Uppsatsens problemformulering beskriver kategorisering som fenomen och dess konsekvenser på samhällsstrukturen. De mest etablerade och explicita kategorierna – man och kvinna – ses som ett resultat av de kategoriseringsprocesser som ständigt pågår. Strukturernas och kategoriernas existens och reproduktion finns i alla sociala samspel, och min huvudsakliga hypotes är att en viktig del i reproduktionen av våra könsidentiteter utgörs av det arv vi ger till barn. Denna studie syftar till att belysa huruvida det finns ett signifikant sätt att skildra könsidentiteter i barnböcker. Uppsatsen har en teoretisk utgångspunkt i en feministisk köns- och diskursteori. Frågeställningen besvaras genom en diskursanalytisk studie av barnböcker. Resultatet visar att det i många fall finns ett signifikant sätt att skildra de olika könen på, och att det finns tydliga skiljelinjer i vad som karaktäriseras som manligt respektive kvinnligt. Detta mönster av en I-särhållning av könen är ibland subtilt och ibland utpräglat, men utifrån teorier och tidigare forskning är det möjligt att visa på att det faktiskt tycks finnas ett mönster. Det mest centrala i uppsatsen är åskådliggörandet av det dialektiska förhållandet mellan text och bild i barnböckerna och samhällsdiskursen de är en del av. / The phenomenon of categorization has a great impact on community structure. This essay describes one of the most established and explicit categories - male and female – as a result of the categorization processes which constantly are going on. The structures’ and categories’ existence and reproduction can be found in all social interactions, and my main hypothesis is that an important part of the reproduction of our gender identities consist of the legacy we give to children. This study aims to shed light on whether there is a significant way of describing gender identities in children's books. The essay has a theoretical basis of a feminist gender- and discourse theory. The issue is answered by a discourse analytical study of children's books. The result shows that in many cases there is a significant way of describing the different sexes, and that there are clear divisions in what is described as male or female. This pattern of a separation of the sexes is sometimes subtle and sometimes pronounced, but based on theories and previous research it is possible to show that there actually seems to be a pattern. The most central in the paper is the visualization of the dialectical relationship between text and image in children's books and the public discourse they are part of.

The aim of this thesis is to highlight how male and female characters are portrayed in children’s books, that have football as a theme, and are written for children between 9-12 years of age. I have chosen this subject so that I, as a pre-school teacher, can adhere to the curriculum’s aim of maintaining the school’s responsibility for counteracting traditional gender roles. I aim to study how gender is represented in literature for children. I shall apply Yvonne Hirdman’s theories on the gender system which is built on the principals whereby the sexes are separate entities and there is a structural hierarchy between them. There is also a gender contract which maintains a balance of power according to which woman is considered inferior to man. From the reproduction process Hirdman identifies cultural influences that literature conveys to the reader as to how genus concepts are created. To answer questions on how characters in the books are presented, I use a qualitative analysis. I primarily use Maria Nikolajevas “character-theory” and gender based “opposite concepts”. This thesis deals with the following questions: Which kinds of descriptions are used to present female and male characters, and if there are, can one see any differences between them? How are the relations between coaches, parents and children portrayed? From these I have come to the conclusion that gender is presented in a traditional manner so that in stories in which the main characters are female are motivated by love; while stories in which the main characters are male are about football. Girls are rather orientated towards relations, as apart from boys who are described as more independent and egocentric. I can also identify that the team leader is gentler and more personal when dealing with girls, in contrast to when dealing with boys. It may be mentioned here that some of the characters have at time some qualities that go against the norm and which may be considered as challenging the established “keeping them apart principle”. That man is the norm on the football arena is however common in all the books.

In this thesis, through critically analysing images and text in a selection of Swedish children's picture books, the aim is to investigate how white and non-white bodies are represented, and how racial differences between these white and non-white bodies are depicted and racial meanings addressed. Theoretical concepts from within the field of Critical race- and Whiteness studies are applied, to demonstrate how hegemonic whiteness and colour-blindness as discourse is prevalent in these children´s books, which is achieved by using non-white characters as tokens. Moreover, this study of representation is an illustrative case for how race can function as social construct, and thus should have value as an analytical concept also in IMER-studies performed in the Swedish context. It can additionally lift a discussion about the importance for children at an early age, to develop awareness and understanding of how race can affect individual lives.