<p>The purpose of this study was to find out whether young women´s conceptions on femininity are based on school culture or other possible factors. The theory chosen for this study is the sociological perspective. A theory where sociologists such as Emile Drukheim, Talcott Parsons and Pierre Bourdieu are all prominent. The discussion links to <em>Habitus </em>and their theories on social, cultural and collective groups. A qualitative method has been used. Ten young women have bee interviewed and their answers have been compared and analyzed for results. The women has been divided into two segments. One consisting of the ethnically Swedish young women and one out of non-ethnically Swedish young women. In conclusion, the ethnically Swedish group of young women are all involved in building up the norm at the particular school examined. Furthermore, the non-ethnically Swedish young women are followers of this norm. Conceptions on the current heterosexual norm that exists within the school culture are built based upon the different social groups.</p><p><em> </em></p>

<p><p>Bakgrund: Bröstcancer är den vanligaste cancerformen bland kvinnor i Sverige. Varje år drabbas cirka 7000 kvinnor. Det är därför viktigt att sjuksköterskan har kunskap om dessa kvinnors upplevelser. Syfte: Syftet var att beskriva kvinnors upplevelser av att drabbas av bröstcancer, från diagnos till behandling. Metod: En allmän litteraturstudie med induktiv innehållsanalys genomfördes. Resultat: Kvinnorna chockades av diagnosbeskedet och reagerade starkt känslomässigt. Bröstoperation och cellgiftsbehandling gav kvinnorna en känsla av att förlora sin kvinnlighet. Kvinnorna fick en ny syn på livet med nya prioriteringar. Stöd från närstående och sjukvårdspersonal var betydelsefullt och brist på detta upplevdes som en extra börda. Diskussion: Varje individ ser världen utifrån sitt eget perspektiv, så kallad livsvärld. Livsvärlden påverkade kvinnornas upplevelser av sjukdomen. Bristande stöd från personal kan bero på oförmåga att möta kvinnorna i deras livsvärld. Upplevelsen av förlusten av kvinnlighet kan bero på kvinnornas egna uppfattningar om kvinnlighet. Slutsats: Omvårdnaden bör fokusera på kvinnornas sjukdomsupplevelse. Detta kan uppnås genom att sjuksköterskan försöker möta kvinnorna i deras livsvärld. Sjuksköterskan bör också hjälpa kvinnorna att återigen uppnå en känsla av kvinnlighet.</p></p> / <p><p>Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in Sweden. Every year approximately 7000 women receive the diagnosis. Therefore it is im-portant that the nurse has knowledge of these women's experiences. Purpose: The purpose was to describe women's experiences of being diagnosed with breast cancer, from diagnosis to treatment. Method: A general literature review with inductive analysis was conducted. Results: Women were shocked by the diagnosis and reacted emotionally. Breast surgery and chemotherapy gave the women a sense of losing their femininity. They had new perspectives on life with new priorities. Support from relatives and professionals played an important role, lack of support became an extra burden. Discussion: Every individual sees the world from their own perspective, so-called lifeworld. The lifeworld affected the women's experiences of the disease. Lack of support from professionals may be due to the inability to meet the women in their lifeworlds. The feeling of lost femininity may depend on the women´s own perceptions of femininity. Conclusion: The nursing should focus on the women's experiences of illness. This might be achieved by nurses meeting the women in their lifeworlds. Nurses should also try to assist the women to re-establish a sense of femininity.</p></p>

<p>Abstract</p><p>Title: Vecko-Revyn, A study of how a women’s youth-magazine speaks to its readers, the content of the articles and interviews and the papers definition of femininity during the years1984-2004. (Vecko-Revyn En studie av en ungdomstidnings tilltal till läsaren, dess reportage och intervjuer samt definition av kvinnlighet under en period av 20 år.)</p><p>Number of pages: 63</p><p>Author: Anna Widén</p><p>Tutor: Göran Svensson</p><p>Course: Media and Communication Studies C</p><p>Period: Spring 2006</p><p>University: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Science, Uppsala University</p><p>Purpose/aim: The purpose is to see how the women´s youth-magazine Vecko-Revyn speaks to its readers, what the content of the articles are with a special view at the articles that contains interviews and articles with the theme sex and relationships. The study will also see how the magazine Vecko-Revyn defines femininity and how that difference through the years. The investigation will study those different subjects over a timeperiod of 20 years, 1984 – 2004.</p><p>Material/method: The study is done with a combined qualitative and quantitative text analysis using five numbers of the magazine Vecko-Revyn from each of the years 1984, 1994 and 2004.</p><p>Main results: The magazine Vecko-Revyn has a very open text to it’s readers. The articles have become shorter during the years. 1984 the articles where long and had an intellectual language. 2004 the magazine is down to very small articles. The main subjects that the magazine talks about in 1984 are the relation to the opposite sex and the liberty of women. 1994 the magazine is mostly about sex in all its forms and 2004 it has turned its main attention to the way you as a young person shall look to become successful.</p><p>The paper has had a very distinguished women-profile during 1984 when womanhood and the fact that you as a reader (and a women) shall take care of your own business was one of the magazines main priorities. 1994 the reader and the magazine has one common enemy – the opposite sex. This disappears thru the years and in 2004 the magazine is not interested at all in a feminist discourse.</p><p>Keywords: Vecko-Revyn, youth, women’s magazine, women, media, femininity, text analysis.</p>

<p>ABSTRACT</p><p>Title: FASHIONING THE FEMALE -</p><p>An Analysis of the “Fashionable Woman” in ELLE Magazine - Now and Then</p><p>Number of pages: 57 (including diagrams and figures, excluding enclosures)</p><p>Author: Heidi Marie Nömm</p><p>Tutor: Ylva Ekström</p><p>Course: Media and Communication Studies D Level, Master Thesis</p><p>Period: Spring term 2007</p><p>University: Uppsala University Division of Media and Communication Department of Information Science</p><p>Purpose/Aim: The purpose of this master thesis is to investigate how fashion can function as a communication channel and how the modern Swedish woman is represented in ELLE magazine within two different fashion decades, in 1992 and 2007.</p><p>Material: Swedish ELLE magazines No. 1-4 1992 and No. 1-4 2007.</p><p>Method: A complementary combination of quantitative content analysis, semiotics and critical discourse analysis.</p><p>Main results: A number of differences, as well as similarities can be recognised between the fashions of 1992 and 2007. The latter one is characterised by women looking serious, sometimes even austere while 1992 shows often happy women. The fashion styles are much more casual, colourful and more accessorised by jewellery etc. in 1992, while the clothing in 2007 is often tight, body hugging and reveals more skin. Concerning ethnicity, 2007 only shows white women, often very feminine and wearing mostly dresses and rarely pants, whereas 1992 is characterised by ELLE’s effort to show a more multicultural and diversified picture of the female. The semiotic analysis has lead to the conclusions that women in 1992 were more natural and “real” whereas the female picture ELLE is presenting often has fictional or unnatural elements. The fashion styles often seem un-wearable in 2007, however also rather artistic. The woman of 2007 is living a more expensive and extravagant lifestyle than in 1992 where women were more of en depicted “average”.</p><p>Keywords: Fashion, communication, representation, lifestyle, cultural studies,feminism, ELLE magazine, femininity.</p>

This dissertation examines Goethe’s portrayal of femininity in Die Wahlver-wandtschaften and how his depiction of all three central female characters relates to feminine ideals that were promoted through the theoretical gender debate of the late 1700s in Germany and Western Europe. I analyze Charlotte’s, Luciane’s, and Ottilie’s actions and interactions in various triadic character constellations in order to offer new insights into Goethe’s portrayal of femininity. In so doing, I argue that Goethe’s depiction of Charlotte holds the key to understanding how far Die Wahlverwandtschaften functions as (critical) commentary on the late Enlightenment gender discourse. I maintain that the actions and interactions of these three women show them as at times ‘unfit’ and/or unwilling to meet feminine ideals promoted in the late Enlightenment. I apply central concepts of Julia Kristeva’s psychoanalytic theory from the 1970s and 1980s as analytical tools to examine how far Goethe’s Wahlverwandt-schaften can be viewed as a critique of the norms and expectations commonly expressed in the late Enlightenment. I primarily focus on Kristeva’s concepts of subjectivity formation, semiotic and symbolic modalities, abjection, and her theorizing of motherhood. Kristeva’s emphasis on the pivotal role of the maternal function in the child’s identity formation and her representation of femininity as alterity allow me to explore the significance of Charlotte’s prevalence among the characters and to approach Goethe’s ambiguous and complex portrayal of unsteady, constantly shifting, and interrelated models of femininity in Charlotte, Luciane, and Ottilie as a narrative experiment in which he tests the viability of such models within the surrounding social discourse. In the main body of this dissertation, I begin by concentrating on Charlotte’s partnerships with men, and then I focus on her maternal role in relation to Luciane, Ottilie, and Otto. By making Charlotte the ‘epicenter’ of this investigation, I explore how far Goethe shapes her, Luciane, and Ottilie as characters who transgress late Enlightenment gender boundaries and thus deviate from what were considered ‘feminine ideals’ in order to underscore the arbitrary and contradictory nature of the prevalent social order.

Das Geschlechtsrollenselbstkonzept, das sich im Laufe der Sozialisation in Auseinandersetzung mit den vorherrschenden Vorstellungen der umgebenden Kultur entwickelt, steht in Beziehung zu Affekten, Kognitionen und Verhaltensweisen in einer Vielzahl von Bereichen. Bisherige GSK-Instrumente messen jedoch nahezu ausschließlich den positiven Aspekt von Maskulinität und Femininität. Die Definition des allgemeinen Selbstkonzepts gibt diese Limitierung auf positive Valenz nicht vor, und aus gesundheitspsychologischer Sicht sowie der Gruppenforschung ist die Bedeutung negativer Eigenschaften zur Selbstbeschreibung bekannt. Vor diesem Hintergrund wurden sieben aufeinander aufbauende Studien durchgeführt mit dem Ziel ein neues Instrument zu entwickeln, deren Items zum einen kulturell aktuellen Eigenschaften zur Selbstbeschreibung entsprechen und zum anderen die Valenzunterschiede dieser Merkmalsbeschreibungen berücksichtigen. Nach einer kritischen empirischen Überprüfung des deutschen BSRI, um Schwächen der Items ausschließlich positiver Valenz aufzudecken, wurde eine neue Skala entwickelt, die von Beginn an auch negative Selbstbeschreibungen berücksichtigte um der Komplexität des geschlechtlichen Selbst gerecht zu werden. Aufgrund der Einschätzungen zur Typizität und sozialen Erwünschtheit sowie mit ersten Resultaten aus der Selbstbeschreibung wurde die Auswahl der Items für die Teilskalen vorgenommen. In zwei weiteren Studien wurden schließlich die vier neu entwickelten Teilskalen des neuen GSK-Inventars einer Validierung unterzogen. Jeder der Teilskalen wurden theoriegeleitet spezifische Konstrukte zugeordnet und es konnte nachgewiesen werden, dass alle Teilskalen ihren eigenen Beitrag zur Vorhersage psychologischer Konzepte leisten können. So standen beispielsweise die negativen maskulinen Eigenschaften in engerer Beziehung zu Aggressivität und machtbezogenen Werten als die positiven Aspekte der Maskulinität. Als Ergebnis dieser Entwicklung stehen am Ende vier kurze, unabhängige, reliable Teilskalen, die positive als auch negative Aspekte von Maskulinität und Femininität abbilden und mittels sehr unterschiedlicher psychologischer Erlebens- und Verhaltenskonstrukte validiert wurden, die die Unabhängigkeit der Skalen belegen und diese für einen Einsatz in der Forschung empfehlen. Die Einführung einer individuellen Wertkomponente im Zuge der Selbstbeschreibung, angelehnt an das bekannte Erwartungs-mal-Wert Modell der Motivations- und Einstellungsforschung, und die daraus mögliche multiplikative Verknüpfung von Selbsteinschätzung und persönlicher Wichtigkeit der Eigenschaften konnten den Aufklärungswert in Bezug auf unterschiedliche Validierungskonstrukte dagegen nicht verbessern und wurden daher nicht ins das Instrument integriert. / The gender role self concept - developed throughout one’s socialisation - has strong relations to a number of affects, cognitions and behaviours. Instruments to asses that part of the self have yet only relied on mostly positive aspects of masculinity and femininity. However, the definition of the self concept is not limited to that kind of merely positive valence, and from health psychology as well as group research the relevance of negative traits for self description is known and proven. Hence, in a series of seven studies, new items were developed that reflect actual cultural descriptions of masculinity and femininity including both, traits of positive and negative valence. Following a critical reflection of the German BSRI, to once more identify its weaknesses of positive scales only, four new scales are introduced, based on evaluations of typicality and social desirability. In two studies those four scales were allocated to specific psychological constructs of emotions and behaviours. It was shown that each single scale has its own relevance regarding the gendered self in prediction of validation constructs: negative masculine traits e.g. had a stronger relationship to aggression and power compared to positive aspects of masculinity. The result of that development and validation process are four short, independent, and reliable scales, that reflect positive as well as negative aspects of masculinity and femininity. The introduction of an individual importance measure as part of the self description - comparable to the expectation-value-model in motivation and attitude research - could not add any predictive power in the validation process and therefore will not be included in the final instrument.

ABSTRACT Title: FASHIONING THE FEMALE - An Analysis of the “Fashionable Woman” in ELLE Magazine - Now and Then Number of pages: 57 (including diagrams and figures, excluding enclosures) Author: Heidi Marie Nömm Tutor: Ylva Ekström Course: Media and Communication Studies D Level, Master Thesis Period: Spring term 2007 University: Uppsala University Division of Media and Communication Department of Information Science Purpose/Aim: The purpose of this master thesis is to investigate how fashion can function as a communication channel and how the modern Swedish woman is represented in ELLE magazine within two different fashion decades, in 1992 and 2007. Material: Swedish ELLE magazines No. 1-4 1992 and No. 1-4 2007. Method: A complementary combination of quantitative content analysis, semiotics and critical discourse analysis. Main results: A number of differences, as well as similarities can be recognised between the fashions of 1992 and 2007. The latter one is characterised by women looking serious, sometimes even austere while 1992 shows often happy women. The fashion styles are much more casual, colourful and more accessorised by jewellery etc. in 1992, while the clothing in 2007 is often tight, body hugging and reveals more skin. Concerning ethnicity, 2007 only shows white women, often very feminine and wearing mostly dresses and rarely pants, whereas 1992 is characterised by ELLE’s effort to show a more multicultural and diversified picture of the female. The semiotic analysis has lead to the conclusions that women in 1992 were more natural and “real” whereas the female picture ELLE is presenting often has fictional or unnatural elements. The fashion styles often seem un-wearable in 2007, however also rather artistic. The woman of 2007 is living a more expensive and extravagant lifestyle than in 1992 where women were more of en depicted “average”. Keywords: Fashion, communication, representation, lifestyle, cultural studies,feminism, ELLE magazine, femininity.

In a Swedish context this thesis deals with male integration in the profession of nursing during the last 50 years of the twentieth century. I focus on four different topics. At first the pioneer era is discussed, that is in the beginning of the 50s, when men were allowed to enter the nursing profession and become nurses. Here I discuss on the Swedish Society of Nursings (Svensk Sjuksköterskeförening, SSF)) standpoint on the matter of men’s ability to participate in a sphere so closely connected with professional values as well as feminine values of caring and support. The second topic deals with the question of using the concept ‘sjuksköterska’ (nurse), in Sweden a feminine marked word, as a title for both men and women. The result of a long and keen debate is that a lot of imaginative titles were refused and that still today both women and men use the female title ‘sjuksköterska’. This might be one reason for men not seeking the profession of nursing. In the third place I look at the pecuniary result for nurses especially after 1986 when a new individual oriented wage determination was launched. The local investigation comprises four different clinics at the University hospital in Malmö (Universitetssjukhuset Malmö allmänna sjukshus, UMAS) and takes a special interest in earnings between male and female nurses. In countries with long experience of individual wage systems male nurses usually earn more than their female counterparts. The question I ask is if the same tendency is about to happen in Sweden. Finally, the possibilities of making a career in the profession of nursing is analyzed. The local investigation stresses that female nurses seem to prefer an administrative career in an increasing extent than men do. Male nurses, on the other hand, made union careers in the 70s and 80s and especially the post as ombudsman is popular. In the mid 90s the male appointment to union position is growing weaker probably connected to an increasing feminine consciousness among female nurses. Also the professionalisation process of the nurse corps is shortly examined.

Abstract Title: Vecko-Revyn, A study of how a women’s youth-magazine speaks to its readers, the content of the articles and interviews and the papers definition of femininity during the years1984-2004. (Vecko-Revyn En studie av en ungdomstidnings tilltal till läsaren, dess reportage och intervjuer samt definition av kvinnlighet under en period av 20 år.) Number of pages: 63 Author: Anna Widén Tutor: Göran Svensson Course: Media and Communication Studies C Period: Spring 2006 University: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Science, Uppsala University Purpose/aim: The purpose is to see how the women´s youth-magazine Vecko-Revyn speaks to its readers, what the content of the articles are with a special view at the articles that contains interviews and articles with the theme sex and relationships. The study will also see how the magazine Vecko-Revyn defines femininity and how that difference through the years. The investigation will study those different subjects over a timeperiod of 20 years, 1984 – 2004. Material/method: The study is done with a combined qualitative and quantitative text analysis using five numbers of the magazine Vecko-Revyn from each of the years 1984, 1994 and 2004. Main results: The magazine Vecko-Revyn has a very open text to it’s readers. The articles have become shorter during the years. 1984 the articles where long and had an intellectual language. 2004 the magazine is down to very small articles. The main subjects that the magazine talks about in 1984 are the relation to the opposite sex and the liberty of women. 1994 the magazine is mostly about sex in all its forms and 2004 it has turned its main attention to the way you as a young person shall look to become successful. The paper has had a very distinguished women-profile during 1984 when womanhood and the fact that you as a reader (and a women) shall take care of your own business was one of the magazines main priorities. 1994 the reader and the magazine has one common enemy – the opposite sex. This disappears thru the years and in 2004 the magazine is not interested at all in a feminist discourse. Keywords: Vecko-Revyn, youth, women’s magazine, women, media, femininity, text analysis.

Anledningen till att författarna gjorde denna studie var att bröstcancer är en av de vanligaste cancertyperna som drabbar kvinnor. Diagnosen innebär för de flesta kvinnor att hela eller delar av bröstet opereras bort. För många kvinnor representerar bröstet sexualitet och kvinnlighet. Syftet var att beskriva hur kvinnors sexualitet och sexuella relation förändras efter genomgången kirurgisk bröstcanceroperation och efterföljande behandling. Metoden var en kvalitativ litteraturstudie. Studien resulterade i tre huvudkategorier: (1) en förändrad kropp – en förändrad sexualitet, (2) en förändrad sexualitet – en förändrad sexuell relation, (3) emotionella förändringar i sexualiteten, samt tretton underkategorier. Resultatet visar att kvinnors sexualitet förändras både fysiskt och psykiskt. De flesta upplever en förändrad kroppsbild, minskad sexuell lust och njutning. Samlagen blir ofta smärtsamma vilket gör att många kvinnor drar sig undan sin partner. Många kvinnor upplever svårigheter i att prata om sin förändrade sexualitet med sin partner. Resultatet visar också att sjukvården ibland ger bristfällig information till kvinnor om eventuella biverkningar till följd av en bröstcanceroperation och efterföljande behandling. Då många bröstcancerdrabbade kvinnor upplever sexuella problem bör sjuksköterskor ge bättre information om eventuella biverkningar av behandlingen samt uppmärksamma dessa problem mer. Sjuksköterskor bör även möjliggöra till samtal med kvinnan om hennes funderingar kring sin förändrade sexualitet. / The reason why the authors conducted this study was that breast cancer is one of the most common types of cancer among women. For most women the diagnosis means that the entire or parts of the breast will have to be removed. For most women the breast represents sexuality and femininity. The aim was to describe how female sexuality and sexual relationship change after breast cancer surgery and subsequent treatment. The method was a qualitative litterature review. The study resulted in three main categories: (1) a changed body – a changed sexuality, (2) a changed sexuality – a changed sexual relationship, (3) emotional changes in sexuality, and thirteen subcategories. The result shows that female sexuality changes physically as well as psychically. Most women experience changes in body image, decreased sexual desire and pleasure. Intercourse becomes painful which makes many women withdraw from their partner. Many women experience difficulties in communicating about their changed sexuality with their partner. The result also shows that sometimes health care providers give poor information to women about plausible side effects due to breast cancer surgery and subsequent treatment. Because many women with breast cancer experience sexual problems nurses should give better information about plausible side effects from the treatment and highlight these problems. Nurses should also enable conversations with women regarding their thoughts concerning their changed sexuality.