The purpose of this thesis is to explore how gender norms are represented and depicted in the commercial sphere of fashion, affecting primarily females. The thesis will highlight the voices of several young females of today and their perception of how it is to be influenced and exposed to gender norms in regards to fashion. This thesis theoretical chapters consists of theories in gender norms, norm-critical design, fashion magazines, editorial design, fashion photography, norm-critical photography and intersectional feminism. Furthermore, the method used for this paper are interviews, a total of 17 people were interviewed, whereas five of them are currently working in either the commercial fashion industry or as creatives on a global level. The interviews occurred online, through both emailing and Instagram. This thesis concludes that several aspects, primarily based on the male gaze negatively influence gender norms in the commercial sphere of fashion. However, it is also concluded that there are several change agents, working towards breaking these toxic influences. The thesis is also part of a design project, which final outcome is exhibited at the exhibition Windows Of Opportunity. An online exhibition hosted by the program Design + Change and Visual Communication + Change, at the Linnaeus University in Sweden. https://2020.designportfoliolnu.se/studentwork/rewrite/

This paper explores the workshop as a tool to raise awareness about unconscious gender bias in AI voice assistants. To answer the research question of how tools can develop a norm-critical understanding of gender biases and stereotypes in AI voice assistants, a workshop was conducted. The workshop was executed with Computer Science students focusing on their perception towards voice assistants, different gendered voices, including a genderless voice, and the connection between biases and stereotypes within norms created by society. The results showed that the characteristics that students associated with female and male voices reflect earlier studies and are consistent with societal gender standards. Despite having people from many cultural origins, this demonstrates how deeply the common concept of gender norms are rooted. Participants were forced to confront their own underlying prejudiced thinking by pushing them to play extreme stereotypes, ask critical questions, and participate in a collaborative conversation. During the conversation, the students began to consider the origins of gender norms in society. After hearing a female, male, and genderless voice, all of the participants favored the female one, indicating that the genderless voice still need tweaking and improvement to meet market demands. Essentially, using a norm critical approach, the workshop forced unconscious biases to become conscious, spoken about, and collaboratively discussed. The students left the workshop feeling more aware and resolved to reflect on their unconscious gender thinking, according to the results of the reflective survey.

Denna studie grundar sig i sex förskollärares upplevelser kring jämställdhet och genus i förskolan. Studiens syfte är att undersöka hur förskollärare arbetar kring normer om kön. Målsättningen är att jämföra och få förståelse för hur förskollärare och förskolor arbetar för att alla barn ska få samma möjligheter, oavsett kön Vi har använt oss av semistrukturerade intervjuer tillsammans med tre förskollärare på en mindre ort och tre förskollärare på en större ort, båda i södra Sverige. Resultatet har analyserats utifrån tre strategier om genusarbete i förskolan; könsneutral pedagogik, kompensatorisk pedagogik och komplicerande genuspedagogik. Resultatet visar att förskollärare idag inte använder sig av enbart en strategi i arbetet med genus och normkritik. Olika strategier används i olika situationer. Den könsneutrala pedagogiken används främst i frågor om den pedagogiska miljön. Den kompensatoriska pedagogiken används främst i syfte att utmana barnen. Resultatet visar att förskollärares tankar och arbetssätt främst går i linje med den komplicerande genuspedagogiken. De menar att barnet ska ses som en individ och att mindre fokus ska ligga på om barnet är en pojke eller flicka.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur lärare i ämnet samhällskunskap förhåller sig till normkritisk pedagogik, samt hur de uppfattar att deras förhållningssätt präglar den samhällskunskapsundervisning som sker. Syftet är också att undersöka vilka faktorer som påverkar lärarnas förhållningssätt till normkritisk pedagogik. Normkritisk pedagogik handlar om att visa sätten som olika normer interagerar och skapar obalanser i makt samt om hur dessa normer kan utmanas inom undervisningssammanhang (Bromseth & Darj, 2010, s. 13). Samhällskunskapslärare som undervisar i årskurs 7-9 har besvarat en kvalitativ enkät om deras förhållningssätt till normkritisk pedagogik. Samhällskunskapslärarnas svar har analyserats utifrån flera bakgrundsfaktorer för att undersöka eventuella variationer i deras förhållningssätt utifrån deras bakgrund. Dessa bakgrundsfaktorer var ålder, kön, yrkeserfarenhet, behörighet och ämneskombination.  Samhällskunskapslärarna har till stor del positiva uppfattningar av begreppen normkritik och normkritisk pedagogik, vilket medför att majoriteten av samhällskunskapslärarna arbetar med normkritisk pedagogik i hög utsträckning eller i mycket hög utsträckning. Studien visar även en viss relation mellan ålder och kön som bakgrundsfaktorer för i vilken utsträckning som samhällskunskapslärarna arbetar med normkritisk pedagogik. Ett resultat var dessutom att de studerade samhällskunskapslärarna anser att deras personliga bakgrund har påverkat deras förhållningssätt till normkritisk pedagogik i högre utsträckning än styrdokumenten. Faktorer som samhällskunskapslärarna själva menar har påverkat deras förhållningssätt är deras personliga bakgrund, didaktiska reflektioner, samhället och eleverna. Samhällskunskapslärarna nämner emellertid inte styrdokumenten som en viktig påverkansfaktor. Majoriteten av samhällskunskapslärarna menar dessutom att deras förhållningssätt till normkritisk pedagogik påverkar deras samhällskunskapsundervisning. Studien indikerar även en viss relation mellan kön som bakgrundsfaktor och i vilken utsträckning som samhällskunskapslärarna menar att deras förhållningssätt till normkritisk pedagogik påverkar deras samhällskunskapsundervisning. Flera samhällskunskapslärare betonar emellertid att andra faktorer än deras förhållningssätt påverkar deras val av ämnesinnehåll och undervisningsmetoder. Dessa faktorer är styrdokumentens centrala innehåll och/eller den aktuella elevgruppen.  Studien visar även att det är möjligt att styrdokumenten, lagar och institutioner kan påverka samhällskunskapslärares förhållningssätt till normkritisk pedagogik utan deras medvetenhet. Studien visar emellertid även att majoriteten av samhällskunskapslärarna menar att deras personliga bakgrund påverkar deras förhållningssätt, vilket i sin tur påverkar den konkreta samhällskunskapsundervisningen. Styrdokumenten, diskrimineringslagen och Skolverket som institution fungerar därmed som ramar som påverkar och reglerar samhällskunskapslärares förhållningssätt till normkritisk pedagogik och deras samhällskunskapsundervisning. / The purpose of this essay is to investigate how teachers in the subject of social studies approach norm-critical pedagogy, and how they perceive that their approach characterizes the social studies teaching that takes place. The purpose is also to investigate which factors influence the teachers’ approach to norm-critical pedagogy. Norm-critical pedagogy is about showing the ways in which different norms interact and create imbalances in power and about how these norms can be challenged in teaching contexts (Bromseth & Darj, 2010, p. 13). Social studies teachers who teach 7-9 graders have answered a qualitative questionnaire about their approach to norm-critical pedagogy. The social studies teachers’ answers have been analyzed on the basis of several background factors in order to investigate possible variations in their approach based on their background. These background factors were age, gender, professional experience, eligibility and subject combination.  The social studies teachers have to a large extent positive perceptions of the concepts of norm criticism and norm-critical pedagogy, which causes the majority of the social studies teachers to work with norm-critical pedagogy to a high extent or to a very high extent. The study also shows a certain relationship between age and gender as background factors for the extent to which the social studies teachers work with norm-critical pedagogy. A result was also that the social studies teachers believe that their personal background have influenced their approach to norm-critical pedagogy to a greater extent than the steering documents. Factors that the social studies teachers themselves believe have influenced their approach are their personal background, didactic reflections, the society and the students. However, the social studies teachers do not mention the steering documents as an important factor. The majority of the social studies teachers also believe that their approach to norm-critical pedagogy affects their social studies teaching. The study also indicated a certain relationship between gender as a background factor and the extent to which the social studies teachers believe that their approach to norm-critical pedagogy affects their social studies teaching. However, several social studies teachers emphasize that other factors than their approach influence their choice of subject content and teaching methods. These factors are the central content of the steering documents and/or the students.  The study also shows that it is possible that the steering documents, laws and institutions can influence social studies teachers’ attitudes to norm-critical pedagogy without their awareness. However, the study also shows that the majority of the social studies teachers believe that their personal background influences their approach, which in turn affects their social studies teaching. The steering documents, the Discrimination Act and the Swedish National Agency for Education as an institution thus function as frameworks that influence and regulate social studies teachers’ approach to norm-critical pedagogy and their social studies teaching.

Wendt, I. Good intention but insufficient knowledge. A qualitative interview study on social workers experiences of meeting young transgender people. Degree project in social work 15 högskolepoäng. Malmö University: Faculty of Health and Society, Department of (name of department), Year.The well-being of transgender youth is worse compared with cisgender youth. Transgender youth are exposed to threats, violence and discrimination. This population partly or fully avoid seeking help and support from social services even when needed. Social workers should provide fair treatment, though there is a lack of knowledge concerning transgender youth and the needs and issues specific to transgender youth. This study aims to research the experience of meeting transgender youth from the perspective of social workers, and how they reckon they’ve been prepared to meet this particular population in their academic education but also at their workplace. This study has a qualitative approach and interviews were conducted with four social workers to collect empirical data. The analysis resulted in five main themes: the possessed knowledge pre-study, ideas and prejudices, difference in transgender youth exposure, professional approach and treatment, lack of education and norm-critical work and language. The result of the study indicates acts of courtesy yet lack of knowledge. There was a presence of prejudices and preconceptions regarding what transgender people are and what it means to live as a transgender youth. The academic education of social workers appear lacking in content regarding gender, sexuality, and identity which are important aspects for understanding the experience of transgender youth as well as the inclusion of transgender youth. Societal norms and structures were perceived to have influenced the apprehension of transgender youth, the societal work and the academic education of social workers. The academic education of social workers lacks in knowledge regarding transgender youth. There is a great need for scientific studies regarding transgender youth to successfully develop the societal work and guarantee a fair treatment.

In Sweden, the language of norm critique has gained increasing influence over the past ten years in connection with queer theoretical thinking and norm critical pedagogy becoming part of gender equality work and equality work in the (pre)school system. In this essay I examine, through interviews, how people who use norm-critical language view the normativity in the Swedish language with the main purpose of seeing if it works and how it is achieved. The essay also examines how norm-critical language users try to change the language to become more inclusive and how all this can be understood from the perspective of Butler’s performativity theory and ideas about power and normativity. The results of the survey show that norm-critical language works and contributes to the goal; a world where everyone gets a place and recognition in both language and physical space. We can see how children become subjects and are included in norm-critical language and how the binary perception of gender is set in motion, which leads to greater scope for action and inclusion. Furthermore, it is stated that there is a danger in the goal’s new normativity which leads to the conclusion that norm-critical language is and has to be a constant process and under constant reflection. As it is a small study and a large topic, I urge further research on norm-critical language.

The main purpose of this essay was to interview students to get an idea of what their views of images with women in their history textbook is and how the representation, or the lack of, can affect their historical consciousness and historical identity. In order to find out this information, an unstructured interview in form of a focus group, with four students in high school, was used as well as an own review of their textbook to give a picture of the students’ perspective. The main theoretical starting point was based on gender theory with a focus on the distinction between the sexes which was used to help illuminate how the book differentiates between the sexes in terms of representation. Two theories, historical consciousness and historical identity, were also used to highlight how students are actually affected by the potentially unequal gender representation in images in their textbooks. What this essay shows is that there is a very skewed representation with a majority of men in the pictures in the book and when it is a woman she is in a position of less significance of a man. This is something the students are not happy with in general and it shows that they want a better representation in the pictures in their textbook. This has to some extent also affected their view of their historical identity as well as the students’ view of the past, present and future from a historical perspective.

Syftet med uppsatsen är att synliggöra och granska de tre religionerna judendom, kristendom och islam i fyra stycken läroböcker riktade mot årskurs 1-3 med ett normkritiskt perspektiv. Eftersom religionskunskap inte är ett enskilt ämne i de lägre årskurserna, utan är en del av de samhällsorienterade ämnena är det fyra stycken SO-läroböcker som utgör studiens material. I studien används två metoder för att få fram data för att kunna besvara forskningsfrågorna. Metoderna som används är innehållsanalys och diskursanalys, för att undersökningen skall beröra fler dimensioner av läroböckernas innehåll. I innehållsanalysen används en frekvenstabell för att granska samt få fram kvantitativ data. De fyra läroböckernas innehåll granskades utifrån fyra kategorier som konstruerats innan. Det gjordes även noteringar över vilka namn som nämns, samt hur ofta deras frekvens. Efter genomförd innehållsanalys genomfördes diskursanalysen, med utgångspunkt i de fyra kategorierna samt namnen som nämndes. Studiens resultat visar att kristendomen tenderar att placeras i framgrunden, och att framför allt judendomen ofta hamnar i dess skugga. Islam tenderar att ges mer utrymme än de andra i vissa sammanhang, men beskrivningarna av religionen består ofta av upprepningar och detaljbeskrivningar. Det förekommer även en tendens bland läroböckerna där de judiska och muslimska fenomenens beskrivningar skiljer sig ganska mycket åt från beskrivningarna av de kristna fenomenen. I somliga textavsnitt kan det tolkas som att det kristna utgör normen och det normala, medan de judiska och muslimska motsvarigheterna är annorlunda och obekant för läsaren. Samtidigt kan det även uppfattas som att författarna försöker skapa goda förutsättningarna för att eleverna ska erhålla kunskaper om samtliga religioner, på ett så likvärdigt sätt som möjligt. Det kan man exempelvis anta eftersom de försöker presentera religionerna med liknande rubriker. Det förekommer dock ordval och medvetna val inom samtliga läroböcker som riskerar att spä på normer som inte gynnar ett mångkulturellt och mångreligiöst samhälle.Slutsatsen visar att brister finns inbäddade i samtliga läroböcker, men att bristerna är olika och därmed bör kompletteras på olika sätt. Beskrivningarna av de tre religionerna är inte helt likvärdiga i alla avseenden, men samtidigt betonas kristendomen i en större utsträckning än islam och judendom i kursplanen för religionskunskap. Det är endast berättelser ut Bibeln som står med i det centrala innehållet. Det betyder dock inte att vissa religioner ska stereotypiseras mer än andra, eller generaliseras ned till statiska fenomen. Det är i slutändan väldigt viktigt att tolkningsvariationen som existerar inom samtliga religioner skildras och visas i undervisningen, såväl inom kristendom som inom islam och judendom. Det är dock ingenting som nämns i alla läroböcker, utan ansvaret att ta upp det faller på den enskilde undervisande läraren / The aim of the study was to review how the three religions Judaism, Christianity and Islam are described and portrayed in four textbooks aimed at grades 1-3. Since religious knowledge is not a separate subject in the lower grades, but is part of the socially oriented subjects, there are four SO textbooks that make up the study's material. In the study, two methods are used to obtain data in order to be able to answer the research questions. The methods used are content analysis and discourse analysis, so that the study will cover more dimensions of the textbooks' content. In the content analysis, a frequency table is used to review and obtain quantitative data. The content of the four textbooks was reviewed based on four categories constructed beforehand. Notes were also made on which names are mentioned, as well as how often they occurred. After the content analysis, the discourse analysis was carried out, starting from the four categories and the names that were mentioned.The study's results show that Christianity tends to be placed in the foreground, and that Judaism often ends up in its shadow. Islam tends to be given more space than the others in certain contexts, but the descriptions of the religion often consist of repetitions and detailed descriptions. There is also a tendency among the textbooks where the descriptions of the Jewish and Muslim phenomena differ quite a lot from the descriptions of the Christian phenomena. In some sections of the text, it can be interpreted as the Christian being the norm and the normal, while the Jewish and Muslim counterparts are different and unfamiliar to the reader. At the same time, it can also be perceived as the authors trying to create good conditions for the students to acquire knowledge about all religions, in as equal a way as possible. This can be assumed, for example, because they try to present the religions with similar headings. There are, however, word choices and conscious choices within all textbooks that risk setting standards that do not favor a multicultural and multi-religious society.The conclusion shows that deficiencies are embedded in all textbooks, but that the deficiencies are different and thus should be supplemented in different ways. The descriptions of the three religions are not completely equivalent in all respects, but at the same time Christianity is emphasized to a greater extent than Islam and Judaism in the curriculum for religious studies. Only stories from the Bible are included in the central content. However, this does not mean that certain religions should be stereotyped more than others or generalized down to static phenomena. It is ultimately very important that the variation in interpretation that exists within all religions is depicted and shown in teaching, both within Christianity and within Islam and Judaism. However, it is not something that is mentioned in all textbooks, but the responsibility to address it falls on the individual teaching teacher.

This thesis is aimed at investigating virtual embodiment and how it can affect a performer's experience of; and relationship to the physical body. With this auto ethnographic case study I hope to shed some light on the  ways virtual reality technology enables critical experiences and what effects these experiences could have, through my own personal journey. The study was conducted in the setting of  my home using a Pico 4 VR head mounted display and HTC vive full body tracking. The project used for the case study was an audiovisual pole dance performance that was performed on the platform Neos VR and streamed to Studio 44 in Stockholm. The research is rooted in the artistic field but draws knowledge from psychological and social research on VR as a cognitive and embodied technology. The research methods used to gather and analyse the research material were visual research, phenomenology and deep listening. The data collection consisted of visual and text based data. On the visual data I applied thematic analysis, coding and categorising of the text based data and analysing hyper reflections with a phenomenological approach. I found that the experience of virtual embodiment did change my relationship to my own body in a positive way by feeling more grounded and accepting. I was less anxious about performing and felt more confident in myself. Because of the entanglement of the study it was not possible to solely contribute the outcomes of the effect to virtual avatar embodiment in itself. It did however demonstrate how these VR technologies could be used to enable norm critical experiences by the use of norm critical design applied to avatars challenging beauty ideals and societal norms of performativity. My virtual embodiment and its effects on me can give a unique insight that would benefit developers and users active in these platforms as well as for personal introspection and self development. The study serves as a good base to build future research on and I intend to further elaborate on the extensive research data that was gathered.

The purpose of the study was to examine preschool teacher's perceptions in their speech when talking about stereotypes and norm critical literature in read alouds. The theory used in this study was discourse analysis, which here also uses some concepts from the discourse theory by Laclau and Mouffe. Some of these concepts were contextualization, sign and equivalence chain. The speech was later catagorized and analyzed. This study used interviews to gather information, where six preschool teachers from three different preschools were interviewed. The information resulted in a pattern where four categories were presented. These categories were called the corrective, the articulating, the debating and the representing preschool teacher. The analysis resulted in an understanding of a discourse, which used a speech that correlates to preschool teachers understanding of preschool policy documents, the norm critical perspective and their profession. / Studien syftar till att synliggöra förskollärares föreställningar kring högläsningav normkritisk litteratur och normbekräftande litteratur. Undersökningen haren diskursanalytisk ansats, vilket här uppfattas som ett synliggörande av det talsom kan kopplas till situation och sammanhang. Som stöd i analysen användsbegrepp som kontextualisering, subjektspositioner, tecken ochekvivalenskedja. Begreppen används som ett tillvägagångssätt för attundersöka talet och hur det används utifrån kontexten.Studien använder intervjuer som metod, där sex förskollärare från tre olikaförskolor intervjuades. Det resulterade i ett belysande av enförskollärardiskurs, vilket i denna text kategoriseras som: den korrigerande-,en artikulerande-, den diskuterande- och den representerande förskolläraren.Analysen resulterade i ett synliggörande av olika diskurser som förhåller signära till förskolans styrdokument och förskollärarens uppfattning av ettnormkritiskt förhållningsätt