ABSTRACT Title: Violence and women representation in video games (Vålds‐ och kvinnoskildringar i TV‐spel) Number of pages: 42 Author: Karolin Bodling Tutor: Göran Svensson Course: Media and Communication Studies D Period: Autumn 2005 University: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Science, Uppsala University. Purpose/Aim: The aim is to investigate how violence and women are presented in video games and in game reviews. Material/Method: The study includes theories that consider violence and gender in media and video games. The material of the essay exists of two games and five reviews. The method that is being used is a content analysis. The games that are being analysed are Jade Empire and Grand Theft Auto – San Andreas. Main results: The video games are often connected to brutal violence but the analysis of the game Jade Empire shows that it is possible to hve control of the violence in the games and that the player has a possibility to choose the outcome of violence. In comparence to Jade Empire, Grand Theft Auto – San Andreas shows brutal violence as entertainment. The games that have been analysed shows women as stereotyped objects. The development of women in games has been going forward but the question is wheter it´s going forward in the right way; from an innocent princess to a sex object. There is a big difference between how the violence and women are being showed in the games and how they are described in the rviews, the reviewer is often neutral in his or hers judgement of the violence and the female characters in the games. Keywords: video games, gender, violence, media, gender roles

Women’s sexual victimization is perceived as a one sided problem that emphasizes women’s choices and neglect men’s accountability. Rape myths support an explanation of rape that allows women to remain fearful of sexual victimization. This thesis questions whether contemporary websites regarding women’s safety reinforce rape myths. Components of rape myths include the idea that women’s safety is her responsibility alone, echo traditional gender role expectations, perpetuate dependence on others and security products, and suggest that women’s fear of victimization is normal. A content analysis of thirteen websites regarding women’s safety is the subject of this study. Findings suggest that websites regarding women’s safety are perpetuating components of rape myths through safety suggestions. Key / UOIT

The purpose of this paper is to determine the degree of uniformity in the narrative roles that male and female characters carry out in the relationships in El adulterio como vocacion y otros cuentos (2012), a collection of six short stories written by the Spanish author and journalist Juan José Millás. The analysis is based on the theory of narrative roles, developed by the French literary scholar Claude Bremond in Logique du récit (1973). The analysis concludes that even though some recurrences can be discerned, the two sexes do not have fixed roles throughout the stories. In the first three stories the women tend to be degraders and beneficiaries, while the men shoulder the role of a victim. In the last two stories of the book this situation is reversed. The fourth story differs somewhat from the rest, since both man and woman are mainly beneficiaries.

My study was conducted to provide a deeper understanding of the identity of employee soldiers in the armed forces and their experience of their role in the military context. To describe and identify the soldier's identity formation, values and norms working in group processes are taken into account. As the individual identifies her or himself whit the group, the various phenomena as hostility to other military groups arise. The individuals weld together with other group members to form strong normative relationships within the group. Through a qualitative research approach eight soldiers in a regiment in western Sweden were interviewed, four of them were group executives or deputy group leaders and others were ordinary soldiers. The interviews were interpreted based on the symbolic interactionistic theory; Mead and Goffman. The results of this study indicate that soldiers are working largely based on non-monetary reasons and that varied tasks, the salary and career are do not primarily matters. The team spirit is strong, contrary to the perceived problems of the military organization. Despite a lot of commuting to and from their daily lives, the soldiers see their job as very important and stimulating. The respondents appear to such a great extent be shaped by their work situation that this noticeably affects them in their civilian identity work.

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The focus of this thesis is to explore the composition of the Skunk works’ innovation team, which directly influences team performance. Such research is important in order to understand how the Skunk works team deals with innovation. Specifically, how the team’s size, diversity and the roles of team members can influence its performance and have an effect on its success. During the time when we were looking for the definition of Skunk works we mostly found that it is a small group of highly qualified and skilled people in different fields. However, we did not find so many theories about the composition of Skunk works teams. This was due to the high level of secrecy in this field, because Skunk works was originally used only for military purposes. To have a more clear view, we decided to use theories from different research fields, such as research about Skunk works itself, and about team and team composition. We found that it is quite easy to find literature about the role of the leader as a member of the innovation team, who can also be known as the “champion”. However, on another hand we found that it is quite difficult to find information about the whole team, specifically about roles in the team. We believe that, even though the leader has a key role, a well-balanced combination of roles should be also taken into consideration in such teams. The research method deployed in this thesis is multiple-case study, where we have used three cases which are operating in different companies and industries, such as entertainment, scientific research and industrial manufacturing, as well in different geographical positions, such as Sweden and Spain. We have collected data via interviews and secondary data, where we interviewed a representative of these three companies via personal interviews and by e-mail. The findings from this thesis provide evidence that the team composition elements, such as roles in the team, as well its size and diversity can influence on further efficiency of the team. During our research we found that all three companies, especially teams in those companies, could be good examples of Skunk works. Moreover, during the research we found that our findings can be in line with existing studies, that it is unnecessary that the project should be in total secret or fully mandated and that there are a lot of other types of Skunk works teams as well. Also during the research we confirmed with other present studies required characteristics for the “champion” and for other team members. Another finding was about the optimal number of team members in a Skunk works team. The main conclusions drawn from this thesis are that firstly, the composition of a Skunk works team can influence the further team productivity and success of the project. Secondly, that the optimal size of team should not exceed ten people. Thirdly, we can conclude that properly chosen roles as well as characteristics of team members can have an influence on the further success of an innovation project. / Antonio Estevez Luna

Phosphotriesterase (PTE) is a zinc metalloenzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of organophosphorus compounds. Metal ion roles during binding and catalysis are probed by comparing the kinetic properties of Zn/Zn, Cd/Cd, and Zn/Cd PTE with a variety of phosphate trisesters. The metal in the α-site of the binuclear metal center modulates the pKa values determined from pH-rate profiles. These results suggest that the α-metal is responsible for activating the nucleophilic hydroxide. In an effort to determine the function of the β-metal, the kinetic parameters for diethyl p-chlorophenyl thiophosphate are compared with diethyl p-chlorophenyl phosphate. The thiophosphate substrate is hydrolyzed 20 to 100-times faster than the phosphate substrate for Zn/Zn, Cd/Cd, and Zn/Cd PTE. When Cd2+ occupies the β-site, the inverse thio effect increases which suggests polarization by the β-metal on the phosphoryl oxygen or sulfur bond. The catalytic roles of Asp 233, His 254, and Asp 301 are determined by comparing the kinetic parameters of a series of alanine and asparagine mutations with paraoxon and diethyl p-chlorophenyl phosphate. The increased rate of hydrolysis for diethyl p-chlorophenyl phosphate with the mutants is consistent with the existence of a proton relay system from Asp 301 to His 254 to Asp 233. A detailed mechanism for the hydrolysis of organophosphates by PTE has been proposed. PTE hydrolyzes a number of chiral organophosphorus esters. The pKa of the leaving group phenol is altered for a series of chiral phosphate, phosphonate, and phosphinate esters. The stereoselectivity of wild-type, G60A, and I106G/F132G/H257Y PTE is enhanced as the pKa value of the leaving group phenol increases for phosphate, phosphonate, and phosphinate esters. In addition to improving the stereoselectivity of phosphotriesterase, mutations that affect the size of the active site of PTE are screened to identify a mutant enzyme that preferentially hydrolyzes the opposite isomer of wild-type PTE. The rate constants and stereoselectivity ratios for a number of active site mutants have been determined. H254Y/L303T PTE reverses the stereoselective preference of phosphonate and phosphinate substrates. The PTE stereoselectivity of O-methyl, O-phenyl acetylphenyl phosphate is reversed 970-fold by I106G/F132G/H257Y. A reversal mutant was resolved for phosphate, phosphonate, and phosphinate esters.

This study explored gender role conformity as a predictor of infertility-related distress and relational health in women and men undergoing treatment for infertility. Other factors that have been linked to infertility-related distress, including diagnosis type, treatment type, and insurance coverage were also explored. Study participants were comprised of 185 women and 147 men who had received a diagnosis of primary infertility and were undergoing medical treatment for infertility. Participants completed an online measure which included the following instruments: the Fertility Problem Inventory (FPI: Newton et al., 1999); the Conformity to Feminine Norms Inventory (CFNI: Mahalik et al., 2004); the Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory (CMNI: Mahalik et al., 2003); and the Relational Health Indices (RHI: Liang et al., 2001). Findings from the study demonstrate a significant relationship between gender role conformity and infertility-related distress for both men and women. Women reported significantly greater levels of infertility-related distress than did men. Biological sex was a stronger predictor of infertility-related distress than was gender role conformity for both men and women. No significant differences in distress scores were found for individuals grouped by diagnosis type, treatment type, or insurance coverage status were detected. When the couple was used as the unit of analysis, no differences were found between couples with congruent distress scores and incongruent distress scores. Clinical implications linking the study findings with individual and couple-based interventions, as well as ideas for future research, are discussed.

Šiuolaikinėje visuomenėje egzistuojantis požiūris į lyčių vaidmenis priklauso nuo daugelio kultūrinių, ekonominių, politinių veiksnių. Sunkiausiai kelią į aktyvų gyvenimą skiriasi arabų šalių moterys, kur egzistuoja griežtas lyčių atskyrimas. Požiūris į lyčių vaidmenis skiriasi ir pačiose visuomenėse tarp atskirų socialinių sluoksnių, etninių grupių ir pan. Aktuali lieka vaidmenų kitimo problema ypač jaunose šeimose. Nemažai krizių kyla dėl sunkumų įsisavinant naujus vaidmenis. Bet kokiam socialiniam vaidmeniui įsisavinti reikia laiko, kad galėtų suvokti jo ribas, vaidmenų sąlygojamas pareigas ir teises. Per daug greitas vaidmenų įsisavinimas, nespėjant suvokti jo esmės, sukelia krizes. Kuriant šeimą socialinių vaidmenų kitimas atrodo taip: jaunuolis - vyras- tėvas, mergina- žmona- motina. Pereiti nuo vieno vaidmens prie kito reikia laiko, todėl labai svarbus jaunimo ugdymas, jo ruošimas tam tikriems vaidmenims šeimoje. Šiuolaikinėje visuomenėje, vykstant šeimos transformacijai, labai svarbi tampa santykių tarp lyčių kaita. Lietuvos Respublikos Konstitucijos 29 straipsnis skelbia, kad žmogaus teisių negalima varžyti dėl jo lyties ( Lietuvos Respublikos Konstitucija, 2002 ). Tačiau realiame gyvenime moterys dažniau susiduria su nelygybe. Visuomenės nuomonė lemia mūsų elgesį. Vaikas, mokydamasis kalbėti, galvoti, jausti perima jo aplinkai būdingus kultūrinius požiūrius ir vertybes- jie tampa jo paties nuomone, vertybėmis... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Contemporary conception of human social development is based on the principle of conceding equal possibilities for all members of society. The problems of sexual equality, the assurance of equal possibilities for males and females are discussed in the press, in the works of sociologists and psychologists. The 29th article of the Constitution of Lithuanian republic announces that the human rights can not be restricted due to their sexes. However, in real life we usually come into collision with inequality. It is especially urgent in families. Frequently wives work hired labour and do more house-works than their husbands. Therefore, investigations related with the distribution of roles between men and women in families become urgent. The aim of this master's paper - is to analyze the formation of regulations of sexual role distribution and to elucidate, which attitude to the distribution of sexual roles in families prevails in younger genders and what influences the formation of the attitude of younger generations. Existing view to the sexual roles in families in contemporary society depends on many cultural, economical and political factors. After the Soviet dictatorship had failed in Lithuania, most of the women, having felt free and enable to choose, thought that they would be satisfied with the role of a housewife. After a decade had passed, this opinion changed. Women began to seek for losing touch with the house-works, for professional perfection. This view is... [to full text]

Hunting is considered as the most masculine activity in our society. Historically, man has been described as the provider for his family, this in the forms of hunting and gathering. Today hunting is still associated with a male hunter, but women have started to infiltrate the hunting culture. In this study hunting culture is analyzed with a gender perspective. In a modern society with gender and equality as a big subject of debate it is interesting to examine this impact on a culture so linked with masculinity. By interviewing five female hunters, using a narrative approach and analyzing with gender theory, the results show that a masculine dominance undermines women and femininity in the culture of hunting. The results also show that women have constructed a feminine hunting form as a reaction to the male dominance.