters seem to have less possibilities of expressing their gender identity than the feminine ones.

MARTINA HYNKOVÁ: ‚JINÉ SVĚTY' ŽEN JAZZOVÉ SEKCE V OBDOBÍ TZV. NORMALIZACE ABSTRACT This master thesis deals with the Jazz section of the Musicians' Union in the normalization period. It was an amateur organization which existed from 1971 until 1986. It took an active part in the area of jazz and united an extensive jazz community. The thesis aims at gender aspects of female Jazz section's activities and roles. The research question can be formulated as follows: Which strategies of living did female members of the Jazz section choose during the normalization? The thesis is based on a biographical method consisting of six interviews with former female members of the Jazz section. Those interviews were made via an episodic narrative interview. The author revealed the following strategies of living: accession to the Jazz section community, being an active member of the community, going abroad to visit cultural events, contact with dissent and living in two worlds. Making of these other worlds by female members of the Jazz section thus became strategies of living on their own.