This essay explores how the novel The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O’Farrell depicts and criticises behaviours derived from deeply rooted patriarchal ideologies, traditional gender roles and sexist oppression. It aims to determine whether the novel encourages feminist values by examining the three main characters, Kitty, Esme and Iris, and how they relate to each other as well as to patriarchal structures and sexist oppression. Using feminist theory, the essay discusses what behaviours depicted in the novel are harmful towards or among women and what behaviours should be, and are, encouraged to strengthen sisterhood. It also discusses how the novel demonstrates how destructive patriarchy has been towards women through history and how acknowledging sexist and patriarchal structures can improve understanding of and solidarity between women. Essential findings include how Kitty assists in the oppression of her own sister in favour of patriarchy, and that the granddaughter Iris represents a liberated woman exhibiting positive solidary acts that reinforce feminist values. The essay concludes that O’Farrell’s The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox is a feminist novel that depicts what is at cause when women harm other women and provides hope to its readers that change is in process.

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Coming from current scholarly debate and research about relationships between women, this study seeks to situate the current debate amongst larger examinations of gender relations in Victorian England as well as examine the importance of sister relationships to understanding female relationships and how these relations provide multiple ways of subverting the dominant culture of the Victorian age. After a review of several different nineteenth-century and Victorian writers, I have selected a small sample of poetry and prose with which to form an argument about the importance of sisterly relationships. This importance is two-fold: it allows women a space in which to define themselves without masculine interference and it allows women to subvert the patriarchy in ways which are much more socially acceptable than others. Relationships between women are discussed in the framework of a variety of scholarly debate and criticism which allows a more comprehensive understanding of the complexity of female relationships and their importance in the development of an emerging consciousness that would encourage women to agitate for women's rights.

This thesis examines six trans feminine informants in New York City's experiences of oppression, trans-misogyny, femi-negativity, racism, and classism, as well as their experiences of community support, conflicts and resistance practices through the lens of the term sisterhood and the practice of sisterhooding. Focus has also been placed on the informant's views on allyship and coalition, and their relationship to other communities, such as the trans masculine community. The research has been conducted through in-depth, semi-structured, qualitative interviews with six trans feminine activists in New York City. The informant group was heterogenous in regards to age, race/ethnicity, as well as in regards to where in the city they resided and which parts of the movement they were engaged in. My findings follow Jenny Gunnarsson Payne's (2006) theory on sisterhood as an empty signifier, as my informants had different definition's of the term and concept of sisterhood, and while all of them expressed ambivalences towards the term and concept, they also all used the term to varying degrees. Several saw advantages in using the term to describe kinship and solidarity between trans feminine people. The participating informants in the study listed several different conflicts within trans feminine movements. Many of them were generally skeptical to conflicts, especially to those related to cattiness, competition, language and terminology – sentiment's which I agree with, albeit with the addition, which some of my informant's also stressed, that certain conflict's regarding differences in oppressions related to intersectional hierarchies, may be necessary. In the concluding chapter I argue for an understanding of trans-sisterhood based both on an understanding of similarities and difference's in experience and an understanding of solidarity that prioritizes the voices, perspectives and leadership of the most marginalized. My informant's described grave street harassment, employment discrimination and experiences of desexualization from gay/queer men and hypersexualization from so-called tranny chasers. Because of the lack of previous research on trans femininities from the perspective of an understanding of the specific oppressions of trans-misogyny and femi-negativity, this thesis has had a broad, rather then detailed, perspective and following in the foot steps of Julia Serano (2007) argues for an analysis on the position of trans women and other trans femininities beyond the gender neutral category of transgender. A majority of my informants sharp statements on the subordination of trans femininity to trans masculinity supports my argument for the need of more research in the field of trans femininity studies with perspectives from both transgender studies and critical femininity studies. / Genom djupintervjuer undersöker uppsatsen sex olika transfeminina informanter i New Yorks erfarenheter av förtryck, trans-misogyni, femi-negativitet, rasism och klassism, såväl som deras erfarenheter av stöd, konflikter och motståndspraktiker, vilket sker genom ett undersökande av deras inställning till termen systerskap och den systerskapande praktiken. Fokus har också legat på informanternas syn på allierade, koalitioner och deras relation till andra grupper, som till exempel transmaskulina personer. För att fånga in en intersektionell bredd av erfarenheter var informantgruppen heterogen i förhållande till ålder, “ras”/etnicitet, samt i förhållande till var de bodde i staden och vilka delar av rörelsen de var engagerade i. Informanterna beskrev grova erfarenheter av trakasserier på gatorna och diskriminering på arbetsmarknaden, samt erfarenheter av hypersexualisering från så kallade tranny chaser's och avsexualisering från homosexuella och queera män. I linje med Jenny Gunnarsson Payne's (2006) teori om systerskap som tom signifikant, hade mina informanter många olika definitioner av begreppet systerskap, och medan många av dem uttryckte ambivalenser i förhållande till termen, använde sig alla av begreppet i varierande grad. Flera av dem såg stora fördelar i att använda termen för att beskriva samhörighet och solidaritet mellan transfeminina. Mina informanter listade flera olika konflikter inom de transfeminina rörelsen och var allmänt skeptiska till konflikter, framförallt till de som handlade om elaka attityder, tävlande, språk och terminologi – vilket jag håller med dem om, med tillägget, som en del informanter också tydliggjorde, att visa konflikter gällande intersektionella hierarkier kan vara nödvändiga. Jag argumenterar  för en förståelse av trans-systerskap som baseras både i en förståelse av likheter och skillnader i erfarenheter sam i en förståelse av solidaritet som prioriterar perspektiven och ledarskapet av de mest marginaliserade rösterna. Uppsatsen har ett brett perspektiv eftersom det tidigare gjorts väldigt lite forskning om transfemininiter utifrån den specifika förståelsen av trans-misogyni och femi-negativitet. I likhet med Julia Serano (2007) argumenterar jag för ett analyserande av transkvinnors och andra transfemininas situation bortanför trans som könsneutral kategori och får stöd i majoriteten av mina informanters skarpa uttalanden om den hierarkiska underordningen av transfemininitet gentemot transmaskulinitet. Slutligen menar jag att det behövs mer forskning inom fältet transfemininitetsstudier med perspektiv både från kritiska femininitetsstudier och transstudier.

This thesis have identified strategies of resistance in Anne Charlotte Lefflers drama Skådespelerskan from year 1873. The main character Ester and the supporting character Agda continously challenges and breaks generally accepted patriarchal norms. The first aim for the thesis was to distinguish and examine Agda’s and Ester’s strategies of resistance in Skådespelerskan from a feminist perspective. The second thesis was to identify similarities and differences in their strategies of resistance. This has been done by examine textual, contextual and performative literary strategies of resistance. Relevant for the analysis is an historic and contemporary context for Skådespelerskan, where for instance personal and public sphere and the concept the New woman is described. Furthermore is Yvonne Hirdmans theories about gender contract together with feminist sociological theories about women’s movement and solidarity relevant for the analysis. Earlier research have analyzed Ester and her relationships with other charachters but not the one with Agda. In that way this thesis fills a void. The analysis is organized through four strategies of resistance. Agda’s strategies of resistance is humor and sisterhood and Ester’s is outspokenness and flirtation. The biggest difference is that Agda gives resistance from within the personal sphere and Ester from outside. The conversations between Agda and Ester is not part of the drama, they take place between the two parts of the drama. The result of these confidential conversations is that their resistance partly increases and partly changes tone in the second part of the drama. That shows how important it is with solidarity and sisterhood in order to find strength to struggle for change in a patriarchal society.

This thesis examines how the relationships between women, inside and outside the international women's organization for professionally working women – Soroptimist International – is informed by proximity and distance, which orientates the organization in the direction of a multiculturalism informed by imperial feminism. Focus lies on the organizations use of terms such as “sister” and “professional woman”, and the imagined benefits and responsibilities of being a soroptimist. The thesis is centered on interviews with members from Soroptimist International Sweden, which is seen as a microlevel of the international organization. By interviewing members and comparing the statements with some of the official documents produced by the organization, I also examine the relation between policy and practice. Drawing on the affect theories of Sara Ahmed regarding emotions and bodily orientation; postcolonial perspectives on transnational feminism, sisterhood and solidarity; and anthropological perspectives on transnational women's network, I argue that the orientation of Soroptimist International is informed by white middle-class heterosexual women. When working for women's rights as human rights it is furthermore based on a UN discourse, which also orientate the organization in a universally western way. Furthermore, I also show how the network of Soroptimist International is end oriented, which means that its information and knowledge exchange is centered around its members and the expansion of the network, instead of advocacy making on behalf of women that are non-members. This leads to the conclusion that if Soroptimist International wishes to reorient away from its feminist imperialist and multiculturalist elements, it needs to engage with a praxis-oriented solidarity concept. This means obtaining a multifaceted communication between its local and global levels, as well as seizing the many different partial perspectives existing inside as well as outside the organization.

Denna studie har genom en kvalitativ intervjustudie sökt förståelse för hur kommodifierad feminism, med uttryck såsom Girl Power, Empowerment och Systerskap, kan påverka kvinnors upplevelse av femininitet, feminism och självidentiteten. För att möta syftet formulerades följande frågeställningar; (1) Hur upplever informanterna att de påverkas av representationer av femininitet som de möter i sitt vardagsliv? (2) Hur upplever informanterna att de påverkas av feministiska budskap som de möter i sitt vardagsliv? (3) Hur ställer sig informanterna till att konsumera feminism? (4) Påverkas informanternas uppfattning av kommodifierad feminism utifrån hur de förhåller sig till feminism?   I analysen har teorier om identitet, reflexivitet, konsumtion, kommodifiering och feministisk tankegrund använts. Empiri har samlats in genom intervjuer med tolv kvinnor i åldrarna 18–50 år. Genom representationer av femininitet och feministiska budskap som informanterna möter i sitt vardagliga liv kan vi urskilja att traditionella krav och förväntningar på kvinnan existerar parallellt med nya krav och förväntningar, präglade av nyliberalistiska värderingar. Dessa värderingar kan påvisas förmedlas genom budskap förpaketerade i feministisk förklädnad, uppstådda genom kommodifieringens processer. Informanterna uppvisar både en medvetenhet och en motstridighet gentemot hur representationer och kommodifiering påverkar såväl individen som feminism i helhet. Att feminism syns i kommodifierad form upplevs både kunna normalisera den feministiska kampen, men också skapa motstånd. I viss mån upplevs kommodifiering av feminism urvattna och förmörka feministisk tankegrund. Samtidigt pekar resultatet på att kommodifierade feministiska budskap och symboler kan fungera identitetsskapande och ge individen ett sammanhang och en tillhörighet. Informanterna är dock inte eniga, identitetsskapande genom konsumtion av feministiska budskap och produkter betraktas av somliga negativt. Resultatet pekar därför på att de individer som identifierar sig som feminister och uppvisar en större feministisk insatthet till viss del för ett djupare, mer nyanserat och kritiskt resonemang som ofta grundar sig i kapitalismens oförenlighet med feminism. Slutsatsen som har dragits är att individens eget feministiska intresse partiellt kan ses styra hennes upplevelse, tolkning och konsumtion av kommodifierad feminism. / Through a qualitative interview study, this study has sought to understand how commodified feminism, through terms such as Girl Power, Empowerment and Sisterhood, can influence women's experiences of femininity, feminism and self-identity. To meet the purpose of the study, the following research questions were posed; (1) How do our informants experience that they are influenced by the representations of femininity that they encounter in their everyday lives? (2) How do our informants experience that they are influenced by feminist messages that they encounter in their everyday lives? (3) Where do our informants position themselves in the matter of consuming feminism? (4) Are the informants’ perception of commodified feminism influenced by how they relate to feminism?   In the analysis theories of identity, reflexivity, consumption, commodification and feminism has been used. Data has been collected through interviews with twelve women in the ages of 18-50. Through representations of femininity and feminist messages that the informants encounter, we can discern that traditional demands and expectations of women exist in parallel with new demands and expectations, characterized by neoliberalist values. These values are shown to be conveyed through messages packaged in feminist disguise, arose through the processes of commodification. The informants display both awareness and contradictory feelings about how representations and commodification affect feminism as well as the individual. The fact of feminism being displayed in commodified form is experienced normalizing feminism as well as creating more resistance. To some extent, commodified feminism is believed to dilute feminist ideologies. At the same time, the results point to the fact that messages and symbols of commodified feminism can function as creators of identity, giving the individual a sense of context and belonging. All informants, however, do not agree on the matter of commodity feminism as a creator of identity as some express a more negative view on the issue. The results indicate that informants who identify themselves as feminists and exhibit a greater involvement in feminist matters to a certain extent poses a deeper, more nuanced and critical reasoning, often based on the incompatibility of capitalism and feminism. This leads to the conclusion that the individuals own feminist interest partly can be seen to steer her experience, interpretation and consumption of commodified feminism.

This thesis examines feminist commodity networks through an ethnographic case study of QVWC SHOP in Melbourne, Australia. The work is built through an emic perspective on the understanding of selling, producing, and buying through the QVWC SHOP. The emic perspective is also connected to the larger systems, such as social networks and community building. QVWC SHOP is a store focusing on selling locally made items by women, including cis, trans and nonbinary. QVWC SHOP is part of the Queen Victoria Women’s centre in Melbourne, which is a non-profit building that rents space for different organisations for women’s needs. The centre is also an important cultural space, organizing events and exhibitions around the year. In 2020, the Women’s centre opened the QVWC SHOP, that they promote as a feminist shop selling goods made by women, for women. The focus in this thesis is on understanding how the shop builds a community for the women involved with the store, reflect over what feminist commodities are and what it means to be a producer, employee, or consumer at the QVWC SHOP. The reflections are built through data from participant observation and semi-structured interviews with interlocutors from the field, as well as relevant theoretical works. Furthermore, themes of care, sustainability, attachment, and solidarity are all important in the work. Overall, this thesis focuses on the processes of creating social networks and community building in the context of a feminist shop.

Writing at a moment of ideological crisis between individualism and hierarchical society, Jane Austen asserts a definition of moral behavior and female identity that mediates the two value systems. I argue that Austen most effectively articulates her belief in women's moral autonomy and social responsibility in her novels through her portrayal of sisterhood. Austen reshapes the stereotype of sisters and female friendships as dangerous found in her domestic novel predecessors. While recognizing women's social vulnerability, which endangers female friendship and turns it into a site of competition, Austen urges the morality of selflessly embracing sisterhood anyway. An Austen heroine must overcome sisterly rivalry if she is to achieve the moral strength Austen demands of her. As Mansfield Park (1814) and Pride and Prejudice (1813) demonstrate, such rivalry reveals the flawed morality of both individualism and patrilineal society. I further argue that in these novels sisterhood articulates the internally motivated selflessness Austen makes her moral standard. Sisterhood not only indicates female morality for Austen, it also enables this character. Rejecting Rousseau's proposal of men shaping malleable female minds, Austen pronounces sisters to be the best moral guides. In Northanger Abbey (1818), Austen shows the failure of the man to educate our heroine and the success of his sister. In Sense and Sensibility (1811), Austen pinpoints the source of sisterly education's success in its feminine context of nurture, affection, intimacy, and subtlety. With this portrait of sisterhood, Austen adheres to the moral authority inherent in Burkean philosophy while advocating individual responsibility, not external regulation, to choose selfless behavior. Austen further promotes gender equality by expressing women's moral autonomy, while supporting gender distinctions that privilege femininity. By offering such powerful, complex sister relationships, Austen transforms eighteenth-century literary thought about women, sisters, and morality.