The research investigated how men perceive constructions of masculinity in the talk of male rape. Research on gender relations and masculinities is a growing area of interest. The topic of male rape however, remains underrepresented within this. Male rape draws on discourses of gender, trauma, sex, sexuality and violence. It further offers a controversial topic that participants could engage in to further make sense of the multitude of masculine identities that exist, and how these directly influence responses to gendered phenomena. It is therefore likely to elicit significant constructions of masculinities and hence was used as a vehicle to further add insight into the constructed nature of masculinities. This was achieved through the use of a group of thirteen men who were divided into three focus groups. Each focus group made use of a vignette and a semi-structured interview schedule. Through this method the masculine identities that arose in their talk on male rape were examined. Data were analysed using thematic content analysis in which a social constructionist perspective was applied. It was found that participants strongly adhered to a hegemonic masculine point of reference in discussions. The patriarchal nature of this masculine identity that is subordinating of both women and other masculine identities was consistently used in discussions, thus representing the relatively stable influence of hegemony in gendered relations. Subordinated masculinities emerged more subtly, illustrating a growing acceptance of multiple forms of masculine identities. The results were understood as largely representative of broader society that still elevates the constructed standards of hegemony in conceptualising masculinities. This study thus sheds light on the social constructionist nature evident in society that continually influences the connotations attached to gendered identities within it. The significance in considering the masculine influences in responding to male rape lies in the multiplicity of factors that each involves as these collectively shape society's continued gendered understanding in shaping reality. A topic such as male rape, that directly threatens constructed notions of masculinities, thus allows for a new understanding to emerge in its consideration of the masculine identities that arise in responding to this traumatic experience.

THESIS ABSTRACT In this thesis, I attempt to identify major obstacles that are challenging the implementation of international human rights treaties in Afghanistan. With a focus on the treaties that promote women’s rights and prevent violence against women in a post-conflict situation. There are several obstacles including lack of rule of law and the existence of customary practices in Afghanistan. Despite these challenges, there are national legislations and policies that promote women’s rights and empowerment in Afghanistan. However, for women’s empowerment, it is not sufficient to have supportive laws and policies, but there is need for a systematic transformation of patriarchal structures by conducting a thorough gender analysis and ensuring gender mainstreaming. The Afghan government, as part of its commitment to the international community, has to take measures for removing obstacles and ensuring the implementation of human rights treaties in order to pave the way for women’s empowerment in Afghanistan.

This essay examines how the factors that inspire Tambudzai and Nyasha to counter the patriarchy are portrayed and how these factors contribute to the formation of hybrid identities among the younger generation of women in Nervous Conditions (1988) by Tsitsi Dangarembga. Both characters are faced with different predicaments which makes it necessary to divide the factors in regard to each character. The factors that are connected to Tambudzai are the following: the death of Nhamo, the patriarchal male figures, and the will to obtain an education. Meanwhile, the factors that are connected to Nyasha are the relationship with her patriarchal father, the desire for liberation and gender equality. Postcolonial and feminist criticism are applied. The main focus of the essay is hybridity, or double identity, where the specific term cultural hybridity is used in order to analyze the effect that the struggle against the patriarchy has had on Tambudzai's and Nyasha's emerging hybrid identities. The feminist-psychoanalytic approach is used to analyze the factors that inspire Tambudzai and Nyasha to counter the patriarchy.  The results show that the factors that inspire Tambudzai and Nyasha to counter the patriarchy have been visible and crucial to the formation of their hybrid identities. The struggle that Tambudzai and Nyasha have to face when going against the patriarchal system brings certain predicaments in their lives that affect them and their identity tremendously. One of these predicaments is the realization that patriarchy is universan and, hence, something you cannot escape.

This design project explores the complexity of kroppshets on a sociocultural and individual level. The design research has studied patriarchal and capitalist structures and looked into industries that feed and benefit from women’s body dissatisfaction. It also looks closer at media and its part in maintaining and transmitting the unattainable body ideal created by these structures. Through autoethnographic methods and practise based research this project aims to visualise kroppshets and how it affects women in their everyday life. The project collaborates with a dozen of women that have, through interactive interviews, given a deeper insight of the subjective experience of kroppshets to add to a collective definition. The design research and its finding have resulted in a short film that give a glimpse into what situations kroppshets raise in everyday life and acknowledge women’s struggle to fit within patriarchal beauty standards. Through visualisation the issue is made accessible for a wider audience, raising awareness and making it a catalyst for change that hopefully can result in a more wholesome and sustainable life quality for women.

Rape has historically been constructed as a women’s issue and, as such, research has focused on female survivors of sexual assault. Current research on the topic indicates that the construction of female rape is structured by stereotypical gender roles and patriarchal/misogynistic structures. However, there is very little research on male rape. This exploratory thesis seeks to fill this gap by exploring how the meaning of male rape is constructed on Twitter posts that contain the hashtag “MaleRape”. Two thousand ninety-two tweets were collected. The final sample was comprised of 840 tweets and qualitative content analysis was the method used to code and organize the data. Preliminary analysis suggested that the constructions varied significantly by region; accordingly, the data were sorted into the following four regions: North America; Europe; Africa; and Asia. The analysis, rooted in critical feminism, explores how male rape is constructed in each region. The findings indicate that there is some consistency across regions, especially with respect to the ways in which patriarchal assumptions led to the denial of male rape and the silencing of survivors. However, there were interesting differences in the various regions. This thesis addresses the influence of heteronormative constructions and calls for more consideration of cultural differences when studying sexual violence.

This research is based on fieldwork that was carried out in the post-conflict villages of Adunu and Kom in the Acholi region of northern Uganda. It argues that a woman’s maintained access to customary land within these villages is determined not only by her sex and by provisions within Acholi customary law, but also by her marital and parental status as framed by patriarchal ideologies and power relations. It shows that if women wish to retain and hold on to land that is socially (and sometimes, legally) meant to be ‘theirs’, they must be prepared constantly to bargain and negotiate with either their husband, their husband’s lineage or their own natal clan. They must also conform to gendered norms concerning female behaviour, especially those that pertain to their sexuality and reproductive abilities. It is by adopting such strategies and, often, by making concessions, that they will be able to, in most cases, maintain access to land, particularly if land is in abundance. The thesis also shows that women’s food security is contingent on the gendered relations that they have and maintain with male family members and also on factors that are external, be these climate change or their ability to farm effectively. By looking at the relevance of gender relations in land access and food security, through a gender awareness lens and a feminist ethnography, this thesis provides a nuanced understanding of how women maintain access to customary land and how they can achieve food security, albeit within a male dominated system.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-27T13:48:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 IRAN LIMA ARAGAO FILHO.pdf: 840614 bytes, checksum: e81ad2d156071258fe37efc8574f0185 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-03-15 / Esta pesquisa objetivou compreender o imaginário sobre o lugar da mulher na igreja neopentecostal. Para tanto, partiu-se do levantamento teórico de autores (as) que trabalham com questões de gênero. Vários autores têm assinalado o surgimento de um fenômeno social: a participação da mulher em cargos de liderança nas esferas públicas, contribuindo para uma nova identidade feminina. Esse fenômeno tem se caracterizado por um processo de transformação do papel da mulher na sociedade, exigindo, assim, uma nova redefinição da feminilidade. Considerou-se que esse processo de transformação encontra resistência vinculada a dois fatores: as ideias patriarcais, profundamente enraizadas na cultura, que dificultam a nova construção do imaginário feminino; o gênero e a sua inserção social dos sujeitos como elementos que intervêm nessa transformação. Para verificação dessas hipóteses, realizou-se um estudo baseado em pesquisa bibliográfica e eletrônica (internet), buscando comparar as diferenças entre a igreja que adota e a que não adota a inclusão da mulher no espaço religioso, e também explicitar a ancoragem dessas representações. Os resultados indicaram a existência de um campo comum em que surge uma representação social estruturada em torno da ideia do homem no poder. Indicaram, ainda, a existência de diferenças entre os gêneros. As mulheres não se apropriam de um discurso próprio, porém, não se considera que seja impossível uma mudança. Os homens, na sua socialização imagética, estão ancorados em discursos machistas, tentando diminuir as contradições existentes na inserção da mulher na liderança religiosa ao lado de seu marido. Confirmou-se, então, que há uma aceitação da mulher como líder no espaço da igreja neopentecostal, porém com algumas ressalvas; que as mulheres continuam a avocar-se o direito natural de mãe, cuidadora nos espaços da igreja; e que o imaginário da mulher na liderança carrega as concepções tradicionais cristãs.

The historical survey of social movements in the United States reveals that the movement is a rhetorical ground occupied by groups who have been marginalized by society. Today, however, the distinctions between those who are marginalized and those who are part of the establishment have become difficult to distinguish. This study considers the emergence of Promise Keepers, an all-male social movement, and the rhetorical themes that emerge from the group. This study identifies five rhetorical themes in Promise Keepers. These themes include asserting authority of men in the home and church, the creation of a new male identity, sports and war rhetoric, political rhetoric, and racial reconciliation. The implications of these themes are considered from a critical perspective and areas for future research are provided.

Quel est l'impact du combat pour l’égalité qui tente de s'imposer dans la famille et dans la démocratie ? A-t-on besoin de la hiérarchisation des places ou plutôt de la différenciation des dites places ? Le point de départ sera, en France, l'évolution de l'autorité au sein de la famille, l'apparition de l'autorité parentale qui accompagne le déclin du pater familias. Le questionnement portera sur l'impact de la parentalité dans l'introduction de la fonction paternelle. Il portera également sur le masculin et le féminin. Un parallélisme sera effectué avec la société démocratique et les bouleversements qu'induit cette recherche d'égalité. L'hypothèse est que les changements perceptibles qui s'opèrent actuellement au niveau de la famille et de la société ouvrent vers une pluralité d'avenirs possibles. Aussi, nous interrogerons l’inaltérabilité de la fonction parentale liée au symbolique. La recherche dans le champ de la psychanalyse est ici menée en articulation avec d’autres domaines, en particulier l’anthropologie, le juridique et la sociologie. / What is the impact of the combat for equality which is tending to develop in the family and democracy? Do we need the hierarchisation of the places or rather differentiation of these places? The Starting point will be, in France, the evolutionof the authority within the family, i.e. the advent of parental authority which accompanies the decline of the paterfamilias. This questions the impact of the parenthood on the introduction of the paternal function. It also relates to the masculine and the female one. A parallelism will be carried out at the scale of the democratic society, studying the upheavals which the seek for equality induces. Our assumption is that the perceptible changes, which currently take place at the level of the family and society, open towards a plurality of possible futures. So, we will examine inalterability of the parental function relate to symbolic. The research in the Psychoanalysis field is being carried out in connexion with over regulation fields as anthropology, sociology, law.

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