<p>Sweden is seen as one of the world’s most feminist societies. In January 2009 all grounds of discrimination were merged into a common law; Diskrimineringslagen. This paper examines representations of gender discrimination, linked to feminist perspectives, in the Parliamentary debate on Sweden’s new discrimination legislation through a discourse analysis. The aim is to find out how the perception of gender discrimination may be linked to attitudes towards the proposal of the new discrimination legislation. The findings are that two competing constructions of gender discrimination can be found in the empirical material; it’s <em>either</em> seen as a ground of discrimination as more fundamental <em>or</em> equivalent to other grounds of discrimination. The conclusions are that the perception of gender discrimination affects whether the proposal of the new discrimination legislation is seen as a good solution or a problematic solution. The representations of gender discrimination are linked to feminist perspectives in a clearer way in the discourse where the proposal of the new discrimination legislation is seen as a problematic solution; in this discourse gender discrimination is rather associated with taking structural gender relations in consideration than a problem associated with the formal regulation.</p>

Sweden is seen as one of the world’s most feminist societies. In January 2009 all grounds of discrimination were merged into a common law; Diskrimineringslagen. This paper examines representations of gender discrimination, linked to feminist perspectives, in the Parliamentary debate on Sweden’s new discrimination legislation through a discourse analysis. The aim is to find out how the perception of gender discrimination may be linked to attitudes towards the proposal of the new discrimination legislation. The findings are that two competing constructions of gender discrimination can be found in the empirical material; it’s either seen as a ground of discrimination as more fundamental or equivalent to other grounds of discrimination. The conclusions are that the perception of gender discrimination affects whether the proposal of the new discrimination legislation is seen as a good solution or a problematic solution. The representations of gender discrimination are linked to feminist perspectives in a clearer way in the discourse where the proposal of the new discrimination legislation is seen as a problematic solution; in this discourse gender discrimination is rather associated with taking structural gender relations in consideration than a problem associated with the formal regulation.

Studiens syfte är att undersöka hur genus- och maktrelationer avbildas samt reproduceras genom bilder från The Big Fours års- och hållbarhetsrapporter. Tidigare forskning har klarlagt behovet att på ett adekvat sätt särskilja mellan kön och genus inom kritisk redovisningsforskning. Således grundas studien i en rad feministiska teorier och kritisk organisationsteori, såväl som tidigare forskning där genus står i fokus. Dessa teorier tillämpas vid en kvantitativ innehållsanalys och efterföljande slutledning. Detta för att identifiera dolda processer inom organisationerna som inverkar på hur hierarkier utformas inom dessa.  Resultaten påvisar att det existerar ett könande inom organisationerna som är till mannens fördel. Dock är generaliserbarheten av studiens empiri begränsad utifrån resultatet av den logistiska regressionen. Symboler för ett starkt ledarskap förknippas med maskulinitet och mannen avbildas oftare som stående inom urvalet, vilket studien härleder till uttryck för rådande och önskade hierarkier. Därtill påvisar empirin att aktivitet till högre grad avbildas som ett manligt attribut vilket studien förklarar som ett uttryck för ett rådande informationsövertag. Det återfinns dock frekvenser som gör gällande att kvinnan ges utrymme att komma till tals och således att dennes perspektiv tas tillvara på. Detta då kvinnan till en högre grad avbildas som seriös i sällskap av män än ensam. Genusrelationer identifieras men processerna är genomgående subtila. Sociala koder och normativa påtryckningar kan dock påpekas. / The purpose of this study is to examine how gender and power dynamics are depicted and reproduced through images from The Big Four’s Swedish branches, in their annual and sustainability reports. Previous research clarifies the need for a separation between sex and gender within critical accounting research in order to expand the current empirical reach. Hence this study utilizes several feminist perspectives as well as critical organizational theory combined with previous research where gender has been at the center. The study’s content analysis and deduction, along with its conclusion, is built upon these theories to identify hidden processes that constitute real-life gender based hierarchies within said organizations.  Furthermore the results of this study points to a continued gendering within these organizations that favour the male sex. However the generalizability of the empirical findings are limited due to the outcome of the logistic regression. Symbols of strong leadership are continuously associated with a sense of masculinity and the male is more often depicted as standing up, symbolizing being higher up in the organizational hierarchy. Empirical evidence is laid forth stating that a higher frequency of being active is tied to being male and furthermore a masculine attribute. Although, measured frequencies show that the woman is granted the opportunity of having her perspective listened to and through that her epistemic privilege utilized as she’s, to a relatively high degree, represented as serious when accompanied by men. Gender relations are identified as parts of subtle processes that are sometimes even to be labelled as ambiguous.