This dissertation traces the circulation and consumption of Japanese anime, or Anime, in Kuwait to examine the changing consciousness of normativity regarding gender and sexuality for audiences and fans. Anime has been distributed and accessible since the 1970s in Kuwait. Nonetheless, with the advent of "New Anime" after the 2000s, the audience has widely accepted characters and protagonists that deviate from the existing representational practices portraying active men and passive women. Drawing from gender and sexualities studies, media and anime studies, Antonio Gramsci's theory of hegemony as well as Raewyn Connell's theory on masculinities, this study critically investigates "hegemonic masculinities" in Kuwaiti society to argue the ways in which the reception and practices of Anime help to erode them. / 博士(アメリカ研究) / Doctor of Philosophy in American Studies / 同志社大学 / Doshisha University

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The stereotype that male nurses are less masculine has existed for generations and spans all age groups. Several studies have investigated masculinity and femininity in nurses using the Bem Sex-Role Inventory, but the results are conflicting and inconclusive. Therefore, a nationwide survey was conducted across the United States that examined the sex-role identity of individuals who chose nursing as a career path. Twenty-eight males and 81 females from 37 states completed the survey. The males and females in the study both had higher mean scores on masculinity and femininity scales when compared with previous studies. The greatest percentage of participants were classified as androgynous, as opposed to masculine, feminine, or undifferentiated, with half of the males and nearly half of the females falling into this category. © The Author(s) 2011.

In recent years, the concept of monstrosity has received renewed attention by literary critics. Much of this criticism has focused on horror texts and other texts that depict supernatural monsters. However, the way that monster theory explores the connection between specific cultures and their monsters illuminates not only our understanding of horror texts, but also our understanding of any significant cultural artwork. Applying monster theory to non-horror texts is a useful and productive way to more fully understand the cultural fears of a society. One text that is particularly fruitful to explore in this context is John Steinbeck’s 1952 novel, East of Eden. The personification of evil in the text is one of the most memorable monsters in 20th century American literature—Cathy Ames Trask. Described by the narrator as a monster from birth, Cathy haunts the text. She rejects any and all attempts to force her to behave in socially acceptable ways. Cathy refuses to abide by the roles that mid-century American culture assigned to women, particularly the roles of wife and mother. Feminist theorists have often examined Cathy’s character in this context, although many of them emphasize Steinbeck’s personal misogyny. While Steinbeck’s personal fears have clearly formed the basis of Cathy’s character, the concept of the monster extends beyond idiosyncratic fears. Monster theory, through its emphasis on the particular cultural moment of the monster, allows for a broader understanding of cultural fears. Although the description of Cathy in the text connects her to a long tradition of female monsters, including Lilith and the Siren, Steinbeck’s characterization of the monstrous woman focuses on specific mid-century American cultural fears. The most significant of these cultural fears are those of emasculation and the potential flexibility of gender roles. These fears have often been associated with the feminine monster, but they became a crucial part of postwar American cultural discourse. The character of Cathy Trask, while exhibiting many traits that have been assigned to female monsters during the course of Western history, is essentially a 20th century American monster, one who encapsulates the fears of midcentury American men faced with rapidly changing gender roles and boundaries. The creation of such a horrifyingly monstrous woman, one that continues to haunt the reader even after her eventual de-monstration, testifies to the intense cultural anxiety about gender roles, particularly in the context of the heterosexual nuclear family, present in post-World War II America. This anxiety is dealt with in the figure of the monster Cathy, who represents forbidden desires and is then punished for those desires; her eventual demise reinforces the culturally patriarchal social structure and serves as a warning against transgressive gender behavior.

[pt] Esta dissertação apresenta uma possibilidade de se (re)pensar a atuação profissional do designer contemporâneo através da prática artesanal da cerâmica. Buscando procedimentos manuais, dialoga-se com um tempo singular e demorado: otempo do barro. Com base no pensamento de Tim Ingold (2013), Richard Sennett(2008) e Donald Schön (2000), por exemplo, propomos uma abordagem tácita, corpórea, de experiências para o profissional, a fim de reaproximar o design de suas origens artesanais. Olhando para a cerâmica, esbarramos em questões que extrapolam o próprio fazer e abrem caminhos necessários de questionamento sobre a hegemonia social do patriarcado também no campo do design. Propõe-se uma cosmovisão ampliada e inclusiva, e nesse âmbito, os estudos de gênero podem contribuir para uma reparação histórica do apagamento e invisibilidade social da contribuição material feminina para o campo projetivo, bem como introduzir metodologias que ajudem na desconstrução de métodos homogeneizadores e/ou patriarcais. Partindo do sistema produtivo da cerâmica artesanal feita por mulheres, como objeto de estudo dessa pesquisa, foi traçado um paralelo sobre as questões de gênero, criação, interesse socioeconômico e sustentabilidade presentes nesta artesania. / [en] This dissertation presents a possibility to (re)think the professional performance of the contemporary designer through the artisanal practice of ceramics. Seeking manual procedures, it dialogues with a singular and time-consuming time, the time of clay. Based on the thinking of Tim Ingold (2013), Richard Sennett (2008) and Donald Schön (2000), for example, we propose a tacit, corporeal approach of experiences for the professional in order to reconnect the design of its artisanal origins. Looking at ceramics, we run into questions that go beyond one s own doing and open paths, necessary, of questioning the social hegemony of patriarchy also in the field of design. An expanded and inclusive worldview is proposed, and in this context, gender studies can contribute to a historical repair of the erasure and social invisibility of the female material contribution to the projective field, as well as introduce methodologies that help in the deconstruction of homogenizing and/or patriarchal methods. Having as object of study the productive system of handmade ceramic made by women, a parallel was drawn on the issues of gender, creation, socioeconomic interest and sustainability present in this artesania.

The aim of this study was to examine the depiction of female versus male antagonists. A semiotic qualitative analysis was used to execute this with a gender perspective in order to analyze the societal structures that may be reflected in the characters in the form of stereotypical gender roles. And the reason behind this.   Villains have mainly existed to drive the hero's narrative forward, until now. Recently they have excelled to become a big part of modern cinema. Despite the fact that villains are taking up more space in Hollywood, we hardly see an increase of studies in this area. This study focuses on the two antagonists Amy Dunne (Gone Girl, Fincher, 2014) and The Joker (The Dark Knight, Nolan, 2008). We have selected these characters from a gender perspective because we presume that they both are complex characters in the sense of gender roles and stereotypes. They have identities that challenge the traditional view of what is masculine and feminine, at the same time as they both have normative traits. One of the reasons we chose antagonists is because they are the character that drives the narrative forward.   Our main findings are that both characters mainly show masculine traits and show similar specific traits. They also show femininity, something that often relates to the sympathy of the character. We found a correlation between Amy’s masculine traits and her evil actions. This was not as prominent with The Joker. We see some traits that differ. Amy uses her sexuality as a weapon against men. Amy is also portrayed as weak in several scenes, while The Joker always remains in control.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how femininity is portrayed in relation to power in the Swedish documentary series Drottningarna, which follows the life experience of 8 Swedish queens. This will be researched based on the theories of hegemonic masculinity and femininity. The study also aims to investigate what purposes might have contributed to how the different queens are portrayed in the series, and how truthful the representation of them is. The results shows that power in the series is often associated with breaking and opposing the power structures, but also with typically hegemonic masculine traits such as assertiveness, independence and aggressivity. the series also seems to primarily have a commercial purpose, even though it contains both cognitive, moral, and aesthetic intentions. This in turn affects the credibility of the series in a negative way, as the focus is on making good television instead of sticking to historical truths.

In the novel the Color Purple (1982), the author, Alice Walker, highlights the oppression African American women had to endure in the South, during the 1920s. It tells the story of the protagonist Celie's life, from being a sexual abused girl, to becoming an independent woman. Through Celie's collection of letters, the novel is a documentation of an African American woman's transformation from a life of oppression to finding her voice. The analysis seeks to display the connection between Celie's fight against oppression to her becoming a "masculine female". In order to investigate Celie's transformation, in this paper I explore the cause of her transformation and look more closely at the factors that that resulted in her change. This is discussed by focusing on stereotypical gender traits, role models, motherhood, the elimination of male power, and lastly, multiple forms of oppression. In the end it is concluded that Celie's liberation from the patriarchy helped her find her new identity as a masculine female.

Authors: Elger, Jesper & Jönsson, Annie  Advisor: Svensson, Daniel  Keywords: Consumption, Soccer/football, Femininity, Gender identities, Norms.  Purpose: The purpose of this study, based on a quantitative method is to investigate differences and similarities regarding football consumption in female and male elite football players in Sweden.   Method: The study is based on a deductive approach, which means that we have worked with already existing theoretical material and thereafter collected our own empirical data. Empirical data were collected through a questionnaire that was sent out to five different elite football clubs in Sweden.  Theory: The study is based on Hirdman's theory of the gender contract, as well as Lamont and Molnár's theory of boundaries.  Results and conclusion: With help from the questionnaire that was sent out to five different elite football clubs in Sweden the study can display an overall result regarding football consumption by female and male elite players. The overall result indicates that there were no significant differences and similarities regarding football consumption within five elite clubs in Sweden. The result in the study presents no significant differences and similarities regarding consumption of football but there is still an ability to draw conclusions with help from a theoretical framework based on Hirdman´s and Lamont´s Molnár´s theory. The final conclusion of this study was that there are many similarities between female and male elite football players' football consumption. The study's results and theories allow an argument regarding female and male football consumption. In addition to the fact that the majority on both the men's and women's side consume football primarily because the players "think it's fun", it is argued that there may be additional reasons for the players' individual consumption. This study reveals two reasons why Hirdman's gender contract does not have such a large impact regarding gender, elite soccer players and soccer consumption. The first reason is that men are standard bearers in both society and football, and that women have adapted to these standards, in this case to consume football, which is "manly". The second reason is that the boundaries have been changed in various ways, as described based on Lamont's and Molnár's theory. However, one does not necessarily exclude the other, but can work together.

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