The purpose of this essay is to describe and analyze how three leisure centers in Örebro county are working with gender issues. Our research questions are: What is Machofabriken? How do leisure centers in Örebro county work with equal treatment? In which way do leisure centers in Örebro county work with Machofabriken’s material? How come the recreation centers in Örebro don’t use Machofabriken’s material to any greater extent? We have focused on masculinity oriented gender projects at three leisure centers. We did semi-structured interviews with three recreation leaders who have all been educated in Machofabriken. The interviews were analyzed based on terms that are central in gender equality and masculinity research. The result demonstrates how they work with gender equality, how they use Machofabriken’s material and their thoughts and opinions about the material. / Syftet med denna uppsats är att beskriva och analysera hur tre fritidsgårdar i Örebro kommun arbetar med jämställdhet. Våra frågeställningar är: Vad är Machofabriken? Hur ser jämställdhetsarbetet ut på fritidsgårdar i Örebro kommun? På vilket sätt arbetar fritidsgårdar med Machofabrikens material? Varför används inte Machofabrikens material i någon större utsträckning på fritidsgårdarna i Örebro? Vi har fokuserat på tre fritidsgårdars jämställdhetsarbete, framförallt det riktat mot unga män. Vi har utgått från semistrukturerade intervjuer med tre fritidsledare som alla har gått en utbildning i Machofabriken. Intervjuerna är analyserade utifrån begrepp som är centrala inom jämställdhets- och maskulinitetsforskning. Resultatet visar hur de arbetar med jämställdhet, hur de använder Machofabrikens material och deras tankar och åsikter om materialet.

A qualitative study aimed at examining how business executives get portrayed in economy journalism from a gender perspective. The study aspired to explore possible differences and similarities in the portrayal of male and female executives. We investigated a selection of 12 feature-styled portraits of male and female business executives from swedish financial magazine Di Weekend. By using framing analysis the text was deconstructed and consequently reconstructed into the most salient frames extracted from the analysis. The frames identified were the competitive person, the self-made person, the mentor, the family, the question of competence and the question of equality. Within these frames, we identified several aspects where the journalistic representation differed between male and female subjects. We found that male subjects were portrayed as confident, natural leaders and career-oriented providers for their families. Female subjects were to a greater extent portrayed as doubtful, ideology-driven, maternal caretakers. The importance of competitiveness, as well as the presence of mentors, were found with both genders. However, male subjects were portrayed as equals in regard to their mentors, whereas female subjects as more dependent and inferior to their mentors.

Denna studie är skapad för Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskapliga programmet på Karlstad Universitet. Uppsatsen skriven på B-nivå, det vill säga 7,5 högskolepoäng. Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att undersöka och fylla kunskapsluckan kring hur, ur genus- och feministiskt perspektiv, kvinnokroppen framställs av varumärket H&M på kanalen Instagram. Frågeställningen som skapades utifrån dessa premisser blev därmed “På vilket sätt, ur ett genus- och feministiskt perspektiv, porträtterades kvinnokroppen i bilder på H&Ms Instagram under 2019?”. För att undersöka denna frågeställning valdes metoden kvantitativ innehållsanalys. Denna metod frambringar generaliserbara resultat som går att applicera på samtliga enheter i populationen. Materialet som används för denna studie består av 100 analysenheter i form av Instagraminlägg, tagna från H&Ms Instagram den 11 maj 2020. Dessa 100 analysenheter har erhållits genom slumpmässigt obundet urval, där populationen bestod av samtliga inlägg H&M publicerat, under perioden 2019. Kraven för bilderna var att de innehöll minst en kvinna. I de analysenheter som innehöll flera kvinnor analyserades kvinnan placerad längst till vänster. Genom studien visade resultaten att kvinnor genom flertalet undersökta variabler och applicerade feministiska och genusperspektiv, porträtterade kvinnokroppen som undergiven samt objektifierad. En handfull resultat visade på motsatsen, där resultaten antingen talade för motsatsen eller för en mer neutral porträttering. Slutsatsen drogs att kvinnokroppen i H&Ms Instagram under 2019 porträtteras som undergiven och objektifierad, då övervägande resultat pekade på detta. / This study was written at the Media and Communication Studies program at Karlstad University. The thesis is written at B-level, which constitutes 7,5 HP. The purpose of this study is to explore and fill the scientific knowledge gap surrounding the way the female body is portrayed on H&M’s Instagram from a feminist and gender perspective. The research question originated from these premises and is consequently phrased “In which way, from a feminist and gender perspective, was the female body portrayed on H&Ms Instagram during 2019?”. The method quantitative content analysis was chosen to investigate and examine the question at hand. Using this method will enable the possibility to generalize the results and apply them to all units of the chosen population. The material used in this study consists of 100 units in the form of Instagram posts, extracted May 11th, 2020. All 100 units were obtained through the selection method simple random sample (SRS), in which the population consisted of all H&Ms published posts, without exception, during the period of 2019. The requirements to become an analytical unit, was for the image to portray at least one woman. In the units where several women were portrayed, the woman placed furthest to the left was examined. The study showed, through several variables together with the theoretical framework, that the female body is portrayed as an object and furthermore as submissive. A handful of the results argued against this statement, where the results either showed on the contrary or a neutral position of power. The predominant results showed that H&M’s Instagram, during 2019, are objectifying the female body and putting it in a submissive position.

Synen på vad som utgör den så kallade starka kvinnliga karaktären har varit objekt för förändring, vilket kan synliggöras bland annat via filmmediet. Syftet med studien är att granska och jämföra två tecknade kvinnliga protagonister utifrån ett genusvetenskapligt perspektiv. Metoden för studien utgörs av två genusvetenskapliga modeller som kategoriserar manligt och kvinnligt beteende, samt semiotisk bildanalys. Materialet består av Disneys The Little Mermaid och Studio Ghiblis Kiki’s Delivery Service. Resultatet visade att karaktärerna uppvisar liknande personliga egenskaper, då de båda är vackra, sårbara, aktiva, skyddande och självständiga, men att de trots detta spelar mycket olikartade rolltyper, samt utformats på olika sätt av sina skapare. Slutsatsen är att Kiki förefaller vara den mer feministiska av de två karaktärerna, men att även Ariel med tanke på verkets inomtextuella tidsperiod till viss del kan tolkas som feministisk.

Reformerad pornografi är en receptionsstudie vilken undersöker hur tre stycken självidentifierade kvinnor upplever audiovisuell feministisk pornografi, mot bakgrund av-samt kännedom om heteronormativ mainstreampornografi. Informanterna har i förväg fått tillgång till materialet att betrakta, detta består av feministiska pornografiska kortfilmerna i filmsamlingen Dirty Diaries, för att leda in till ett givande samtal i enskilda semistrukturerade djupintervjuer. Via Laura Mulveys teori om den voyeuristiska blicken analyseras hur dessa kvinnor antog materialet. Med stöd från Petra Östergren, som även diskuterar Rubin Gayle, kommer även slutsatsen som kan låta självklar att yttras. Det vill säga att individuella preferenser styr en del av betraktarens visuella lust. Studien resulterar i att feministisk pornografi förklaras som ett utrymme där den kvinnliga sexualiteten och njutningen tillåts figurera på egna villkor.

This thesis aimed to analyze how men and masculinity were portrayed in The Hunger Games. I intended to investigate the most salient masculine characters. I also wanted to analyse the one-on-one interactions between men as well as their group interactions. I sought to investigate if one could see any power relations between the male characters and if they were traditionally masculine or not in this interaction, and also if this book could be used for discussions in the work with the core values of the Swedish national curriculum. The questions used in the thesis were: ”How are the men portrayed, and how do they act, compared against a traditional masculinity norm?”, ”What happens in the homosocial interaction between the men?”, and ”How do the men treat Katniss, seen from a masculinity perspective?” The theories used in the analysis were found within the field of masculinity studies. Hegemonic masculinity theory was the first one, and the second theory was the theoretical framework of traditional masculinity ideologies by Mahalik et al., specifically the measurement tool of CMNI – Conformity to Masculinity Norm Inventory. The method used to collect the data for the analysis was Close Reading. In the analysis I compared the men to a set of masculinity norms. The measurement tool was the norm inventory of CMNI. The results of the analysis found that at all the men in the study lived in accordance with at least some of the traditional masculinity norms. Out of the four men analysed, three of them had a gender equal relationship with the female lead character. Some men in the book were shown to act based on a patriarchal power structure. It was found that the men who acted in accordance with this structure were conforming more to the traditional masculity norms in their interaction with other men than in their interaction with women.

In this thesis, I do a reparative reading of contemporary Swedish comics, that uses feminine signifiers, both in their imagery and writing. A crucial point of departure, in this thesis, is how literature can ”do” theory and be seen as a way of creating knowledge. I explore what the comics does to me, as a reader, and how. I experiment with the form and style of academic writing in order to clearly define my position and situate the production of knowledge. By focusing on the affects and nourishment, that the comics contain, I try to imagine a feminist other, with the help of my figuration: Nietzsche Minaj, and my imaginary utopian place: ”mitt flick(tionella) rum”. I conclude, that the comics both reproduce and transform feminine signifiers, while challenging the idea of dichotomies, in the spirit of gurlesque theory.

This explorative study focuses on young, university attending males (22-27 years) and their understanding and pratice of the classic tail coat. It is based on five qvalitatively interpreted interwievs with a total of six participants, and through open questions regarding individuality and identicalness, limits and possibilities and inclusion and exclusion, a masculininty of a less contemporary hue takes shape. These conversations have revealed the tail coats potential of respresenting a male stereotype that can set a foundational and minimal standard for inclusion. Above this layer these males can then manifest and negotiate their masculine position in a homosocial hierarchy which decides the amount of passage, privilieges and confirmation of self- worth received for the wearer. These negotiation is performed by value bearing symbols (such as medallions, cordons and the like) allowed by the wearer and by the actions that systematically ensure that the lines of the tail coat are watched and unbroken. This is to preserve the priviliege of being allowed to deconstruct the unit of the tail coat, as this would be an absolute indication of achievement of the correct masculinity and the surrounding of the right spectators. The guarding of the tail coats limits lies within the tendencies of wanting to correct each other with feelings of either irritation or sympathy, a practice that seem rather unreflected by these men themselves. This pratice could be interpreted as a form of ”subjectfying” performed between these men, collectively and systematically (as well as unreflected) ensuring the image of masculinity remains unflawed. The tail coat allows the somewhat questioned homosociality to stay vital by forming a third gender sphere which is separated from the rules of the public (male) sphere and the private (female), but can still transcend and interact with these. In a society that porgressively have condemned the homosocial practice of men choosing and protecting other men in aspects regarding both work and domesticity, the third gender sphere becomes a sanctuary which can allow this structure to continue. However, these young men also experiences a duality, an awareness of the problems involved with gender exclusive contexts which could be a symptom of this homosocial sphere cracking in its surface. However, the overall experience of the tail coat and its connected contexts seems to be understood as fun and easy, neutral and uncomplicated, and the tail coat itself as an form of ”pavlovian conditioning” on the pleasantries connected to it.

The purpose of this essay is to analyse how medial representations in a specific cultural debate expresses thoughts about gender, power and speech. The debate in question took place in Sweden 2010 and was about an inspection of sexual harassments in the Swedish acting area, made by Sveriges Radio, Ekot. This essay examines the made representations of the debate, with a feministic point of view and concludes that a male gaze shapes the form of speech and gives the debate a discourse sort of reasoning about gender. The special discourse formatted in the examined area contains a certain conception of power and the structure of power, which is also explained by the male gaze and the meaning of post-feminism.

On October 15th, 2017, the American actress Alyssa Milan posted a tweet on the Social Media Platform Twitter which soon would have led to major consequences for people across the globe. Milano urged her followers to comment “#metoo” on the post if they had ever been subjected to sexual harassment or abuse – an action of hers which quickly evolved into a widespread campaign in USA as well as in other countries, there among Sweden. With #metoo's great impact, we now have a unique opportunity to explore today's gender equality debate and feminist discourse based on the new type of networking community. Thus, this study aims – with a comparative as well as a charting intention – to further explore the #metoo phenomenon based on media reporting from the largest daily newspaper in Sweden (Dagens Nyheter) and in the USA (USA Today). The main purpose is to investigate how the journalism takes place in relation to contemporary gender discourse and how it differs between these two countries; which in the long run aims to contribute to increased knowledge about the inherent gender equality issues of #metoo and the discursive image of these problems each media has chosen to reproduce to their fellow residents. The method used in the study is sorted under a qualitative content analysis focusing on the interpretation and understanding of contentive meaningful aspects. Results show that articles from USA Today and Dagens Nyheter differ a lot in how they relate to theoretical concepts of performativity, normalization, power, and a broader understanding of gender structures. Correspondingly, large differences can be identified in how the articles relate – or lack to relate – to a further perception of "a male perpetrator" and "a female victim”. This variation is primarily derived from a lack of structural thinking in relation to perceptions about gender at the expense of a more individual- and celebrity- focused journalistic view but could also be partly correlated to an absent lingua franca within the gender discourse of these two countries.