I identify and analyse an emergent sub-genre of contemporary literature by women that I am calling ‘New Femininities’ fiction. This fiction is about the distinctly feminine experience of contemporary domestic life written by women about the lives of heterosexual female characters that are married or in committed partnerships, often with children. These texts are concerned with the nature of the self, with a self that is plural and ‘in process’, and make use of particular narrative devices – ironic voice, unreliable narration, free indirect discourse, and interrogative endings that exceed their roles as simply telling stories. ‘New Femininities’ fictions allow their language the necessary freedom to multiply meanings and enact the narrative conflicts they raise and by so doing, undermine the binary oppositions which structure a gendered world. In this dissertation, I argue the models of existing criticism would do a disservice to these texts because much of the criticism either overvalues the theoretical and ignores the literariness of the text or seeks to identify a ‘feminine’ language the definition of which serves to reinforce and revalue patriarchal notions of femininity. The readings that this fiction requires necessitate a negotiation with established models of feminist literary criticism. I attempt to identify the characteristics of their style that allows them to straddle binary oppositions and to look at the language these authors use without having to label it ‘feminine’ and by so doing establish, build, or reinforce a boundary with some undefined ‘masculine’ language which stands in for all occurrences that are not ‘feminine’. Additionally, I attempt to forge a transformed, adapted concept vocabulary for dealing with this group of writers. To this end, I make use of various discourses to show how the different authors either negotiate with that discourse or prove its inadequacy to describe or explain these new femininities.

O estudo toma por base a Política Nacional de Atenção Integral à Saúde da Mulher lançada, em 1984, como uma política nacional que rompia com um modelo tradicional de assistência à saúde das mulheres, materno-infantil e impositivo, e discute, a partir de evidências, a não conformidade das práticas hoje vigentes de atenção à saúde da população feminina com os princípios que orientam a política. A partir de um resgate histórico da construção dos marcos conceituais e normativos da saúde da mulher e da integralidade em saúde, discute-se a formação de um saber médico fundado em uma racionalidade cartesiana - analítica e mecanicista - como inadequado a uma prática profissional consistente com esses princípios. Sob o facho teórico da epistemologia feminista advogada por Sandra Harding e Helen Longino e caracterizada por um método científico feminista, o qual rechaça a pseudo "neutralidade" da ciência em favor de um fazer científico posicionado a partir da perspectiva e das necessidades das mulheres, a pesquisa levanta a hipótese de que a formação médica constitui um dos obstáculos à implementação efetiva da PNAISM e propõe-se a investigar em que medida os princípios e valores da equidade de gênero e da integralidade em saúde são transmitidos aos estudantes de medicina nas escolas médicas do RS. O estudo revelou esforços por parte de muitas das escolas no sentido de adaptar seus currículos de modo a favorecer uma visão integral da saúde, mas que é preciso aprofundar as mudanças para lograr este objetivo. No que concerne à equidade de gênero e aos princípios que norteiam a saúde integral das mulheres, a pesquisa apontou o despreparo das escolas para uma formação consistente com tais princípios e a prevalência de representações e percepções da mulher que perpetuam o foco materno-infantil na assistência à saúde. / The study is based on the National Policy of Comprehensive Healthcare for Women (PNAISM) launched, in 1984, as an innovative countrywide policy which was to break with the old standard of women's healthcare focused exclusively on mother-baby care, and discusses, upon evidence, the non-conformity of current healthcare practices aimed at women to the principles that guide that policy. Starting from a historical recovery of the building process of both women's health and comprehensive health conceptual and normative framework, we discuss the constitution of a medical knowledge founded on a Cartesian rationality - analytical and technicist - as one improper for a medical practice that is to be coherent with those principles. Under the theoretical light of the feminist epistemology advocated by Sandra Harding and Helen Longino and characterized by a feminist scientific method that rejects the pseudo "value free" character of the scientific knowledge on behalf of a situated scientific method that produces knowledge from women's perspective and needs, we suggest that the existing model of medical education is a major hindrance to the effective implementation of PNAISM and propose to investigate whether and to what extent the principles and values of gender equity and comprehensive healthcare are communicated to medical students in the medical schools of the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The research showed some efforts on the part of many medical schools aimed at adjusting their curricula so that to favor a comprehensive view of health and healthcare, although much deeper changes are needed in order to reach this goal. In what respects to gender equity and to the principles that guide the proposal of comprehensive healthcare aimed at women, the research unveiled the current incapability of medical schools for an education process that is consistent with such principles and the prevalence of representations and perceptions of woman that tend to perpetuate the mother-baby emphasis in women's healthcare. / El estudio parte de la Política Nacional de Atención Integral en Salud de la Mujer, puesta en marcha en 1984 como una política nacional que rompió con el modelo tradicional - materno infantil y autoritario - de atención a la salud de las mujeres, y examina, a partir de evidencias, la disconformidad de las prácticas vigentes de atención a la salud frente a los principios que rigen la política. Partiendo del rescate histórico del proceso de construcción de los marcos conceptuales y normativos de la salud de la mujer y de la salud integral, este estudio discute la inadecuación de una formación del saber médico fundada en la racionalidad cartesiana - analítica y mecanicista - para una práctica profesional coherente con estos principios. Basada en la epistemología feminista conforme expresada por Sandra Harding y Helen Longino, la cual se caracteriza por un método científico feminista y rechaza la pseudo "neutralidad" de la ciencia en favor de una toma de posición científica desde la perspectiva y necesidades de las mujeres, la investigación plantea la hipótesis de que la educación médica es uno de los obstáculos para la aplicación efectiva de PNAISM y se propone investigar en qué medida los principios y valores de la equidad de género y la integridad en salud son transmitidos a los estudiantes en las facultades de medicina del estado de Rio Grande do Sul (Brasil). El estudio ha mostrado que existen esfuerzos por parte de muchas escuelas para adaptar sus planes de estudio con el fin de promover una visión integral de la salud, pero que todavía es necesario profundizar los cambios para lograr este objetivo. En lo que respecta a la igualdad de género y los principios que guían la política de salud integral de las mujeres, el estudio apuntó la inadecuación de las estructuras y contenidos de los currículos de medicina para una formación acorde con estos principios, además del predominio de percepciones y representaciones de la mujer que perpetúan el énfasis en la atención materno-infantil en salud.

In the subject of prostitution there has been a growing trend towards a sex work discourse, where the selling of sex and sexual services is regarded as a form of emotional and erotic labor. The discourse emerged in response to the self-organization of sex workers into labor unions and citizenship rights groups. In Argentina the first steps towards self-representation of sex workers’ interests were taken in the early 1990s. Gradually the sex workers’ social movement has grown into the labor union Ammar (La Asociación de Mujeres Meretrices de Argentina), which actively seeks recognition for sex workers’ economic rights, labor rights and social rights. Although the selling and buying of sexual services has been legal since the early 20th century prostitutes’ rights have been suppressed hitherto. In 2008 Argentina enacted the United Nation’s Convention to combat human trafficking, Palermo Protocol, as federal law 26.364. The law re-enforced the state’s abolitionist policies towards prostitution, which consequently further marginalized the sex workers’ plight. Connecting their services with human trafficking schemes heightened the social stigmatization of sex workers. To contest the institutional violence and social discrimination Ammar presented a law proposal in 2013. The reform asks the state of Argentina to recognize sex work as a legitimate form of labor, thus insuring the sex workers’ labor and social rights. This paper contributes to the aforementioned sex work discourse by analyzing the self-agency of Argentine sex workers. Based on qualitative fieldwork studies I conducted in 2014 in Argentina and employing a feminist methodology my object is to study how sex workers’ counter hegemonic movement redefines their citizenship. To construct a theoretical framework for the case study I will utilize Giorgio Agamben’s paradigm of ‘state of exception’ and compliment Agamben’s shortcomings by advancing feminist- and queer theories, which have radically revaluated the concept of citizenship. The conclusion is that, even though Argentinian sex workers’ requirement for equal rights may be embryonic, it addresses an urgent inclusion of different kinds of sexualities and gender balances to the citizenship discourse. / En el tema de la prostitución, es cada vez más importante la tendencia hacia un discurso sobre el trabajo sexual, donde la venta de sexo y servicios sexuales  se consiederan como una forma de trabajo erótico y emocional. El discurso emergió como consecuencia de la organización de las trabajadoras sexuales dentro de sindicatos y grupos de derechos ciudadanos. En Argentina, los primeros pasos hacia la representación de los intereses de las trabajadoras sexuales, fueron a principios de la década de los 90. Gradualmente, el movimiento social de las trabajadoras sexuales ha crecido dentro del sindicato Ammar (Asociación de Mujereres Meretrices de Argentina) que activamente busca reconocimiento por los derechos económicos, laborales y sociales de las trabajadoras. Aunque la compra-venta de servicios sexuales es legal desde principios del siglo XX, los derechos de las prostitutas han sido reprimidos hasta ahora. En 2010, Argentina promulgó el Protocolo Palermo, como ley federal 26.364, en la Convención de las Naciones Unidas, para combatir el tráfico de humanos. La ley reafirmó las políticas encaminadas a la abolición de la prostitución, que sistemáticamente marginalizó la mala situación del colectivo. Relacionar sus servicios con el contexto del tráfico humano ha agudizado la estigmatización social de las trabajadoras sexuales. Para luchar contra la violencia institucional y la discriminación social, Ammar presentó un proyecto de ley el 2013. La reforma pide al Estado de Argentina que reconozca el trabajo sexual como una forma legítima de trabajo, asegurando así, los derechos laborales y sociales de las trabajadoras sexuales. Esta tesis contribuye al discurso mencionado anteriormente sobre el trabajo sexual, analizando la agnecia de las trabajadoras sexuales argentinas. Basado en estudios de campo cualitativos, llevado a cabo en 2014 en Argentina y utilizando metodología cualitativa y feminista, mi objetivo es estudiar como el movimiento contra-cultural de las trabajadoras sexuales redefine su ciudadanía. Para construir un marco teórico para el caso de estudio, voy a utilizar el paradigma de Giorgio Agamben sobre el “estado de excepción” y complementar sus aportaciones con teoría feminista, que ha reevaluado radicalmente el concepto de ciudadanía. La conclusión es que, aunque los requerimientos de las trabajadoras sexuales argentinas para la igualdad de derechos pueden ser incipientes, reclaman la urgente inclusión de diferentes tipos de sexualidad y articulación de género al discurso de ciudadanía.

O estudo toma por base a Política Nacional de Atenção Integral à Saúde da Mulher lançada, em 1984, como uma política nacional que rompia com um modelo tradicional de assistência à saúde das mulheres, materno-infantil e impositivo, e discute, a partir de evidências, a não conformidade das práticas hoje vigentes de atenção à saúde da população feminina com os princípios que orientam a política. A partir de um resgate histórico da construção dos marcos conceituais e normativos da saúde da mulher e da integralidade em saúde, discute-se a formação de um saber médico fundado em uma racionalidade cartesiana - analítica e mecanicista - como inadequado a uma prática profissional consistente com esses princípios. Sob o facho teórico da epistemologia feminista advogada por Sandra Harding e Helen Longino e caracterizada por um método científico feminista, o qual rechaça a pseudo "neutralidade" da ciência em favor de um fazer científico posicionado a partir da perspectiva e das necessidades das mulheres, a pesquisa levanta a hipótese de que a formação médica constitui um dos obstáculos à implementação efetiva da PNAISM e propõe-se a investigar em que medida os princípios e valores da equidade de gênero e da integralidade em saúde são transmitidos aos estudantes de medicina nas escolas médicas do RS. O estudo revelou esforços por parte de muitas das escolas no sentido de adaptar seus currículos de modo a favorecer uma visão integral da saúde, mas que é preciso aprofundar as mudanças para lograr este objetivo. No que concerne à equidade de gênero e aos princípios que norteiam a saúde integral das mulheres, a pesquisa apontou o despreparo das escolas para uma formação consistente com tais princípios e a prevalência de representações e percepções da mulher que perpetuam o foco materno-infantil na assistência à saúde. / The study is based on the National Policy of Comprehensive Healthcare for Women (PNAISM) launched, in 1984, as an innovative countrywide policy which was to break with the old standard of women's healthcare focused exclusively on mother-baby care, and discusses, upon evidence, the non-conformity of current healthcare practices aimed at women to the principles that guide that policy. Starting from a historical recovery of the building process of both women's health and comprehensive health conceptual and normative framework, we discuss the constitution of a medical knowledge founded on a Cartesian rationality - analytical and technicist - as one improper for a medical practice that is to be coherent with those principles. Under the theoretical light of the feminist epistemology advocated by Sandra Harding and Helen Longino and characterized by a feminist scientific method that rejects the pseudo "value free" character of the scientific knowledge on behalf of a situated scientific method that produces knowledge from women's perspective and needs, we suggest that the existing model of medical education is a major hindrance to the effective implementation of PNAISM and propose to investigate whether and to what extent the principles and values of gender equity and comprehensive healthcare are communicated to medical students in the medical schools of the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The research showed some efforts on the part of many medical schools aimed at adjusting their curricula so that to favor a comprehensive view of health and healthcare, although much deeper changes are needed in order to reach this goal. In what respects to gender equity and to the principles that guide the proposal of comprehensive healthcare aimed at women, the research unveiled the current incapability of medical schools for an education process that is consistent with such principles and the prevalence of representations and perceptions of woman that tend to perpetuate the mother-baby emphasis in women's healthcare. / El estudio parte de la Política Nacional de Atención Integral en Salud de la Mujer, puesta en marcha en 1984 como una política nacional que rompió con el modelo tradicional - materno infantil y autoritario - de atención a la salud de las mujeres, y examina, a partir de evidencias, la disconformidad de las prácticas vigentes de atención a la salud frente a los principios que rigen la política. Partiendo del rescate histórico del proceso de construcción de los marcos conceptuales y normativos de la salud de la mujer y de la salud integral, este estudio discute la inadecuación de una formación del saber médico fundada en la racionalidad cartesiana - analítica y mecanicista - para una práctica profesional coherente con estos principios. Basada en la epistemología feminista conforme expresada por Sandra Harding y Helen Longino, la cual se caracteriza por un método científico feminista y rechaza la pseudo "neutralidad" de la ciencia en favor de una toma de posición científica desde la perspectiva y necesidades de las mujeres, la investigación plantea la hipótesis de que la educación médica es uno de los obstáculos para la aplicación efectiva de PNAISM y se propone investigar en qué medida los principios y valores de la equidad de género y la integridad en salud son transmitidos a los estudiantes en las facultades de medicina del estado de Rio Grande do Sul (Brasil). El estudio ha mostrado que existen esfuerzos por parte de muchas escuelas para adaptar sus planes de estudio con el fin de promover una visión integral de la salud, pero que todavía es necesario profundizar los cambios para lograr este objetivo. En lo que respecta a la igualdad de género y los principios que guían la política de salud integral de las mujeres, el estudio apuntó la inadecuación de las estructuras y contenidos de los currículos de medicina para una formación acorde con estos principios, además del predominio de percepciones y representaciones de la mujer que perpetúan el énfasis en la atención materno-infantil en salud.

Title: The “reality” of violence: a study of how participants of the internet forum Familjeliv talk about domestic violence against women, with a discourse psychological approach. The purpose of this study was to examine how participants in the discussion forum Familjeliv reasoned and constructed the reality of men's violence against women in intimate relationships. The data used in the study comes from 20 discussion-threads on the forum where violence in intimate relationships has been discussed based on the participants' experiences, questions and findings. The data has then been analyzed on the basis of  discourse psychology and feminist theory. The focus of the analysis was to examine the language that the participants used. To do this, two analytical tools were used: positioning and interpretative repertoires. The result showed a variety of reasoning and constructions regarding the definition of violence, the responsibility of the women and men, and whether men's violence against women should be considered a social problem or not. The majority of the data that was  analyzed highlighted the woman's responsibility in the relationship, some of whom also saw it as both the man and the woman's responsibility while some left the entire responsibility to the man. The result also showed that men's violence against women is seen as a societal problem by many who participated in the discussions. At the same time, there were some who considered that men's violence against men was a major problem, and therefore thought that this problem should be given more attention than men's violence against women. In order to develop support efforts for women exposed to violence in intimate relationships, knowledge about the public's perception of the phenomenon is required. As a professional, this knowledge also increases the understanding of how exposed women are treated in everyday meetings with other individuals. / Syftet med föreliggande studie är att undersöka hur deltagare på diskussionsforumet Familjeliv talar om och konstruerar verkligheten kring mäns våld mot kvinnor i nära relationer. Materialet som använts i studien kommer från 20 diskussionstrådar på forumet där våld i nära relation har diskuterats utifrån deltagarnas erfarenheter, funderingar och konstateranden. Materialet har sedan analyserats utifrån en diskurspsykologisk ansats och feministisk teori. Analysens fokus låg på att undersöka språket som deltagarna använde sig av. För att göra detta användes två analysverktyg: positionering samt tolkningsrepertoarer. Resultatet visade på en variation av tal och konstruktioner gällande våldets definition, kvinnans respektive mannens ansvar samt om mäns våld mot kvinnor skulle ses som ett samhälleligt problem eller inte. Majoriteten av de trådar som analyserats belystes kvinnans ansvar i relationen, några av dem såg det även som både mannen och kvinnans ansvar medan vissa lade hela ansvaret på mannen. Resultatet visade även att mäns våld mot kvinnor ses som ett samhälleligt problem av många som deltog i trådarna. Samtidigt fanns det vissa som ansåg att mäns våld mot män var ett större problem och därför ansåg att det var något som borde få större uppmärksamhet än mäns våld mot kvinnor. För att kunna utveckla insatser för kvinnor utsatta för våld i nära relation krävs en kunskap kring allmänhetens uppfattning av fenomenet. Som professionell ökar denna kunskap även förståelsen för hur utsatta kvinnor blir bemötta i vardagliga möten med andra individer.

It is intrinsic to modernity the expansion of the philosophical detachment from the religious view as critical reason takes place in science, art and the worldview of modern man. Through Kant's reflections, in The Religion within the limits of reason alone (1793), we will seek to understand this process of rupture between faith and reason which explains the prevailing thought in postmodernity. We chose the renowned writer, José Saramago, and his works of religious nature as our objects of study, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ (1991) and Cain (2009), as they represent, in the Portuguese language, the voice of the man who is still attracted by the literature of literatures – composed by the Pentateuch and the other canonical books. The author wishes to understand, question and to find the contradictions in believing in an absent, flawed and guilty God. Instigated by the importance in which the "Marys" are portrayed in the Apocryphal Gospels, and to further condemn this God, Saramago recreates in his parodies, a postmodern and anti-religious gospel whose eroticized reinvention of the biblical women - the "Marys", Eve and Lilith - results in the demystification and humanization of the characters and the destabilization of patriarchal discourse. Thus, before analyzing the creation of a new myth of women and their role in Saramago, we will study what was postulated by the feminist theorists, Simone de Beauvoir (2016) and Luce Irigaray (2017), which determine the place of the woman as the "Other", by an exclusionary monologic language that puts her at the service of the elaboration of the universalizing male, which also occurs in the saaramguian language.

Uppsatsens syfte är att undersöka Miles Aldridges fotografi Immaculée#5 som gestaltar en Jungfru Maria som innehar ett uttryck av extas. Med hjälp av Panofskys ikonografiska metod och feministisk och psykoanalytisk teori analyseras verket för att utforska hur det religiösa verket kan tolkas i en samtida kontext. Slutsatsen innehåller en konklusion om att en förhistorisk kontext om Jungfru Maria och genomförda kritiska analyser visar att Immaculée#5 kan representera ett visuellt kvinnoförtryck baserat på bland annat sexuell voyeurism. / The purpose of the essay is to examine Miles Aldridge's photograph Immaculée#5, which depicts a Virgin Mary holding an expression of ecstasy. Using Panofsky's iconographic method and feminist and psychoanalytic theory, the work is analyzed to explore how the religious work can be interpreted in a contemporary context. The conclusion is that a prehistoric context about the Virgin Mary and critical analyses show that Immaculée#5 can represent a visual oppression of women based on sexual voyeurism, among other things.

As the statistics for maternal mortality have declined all over the world, it has also been rising in the US for the past two decades. The data clearly shows that the group with the highest risk for maternal mortality are black women, whilst white women are the group with the lowest risk. This study aims to investigate three policys related to maternal care: Affordable Care Act, Preventing Maternal Deaths Act and Improving Access to Maternal Care Act. By using Carol Bacchi's What’s the Problem Represented to Be-method of analysis, the study looks deeper into what underlying presumptions and assumptions the policys carry, and what consequences these have. Together with intersectionality as a theoretical framework, the study was able to uncover issues between the policies that are currently in place, and the categories and power positions within the people involved in the policy process and the people affected by the policies. The results show that the underlying assumptions and presumptions is that women work as a homogenous group and that the policies are focused on low-income individuals within that group. This results in continuous disparities in maternal mortality for black women, with concerning consequences. There is a great need for research, not only for accurate data surrounding maternal mortality (on deeper levels, not for women as a homogenous group), but also for development of policies and health care.

Women's rights and their position became part of political and specialized discussions already at the end of Ottoman empire and remain such during establishing new Turkish republic as well during accession dialogue of Turkey to the European Union or joining the global women's human rights regime. However, I will argue, that this legislative changes are not sufficient for improvement of women's position within society, which is so trongly influenced by Islamic traditional culture. Therefore, in this work I will try to search for the roots of this conflict between Islamic traditional and modern society and their impact on women's position in Turkey. To do so, I will use qualitative content analysis of feminist and postcolonialist texts and also will focus on historic context. At the same time I will examine how contemporary Turkish society, which is in the first place focused on collective identity, deal with individual identity, that is necessary for promoting and claiming human rights for each person as individual.

Genom en närläsning av släktkrönikan Till minne av en villkorslöskärlek, analyserar denna uppsats hur det patriarkala samhället begränsar huvudkaraktären Ingegärd Rasmussen. Med utgångspunkt i Yvonne Hirdmans teori om genusskapande samt Lois Tysons feministiska teori och litteraturkritik, presenterar jag de rådande könsroller, könsnormer samt genusordningar som begränsar Ingegärd Rasmussen under hela hennes livstid. Hennes normbrytande och normföljande beteende, resulterar i att hon aldrig riktigt lyckas befria sig från patriarkatets begränsningar. / Through a close reading of the family chronicle In memory of an unconditional love, this essay analyzes how the patriarchal society limits the main character Ingegärd Rasmussen. Based on Yvonne Hirdman's theory of gender creation and Lois Tyson's feminist theory and literary criticism, I present the prevailing gender roles, gender norms and gender arrangements that limit Ingegärd Rasmussen throughout her life. Her norm-breaking and norm-following behavior results in her never really succeeding in freeing herself from the limitations of patriarchy.