Men are more likely than women to commit suicide and more reluctant to seek professional help when experiencing any type of mental illness. By interviewing six professionals, working as clinical psychologists or counsellors this study aimed to examine their experiences and attitudes concerning masculinity and mental illness among men. The material was examined through a thematic analysis which resulted in four different themes, each responding to the aim of the study from different angles. All participants strive not to differentiate between clients depending on their sex, yet it is widely held that masculine norms restrain men from seeking help from our current health services. This derives from the notion that traditionally masculine virtues such as stoicism and resilience are not compatible with vulnerability which is commonly associated with mental health services. Thus, there is a widespread attitude that traditional masculine norms should be challenged as a means to support men’s mental health. This study suggests that an excessive challenging approach legitimates the current constitution of mental health services which could restrain health services and other decision-makers responsiveness of men’s preferences and needs. To address the problem of mental illness and high rates of suicide among men, the challenging approach needs to be accompanied with compliance and adjustment after the needs and preferences of men.

Denna uppsats undersöker genusrepresentation inom skejtkulturen, genom att i en fallstudie analysera omslag, bildspråk, språkbruk av Thrasher Magazine. Magasinet är en månatlig utgåva som startades år 1981 i San Francisco och har sedan dess varit mycket prestigefyllt och tongivande inom skejtkulturen. Analysen tar avstamp i socialfeminism där genusfrågor och hegemonisk maskulinitet står centralt, liksom teorier om representation och normkritisk design. Inom ramverket av dessa teorier används metoderna semiotisk analys och diskursanalys för att dissekera och studera materialet och föra angränsande resonemang om hur grafisk design kan utmana och bryta normer. Resultat visar att Thrasher Magazine förkroppsligar en hegemonisk maskulinitet och sociala och subkulturella dimensioner av manlig makt som präglar skejtkulturen. Diskussioner om representation förs och kopplingar till skejtkulturen som helhet dras, vilket i förlängningen kan ge användbara insikter om andra subkulturer och samhället i stort. Till sist diskuteras det hur en i sitt yrke som grafisk designer kan påverka genusrepresentation.

Denna studie syftar till att analysera hur fäders syn på faderskap i relation till hegemonisk maskulinitet och jämställdhet kan påverka föräldraskapet. Den teoretiska utgångspunkten som användes var Connells teori om hegemonisk maskulinitet samt kritiken riktad mot den. Urvalet består av sex fäder där somliga var föräldralediga, några studerade och resterande arbetade. Deras yrkesbakgrunder varierade mellan socialt arbete, data och IT, skolväsendet och hantverkarbranschen. Det empiriska materialet samlades in genom semi-strukturerade intervjuer och analyserades med tematisk analys. Resultaten har visat att traditionell och ny maskulinitetsideologi verkar tävla om inflytande vad gäller hegemonisk status, men även att fäder i jämställdhetens namn både kan upprätthålla och göra avkall på en överordnad position i föräldraskapet. Utifrån resultaten har studien konstaterat att fäders tankesätt kring arbetsfördelning, ansvar och avlastning till viss del leder till att modern blir familjens projektledare och att fadern konstrueras till en andrahandsförälder, likväl som fädernas medvetenhet och engagemang för jämställdhet i föräldraskapet kan motverka denna problematik. Avslutningsvis har studien sammanlänkat fäders resonemang om jämställdhet och maskulinitet i relation till delaktighet och ansvar i faderskapet, vilket synliggjort hur det potentiellt finns samband mellan strukturella och relationella problem på individ- och familjenivå. / This study aims to analyze how fathers' views on fatherhood in relation to hegemonic masculinity and egalitarianism can affect parenthood. The theoretical framework was Connell's theory of hegemonic masculinity and the critique against it. The sample were six fathers whom either worked, studied or were on parental leave. Their professional backgrounds varied between social work, data and IT, school, and craftsmanship. The empirical material was collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed with thematic analysis. The results have shown that traditional and new masculinity ideology seem to compete for influence in terms of hegemonic status, but also that fathers use egalitarianism both to maintain and relinquish a superior position in parenthood. Based on the results, the study has found that father's mind-set about division of labor, responsibility and relief to some extent leads to the mother becoming the family's project manager and that the father is constructed as a second parent, but also that fathers' awareness and commitment to equality in parenthood can counteract this problem. In conclusion, the study linked fathers' reasoning about equality and masculinity in relation to participation and responsibility in paternity, which later showed how it potentially can cause relational problems at the individual and family level.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the rituals and communicative practices that simultaneously create community, out-groups and perceptions of stigma at a local comic book retail organization through autoethnography. As such this piece explores personal identity, comic book culture and how this comic book shop acts as important third place as defined by Oldenburg. Design/methodology/approach: Autoethnography allows for the simultaneous research into self, organizations and culture. As a layered account, this autoethnography uses narrative vignettes to examine a local comic book retail organization from the first person perspective of a collector, a cultural participant and geek insider. Findings: The term geek, once brandished as an insult to stigmatize, is now a sense of personal and cultural pride among members. Various rituals including the “white whale” moment and the specialized argot use help maintain community in the comic book shop creating a third place as categorized by Oldenburg. However, these shared communication practices and shared meanings reinforce the hegemonic masculinity of the store, leading the author to wonder if it can maintain its viability going forward. Originality/value: This autoethnography was performed at a local comic book shop, connecting communicative and ritual practices to organizational culture, hegemonic masculinity, geek culture and personal identity. It also argues that one need not be an embedded organizational insider to perform organizational autoethnography.

Through the lens of hegemonic masculinity in the contemporary game development industry, this paper will present the current state of the LGBTQ+ representation in major Japanese fighting games that were released from 2010 to 2021. By performing a quantitative data analysis of the characters from the games, where each character is coded for their gender and sexuality, the frequency of representation can be determined over the period of time and across games which can indicate the state of LGBTQ+ representation in these games.  Not much research has been conducted in the field of gender studies and representation when specifically focusing on fighting games. It is also a genre that has the reputation of not having good representation and inclusion in the games, but also within the community. It is a genre where the characters are front and center and play a primary part in the appeal of the game, so having good representation should be a requirement. Many players will want to be able to identify and connect with the characters they play but for many this is not a possibility due to the lack of diversity. The results show that there may be a slight increase in the representation over time, but the numbers are still surprisingly low. This shows us the importance of needing to bring more attention to this topic as it is a critical issue that is present within this game genre but also within the gaming industry as a whole.

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 term incel refers mostly to white heterosexual men who live in involuntary celibate.Sweden is estimated to have one of the most frequent number of incels per capita in the world which has led the Swedish government to raise the anti-terror preparedness, as incels are considered a security risk. The aim of this study is to, with help of gender and exclusion theories, develop a deeper understanding of what this type of exclusion may result in and how new types of groups are created out of societal exclusion. To answer this, a discourse analysis of two threads on the Swedish forum Flashback was made and the chosen threads were designed so incels themselves could discuss their opinions and experiences. Previous research shows that societal exclusion results in health problems, hatred and distancing from women, which motivates the need for this study. The results showed that incels maintain bad boys as the hegemonic masculinity through legitimizing it themselves and that incels can be seen as a separate type of masculinity. Incel, as masculinity, is based and dependent on men experiencing exclusion from society and the sexual market. In order to be included in the community and be allowed to call oneself an incel, the individual must be recognized by an already legitimate incel. If the individual does not meet the criteria for being an incel, he is quickly rejected and discredited by the incel community. / Begreppet incel syftar till största del på vita heterosexuella män som lever i ofrivilligt celibat. Sverige uppskattas vara ett utav det inceltätaste länderna i världen, och den svenska staten har höjt den nationella anti terrorberedskapen då incels anses vara en säkerhetsrisk. Studiens syfte är att med hjälp av genus- och exkluderingsteorier skapa en djupare förståelse för vad denna typ av utanförskap kan leda till och hur nya grupper skapas ur samhällelig exkludering. För att besvara detta utfördes en diskursanalys över två trådar i det svenska forumet Flashback där de utvalda trådarna var formade efter att incels själva kunde diskutera sina upplevelser och åsikter. Tidigare forskning har påvisat hur detta utanförskap leder till hälsoproblem, hat och distansering från kvinnor vilket motiverar till varför studien har genomförts. Resultatet visade att incels upprätthåller den hegemoniska maskuliniteten genom att själva legitimera den samt att incels kan ses som en egen typ av maskulinitet. Incel som maskulinitet bygger på och är beroende av att männen upplever en exkludering från samhället och den sexuella marknaden. För att få vara med i gemenskapen och få kalla sig som incel måste individen bli erkänd av en redan legitimerad incel, om individen inte når upp till kriterierna för att vara incel blir den snabbt avvisad och misskrediterad av incels som gemenskap.

Hip-hop as a cultural phenomenon has gradually taken on a position as one of the post popular music genres in recent history. A form of music that still strongly relies on its roots as an artform for black males. Which has generated an excluding culture that enhances the dominating norm of masculinity. In regard to Sweden’s case of being an egalitarian country and even so having a hip-hop scene that reflects a different type of discourse in accordance with the dominating masculine norm. This generates an interest in how Swedish hip-hop artists (both female and male) construct gender from 2001 to 2021 which this thesis seeks to contribute to understand. Through critical discourse analysis which aims to facilitate the understanding of song lyrics through a three-step analysis of text, discursive practice, and social practice. Through six albums from 2001, 2011 and 2021 the interpretation and analysis came to an understanding that norms and structural circumstances seeks to exclude women and enhance a continued masculine music industry. With variations in the order of discourse with an underlying will of empowerment and autonomy.

The purpose of this study is to examine how female soldiers view their role as soldiers and what they perceive as good soldier qualities to see if it differentiates from the traditional view of what a soldier perceived as. The study will also deal with the female soldier’s perception of equality within the Swedish military. To gather empirical material the study has uses a qualitative method consisting of five semi structured interviews with the female soldiers. All respondents work in the same group as medic soldiers and are at the start of their soldier career. The theories that have been used to analyse the material gathered from the respondents are of hegemonic masculinity and critical vs gender neutral approach. Within hegemonic masculinity different archetypes exist in a hierarchy, for this study the archetypes have been stripped down to the warrior hero to fit the framework of the military organisation. The warrior hero will be used to analyse the respondents view of themselves as soldiers and the qualities that should be expected of a soldier. Critical vs gender neutral theory will be used to examen the responder’s relation to the organisation.The result for the study is that the view of the female soldiers differed in some aspects from the traditional view of the warrior hero. The respondents also had a joint view of the Swedish military as gender neutral.