Thesis advisor: Eve Spangler / This work explores how Israel uses LGBTQ issues as a rhetorical device (pinkwashing) in its self-presentation and examines how American college students perceive the claim that Israel is a ‘gay haven.’ Understanding the Israel/Palestine conflict from a human rights approach, I deconstruct the racial and gendered implications of the pinkwashing campaign by analyzing literature about homonationalism, pinkwashing, and queer activism. Interviews with fifteen student leaders from Zionist, pro-Palestinian, Jewish, Muslim, and LGBTQ organizations reveal how students engage with LGBTQ issues and the Conflict, as well as the institutional, cultural, and interactional factors that influence how organizations program. Interview analysis demonstrates that when pinkwashing occurs, some students use media, protests, and conversations to provide an alternative discourse. In conclusion, the findings demonstrate that pinkwashing does happen on college campuses, and anti-pinkwashing activism occurs most often in the form of queer anti-Occupation organizing. Anti-Occupation activism necessitates an intersectional approach if it is to gain human rights for all Palestinians. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors. / Discipline: Sociology.

Attityden till HBTQI-personer blir allt mer positiv i samhället och studier visar att Sverige är ett av de länder i världen som har bäst attityder gentemot homosexuella. Samtidigt blir också marknadsföring ett allt mer självklart inslag i vår vardag, något som gör det viktigt för företag att sticka ut i det redan övermättade medielandskapet. Ett sätt för företag att synas kan vara att utforma marknadsföring som utmanar heteronormen, men frågan är till vilket pris? Genom en tematisk analys av kvalitativa samtalsintervjuer kan denna studie påvisa att om företag framställer HBTQI-personer i sin marknadsföring på ett oetiskt sätt så kan den istället bidra med negativa konsekvenser för företaget. Vidare visar resultatet att dagens konsumenter är allt mer kritiska till syftet bakom företags marknadsföring och kan uppfatta HBTQI-inkluderande marknadsföring som ett försök till att utnyttja HBTQI-personer för egen ekonomisk vinning, så kallat pinkwashing. Studien visar även att marknadsföring har makten att påverka samhällsutvecklingen vilket ger företag ett stort ansvar när det kommer till hur de framställer HBTQI-personer. Om marknadsföringen utformas på ett sätt som är etiskt genomtänkt så har den potential att gynna både företaget och samhället i stort. / Attitudes in today's society towards LGBTQI people are becoming increasingly more positive and studies show that in no place is this more apparent than in Sweden. At the same time, marketing has infiltrated our everyday lives, making it important for companies to stand out in the saturated media landscape. One way for companies to differentiate themselves from competitors is to use marketing that challenges the hetero norm. The question is - at what price? Through thematic analysis of qualitative interviews this study aims to show whether the portrayal of LGBTQI people in marketing has the potential to reap negative consequences for a company, particularly when executed in an unethical manner. The results indicate that today's consumer is increasingly more critical. They are attune to the purpose behind corporate marketing and can, therefore, perceive LGBTQI inclusive marketing as an attempt to exploit and leverage LGBTQI people for financial gain, so-called pinkwashing. The study also shows that marketing has the power to effect societal development. This is of crucial importance when considering how companies portray the LGBTQI community. If companies act responsibly and ethically, marketing has the potential to benefit both the company and society at large.

Each day we’re exposed to advertisement with various commercial messages. It therefore becomes important for companies to stand out from the crowd in order to catch consumers’ attention. In line with the success of feminism, many companies have chosen to engage in the issue of equality and women’s rights. The aim of this study has been to investigate how feminism as a brand strategy is expressed and used. The razor company Estrid has been studied to exemplify how semiotic resources on social media can be used to produce feminist signs as well as how they can be used as a tool for the company’s brand. Gender and feminist theories have been used to answer the study’s purpose. Stereotypes and concepts such as Pinkwashing, Corporate Social Responsibility and Femvertising have also been used as a support in the analysis. The method, semiotic analysis, helped us to analyse Estrid’s Instagram posts and YouTube clips to find out what symbols, characters and expressions of stereotype- breaking material and feminism there are. The result that emerged from the analysis showed that Estrid communicated against stereotypes and used feminism as a brand strategy by expressing feminist values. The results also showed that it’s difficult for companies to appear as genuinely feministic because of the commercial interest and that it requires more than just communicating against stereotypes.

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