This study is about how videogamecompanies and Swedish newspapers represent masculinity and femininity in the covers of the games Assassins Creed 3, Grand Theft Auto 5, Bayonetta and Tomb Raider along with the reviews being done in conjunction with the game. The reviews has been published in the following newspapers: Aftonbladet, Svenska Dagbladet, Expressen and Göteborgsposten. The image that is formed in our society about how a man and a woman should be and behave will be the basics of this study. The covers of the games often represent what the game itself is about and what it contains and the reviews also conveys what the consumer who buys the game gets. The video game industry has grown in recent years to become one of the largest entertainmentindustries, but despite this, there has not been many studies on how this media represents masculinity and femininity. This is why this topic is both relevant and interesting to study. The method that will be used for this essay is a content analysis with semiotics studies as a basis, along with the terms denotation, connotation and stereotypes as tools for the above mentioned method. A couple of gender-related theories have also been used since the essay’s basic idea is to study how the video game industry and the swedish press presents the traditional gender roles and gender issues. The theories that have been chosen are: gender, power, interpreting bodies, gender perspectives in media and mass culture, massmedia and journalism and finally the theory of the media market. The purpose of this study can be summarized into how the gaming industry and the related reviews in the Swedish press present masculinity and femininity. The result of the analysis shows that the video game industry presents masculinity and femininity according to the traditional and stereotypical ideals that exist in today's society. The analysis of the reviews in Swedish press shows that in most cases feminist struggle is not discussed and gender issues are in general not addressed.

This thesis deals with topics such as masculinity, stereotypes, social media and influencers. The area of interest for the authors is how masculinity and stereotypes can be represented within social media. To investigate this, six TikTok videos of Andrew Tate have been selected. According to a multimodal critical discourse analysis, these six analysing objects are analysed. A total of eight analysis categories have been selected that aim to analyse selected videos in an accurate manner. Videos of Andrew Tate are segmented to analyse more objectively. The concept of denotations and connotations from semiotics will be used to explain hidden meanings within the videos and to see representations that are not explicitly mentioned. The authors have used literature on masculinity, stereotypes and social media to easily obtain a theoretical framework for the results presented. This thesis has two research questions:  How are ideas of masculinity represented in TikTok videos of Andrew Tate? What different ideas of masculinity are represented within TikTok videos of Andrew Tate? The results showed that representations of masculinity were represented within several of the selected analysis categories. Categories, where representations were most clear, were in clothing, visual representation but also in language or what was said. Hierarchies that played on masculine stereotypes such as men being stronger and more independent than women were also found within the analysis. Ideas of masculinity that portray men as strong, warriors and independent were also found in the material. Therefore, the authors conclude that there are several different semiotic categories in which ideas of masculinity are represented within the material by Andrew Tate. The specific ideas represented within the material are based on older stereotypes regarding gender roles and masculinity. Thus, TikTok videos on Andrew Tate become an extension of old gender roles where ideas are reconstructed in new forms.

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The purpose of this study was to describe how gender was portrayed and to determine how gender roles were depicted and defined in a selection of Modern and Postmodern American plays. This study was based on the symbolic interaction theory of gender that suggests that social roles are learned over time and are subject to constant reinforcement. The significance of this study was derived from the broad topic of gender because gender issues are relevant to a variety of fields and exploring the effects of gender in one field contributes to the understanding of gender in another field. The plays in this study were Votes for Women, Robins; Trifles, Glaspell; Our Town, Wilder; Moon for the Misbegotten, O'Neill; The Glass Menagerie, Williams; Death of a Salesman, Miller; A Raisin in the Sun, Hansberry; Funnyhouse of a Negro, Kennedy; Uncommon Women and Others, Wasserstein; Fefu and Her Friends, Fornes; spell #7, Shange; Fool for Love, Shepard; Fences, Wilson; Oleanna, Mamet; and How I Learned to Drive, Vogel. Two of the study's research questions explored the types of gender roles and behaviors that the characters presented. Two questions focused on considering if the time period or the sex of the playwright were factors in the presentations of gender. Gender behaviors were divided into four categories: Behavior Characteristics, Communication Patterns, Sources of Power, and Physical Appearance. Using narrative analysis techniques, the plays were analyzed for the specific traits in each category. The majority of the characters were assigned traditional gender roles and displayed traditional gender behavior traits. Based their gender roles and behavior in their roles, characters faced limitations that confined their actions and restricted their choices. Characters experienced consequences for their behaviors, and female characters received harsher punishments for deviant behaviors than male characters. Gender portrayal in Modern plays was more in keeping with traditional patterns than in Postmodern plays. Female playwrights presented more diverse roles for female characters and often explored gender as a major theme in their plays. Where applicable, race, in concert with gender, was an additional factor that governed characters' behaviors by further restricting behavior or possible actions.

Gender roles are a tool used by society to set acceptable boundaries and ideals upon the sexes, and during the early part of the twentieth century in America those gender boundaries began to blur. As a result of the 19th Amendment, men must have felt their decreasing importance because women were no longer solely dependent upon them, and gender roles shifted as woman began to occupy territory that was traditionally held by men. The “New Woman" entered the workforce, and refused to accept traditional female gender conventions. In response to the “New Woman," Theodore Roosevelt and other leading males sought to reinforce the ideal of the male as the protector and provider. As woman took on characteristics commonly associated with men, men now had to grapple with a changing gender identity that often left them confused and frustrated. Willa Sibert Cather's life reflects the fluctuating gender conventions of early twentieth century America as she struggled to define her gender identity. In her youth, Cather chopped her hair and dressed like a boy. She also spent time dissecting frogs and called herself “William Cather, M.D." Cather's cross-dressing reveals her unconventional core and her desire to define herself regardless of societal expectations. Cather also had many close relationships with woman, and these close relationships have led many scholars to label her a lesbian. Cather, however, left us a mystery surrounding her gender preference because she never openly called herself a lesbian. Cather's supposed lesbianism is useful because it reveals the ambiguity of her personality. Cather is paradox because she sought for self-definition, but she also suffered from an identity crisis. By using the shifting nature of gender roles in the America during the early decades of the twentieth century and Cather's confused and unconventional life as a backdrop, I would argue that My Ántonia (1918), The Professor's House (1925), and “Neighbor Rosicky (1932)" reveal the consequences of gender roles. Cather's novels and short story should be analyzed for her interest in exploring male reaction to prescribed gender roles which, ultimately, reveals Cather's attitude towards the existence of gender conventions. Cather advocated for a more fluid and balance way of defining male and female roles. Cather's novel My Ántonia and The Professor's House reveal the consequences of gender roles because both Jim and Professor St. Peter are frustrated, fearful, unsatisfied, ambiguous, and unhappy with the roles that they have been playing. In sharp contrast to these two novels is Cather's delightful short story entitled “Neighbor Rosicky." In this short story Cather presents a protagonist who is whole and balanced. “Neighbor Rosicky" is Cather's statement regarding the importance and beauty of self-definition. Ultimately, her literature can be viewed as a rejection of both male and female gender qualities which demonstrates that Cather and her fiction cannot be reduced to an identity agenda.

This essay investigates the character Rhysand from Sarah J. Maas’ popular Young Adult series A Court of Thorns and Roses through a feminist perspective. Maas’ series has gained popularity since the release of the first novel in 2015, yet there has not been much academic analysis of it. Instead, most analyses of the series have taken place online, on social media websites such as TikTok and Twitter. This essay focuses on Rhysand and aims to investigate how his masculinity, as well as power, is constructed, and how these notions work together in the way he treats the main female character, Feyre. The essay demonstrates that Rhysand’s masculinity leans more towards a traditional kind; that there is a link between power, violence, and pleasure for him; and that he actively enjoys utilizing his traditional masculinity and patriarchal power through objectifying Feyre in multiple ways. Lastly, it emphasizes the effect of Feyre’s narration – how it is through her focalization that Rhysand is characterized, and his masculinity, power, and objectification are mediated.