Självmordsbombningar som strategiskt vapen har blivit allt vanligare vilket har gjort att betydelsen av mediernas rapportering om dessa har ökat. Uppsatsens syfte är därmed att undersöka och problematisera de könsstereotyper som omgärdar manliga respektive kvinnliga självmordsbombare,samt att förstå vad dessa bottnar i och kan leda till. För att göra detta narrativanalyseras fyra svenska dagspresstidningars rapportering om olika självmordsattacker i tre olika fall: de utförda av de tamilska tigrarna på Sri Lanka, samt självmordsattackerna i Moskvas respektive Londons tunnelbanesystem. De huvudsakliga observationer som uppsatsen utmynnar i, är att kvinnliga självmordsbombare oftare än män, definieras utefter sitt kön, samtidigt som tidningarna ibland gör avsteg från könsstereotypen om ”den irrationella kvinnan” och den rationella mannen”. Detta kanbland annat förklaras med att överskridelser av könsgränser försöker rationaliseras bort för att föreställningen om kvinnor som icke-våldsliga och män som våldsliga, ska kunna upprätthållas. Dessa föreställningar riskerar att leda till att fler kvinnor börjar utföra självmordsbombningar ochatt organisationer med kvinnliga självmordsbombare åtnjuter större sympatier än organisationer utan sådana. / Suicide bombings as a strategical weapon has become ever more common, which has increased the importance of media coverage of those events. Hence, the aim of this essay is to investigate and problematize the gender stereotypes surrounding female and male suicide bombers respectively, and to understand the origins of these and what they might lead to. In order to do this, four Swedish newspapers' reporting on three different cases of suicide bombings, are put through a narrative analysis: those committed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, in Sri Lanka, and the suicide bombings of the Moscow and London subway systems. The main observations made, are thatfemale suicide bombers, more often than their male counterparts, are defined along the lines of gender. Simultaneously, the newspapers are moving away from gender stereotypical descriptions, such as the one about ”the irrational woman” and the ”rational man”. This move can, in part beexplained by the deployment of an attempt to rationalize away and to escape concepts of gender transgressions in order to uphold conceptions of women as non-violent and men as violent. These conceptions runs the risk of making more women turn to suicide bombings, and to boost sympathies for organizations with female suicide bombers, in the public eye, in favor of those with males alone.

I detta arbete presenteras analysen av böckerna: Trolldom i gamla stan, skriven av Martin Olczek och illustrerad av Anna Sandler (2017), Handbok för superhjältar: Del 1 - Handboken som är skriven av Elias Våhlund och Agnes Våhlund (2017), samt Musse och Helium: Mysteriet med hålet i väggen som är skriven av Camilla Brinck (2018).Analysen gjordes genom en hermeneutisk inriktning vilket innebar att böckerna analyserades med målet att tolka, förstå och förmedla upplevelser av materialet. Huvudsyftet med analysen var att få syn på genusdrag hos huvudkaraktärerna och vilka könsrollsmönster som de speglade. Som hjälp får att veta vilka könsstereotypa karaktärsdrag jag skulle leta efter användes Maria Nikolajevas (2017) schema över typiska karaktärsdrag hos manliga och kvinnliga huvudpersoner. Schemat användes dessutom som ett verktyg för att kunna synliggöra om huvudkaraktärerna i de valda böckerna förstärkte eller förbröt de traditionella föreställningarna om vad som anses manligt och kvinnligt.Bakgrunden till arbetet ligger i att man i dagens samhälle ofta förväntar sig att en persons biologiska kön även innebär att personen skall bete sig på ett specifikt sätt. I olika kulturer och i olika samhällen finns det förväntningar om vad som anses manligt och kvinnligt. Det man ofta glömmer bort är att normer kring genus och kön ofta förändras över tid vilket då innebär att dagens samhälle är berikat med fler överskridande könsrollsmönster. Barnböckerna representerar ofta aktuella debatter inom samhället och genom att analysera barnböcker kan man på syn på olika debatterade områden, i detta fall genus och könsrollsmönster. Slutsatsen i analysen blev att huvudkaraktärens biologiska kön inte bety

Denna uppsats analyserar bilderboken ur ett genusperspektiv. De bilderböcker som vi undersöker är: När Emil skulle dra ut Linas tand (1976), Titta, Madicken det snöar (1983) och Pippi i humlegården (1949) skrivna av Astrid Lindgren. Syftet med analysen är att undersöka hur genus framställs i bilderböcker samt hur detta kan påverka elevernas identiteter. För oss som lärare är det viktigt att ha en medvetenhet kring hur genus framställs inom bilderböcker för att kunna arbeta kring det. Problemet ligger inte enbart i framställningen av genus utan hur vi som lärare och elever förhåller oss till den. Uppsatsen är en kvalitativ analys, mer specifikt en bilderboksanalys. Teorin som tillämpas är en genusteori. Analysen visar på att det finns stereotypa genusframställningar inom bilderböckerna men resultatet visar dock även att det finns stereotyper som bryts av både maskulina och feminina karaktärer. Vi kom även fram till att detta kan påverka elevernas identiteter på ett negativt sätt då de kan bli begränsade av vissa framställningar. För att motverka detta ska vi som lärare arbeta genusmedvetet i undervisningen genom exempelvis genuspedagogik och kompensatorisk pedagogik.

This study analyzes how the film Barbie from 2023 portrays different gender roles and power relations between men and women. The purpose of the study is to investigate how traditional gender norms and power relations are confirmed and questioned in the film. The film is about how Barbie lives in a fictional society that is a matriarchy. In the film, stereotypical Barbie and Ken encounter the patriarchy, which is then introduced into their world, leading to a rebellion between the men and the women. The theoretical framework consists of feminist film theory and framing theory. Analysis and results will be linked to the concepts: gender, patriarchy, stereotypes and previous research. The study's methodological approach consists of a qualitative thematic analysis where themes are made visible and analyzed in order to examine the film's message and portrayals of power relations and gender roles on a deeper level. The representation of gender and gender roles is analyzed based on the stylistic figure of irony. The results of the study indicate that the male and female characters maintain and challenge the stereotypical elements of men and women. The film portrays power relations by including scenes where traditional gender roles are turned upside down. With an ironic contrast, the expectations and behavioral patterns that exist in society are reinforced. Because the study has analyzed more deeply beyond the clear ironic and feminist elements, we have been able to highlight a problem with how gender roles and power relations are represented and how they reflect society. It becomes clear how the film reflects society's norms but also shows an awareness of gender roles and equality by problematizing these using, among other things, irony and a critical tone.

Sustainability and climate change are current topics in today's society. Companies must work more environmentally friendly and sustainably to meet society's demands. The strategies also require transparency throughout the entire process, from production to consumption. The companies' green sustainability responsibilities have often been shown to be incorrect or non-existent. This study aims to investigate how much skincare companies use strategies to portray green activities on Instagram. The study examines four skincare companies: The Body Shop, Rituals, Weleda, and Lumene. By analyzing their Instagram posts, the study highlights the frequency of strategies used to communicate green sustainable activities. Considering society's demands for environmental promotion and transparency, the study contributes to understanding how much skincare companies communicate their green responsibilities. The study is based on the theories of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and framing theory and was conducted through a quantitative content analysis of Instagram posts. The results showed that the companies portrayed other claims and messages to a greater extent than CSR and green activities. Furthermore, the results do not show any significant difference between the companies in terms of the use of strategies for green marketing communication.

This study aims to analyze and understand how the film Barbie (Gerwig, 2023) influences young people's perceptions of beauty ideals and body image. Through the analysis of body observation and beauty in the film Barbie, this research seeks to highlight how beauty ideals are portrayed in the film by young individuals. The purpose is also to identify and analyze if there is a perceived impact on self-esteem and identify any differences between genders. Using semi-structured interviews and analysis framed within sociocultural and gender theories, this research endeavors to comprehend young people's perceptions of the film Barbie. The age for participants in the study was determined to be 18-25 years and included both men and women, the number of participants was set at 10 individuals, five women and five men. The result showed that it is evident among the participants that the film portrays and questions traditional beauty ideals and gender roles in an exaggerated and satirical manner and that the film Barbie reflects societal beauty ideals and gender roles. Participants perceive that the beauty ideal in the film Barbie reflects both traditional and exaggerated beauty ideals for both men and women. Barbie and Ken represent the traditional beauty ideal - Barbie is described as slim and well-made-up with a symmetrical face, and Ken is perceived as well-toned and muscular. While some of the male participants do not feel directly affected by the beauty ideals portrayed in the film, the female participants demonstrate a negative impact on their self-esteem. It is also interesting to note that one of the male participants experienced a negative impact on his self-esteem and felt pressure to emulate the beauty ideals depicted in the film. In conclusion, there is a difference between genders regarding the film's impact on self-esteem, with women tending to be more negatively affected than men. However, the general impact does not seem to differ significantly between genders.

This study examines how the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet reports and portrays female elite athletes compared to male elite athletes in their sport supplement during 2023. In order to achieve the purpose of the studie, Aftonbladet ́s reporting during 2023 is examined through a quantitative content analysis. Based on framing theory and agenda setting theory, this study examined and discussed if Aftonbladet has an equal representation of male- and female elite athletes and whether there are stereotypical representations of the sexes in their reporting. Previous research states that female athletes are underrepresented in the media ́s sports coverage and are portrayed based on gender-specific stereotypes and norms. The result of this study shows that female elite athletes are underrepresented in Aftonbladet ́s sport supplement, which contributes to preserving traditional gender stereotypes and reinforcing traditional gender roles. The result also showed that Aftonbladet mediates representations based on traditional gender differences.

Meningen med LIV1: Semiotisk karaktärsdesign för animation är en rapport skriven för ett examensprojekt utfört av Kaj Banfather och Kristofer Johansson som studerar Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap: Visuell kommunikation och design vid Karlstads universitet. Projektets uppdragsgivare var organisationen Fryshuset, där en animation som beskriver ett av deras många sociala projekt LIV1, som går ut på att belysa det positiva med etnisk, kulturell och religiös mångfald, skulle skapas. För att gå i linje med Fryshusets värderingar och målet med LIV1 blev det därför av stor vikt att designa de karaktärer som skulle komma att finnas i animationen på ett etiskt sätt som inte förstärker stereotyper. Med teori om stereotyper och banal nationalism utforskades även idén om förekomsten av banala stereotyper. Stereotypa representationer som blivit så pass normaliserade att de ofta inte ses som direkt kontroversiella. För att identifiera de tecken och koder som kom att användas (eller undvikas) för att representera etniska och kulturella minoriteter utan att bygga på befintliga stereotyper, vare sig banala eller inte, utfördes en semiotisk analys av de två populära, svenska TV-serierna Bonusfamiljen och Torpederna. Analysen utfördes genom att undersöka tecken inom kategorierna det estetiska, beteende och kontextualitet. Resultatet visade att kontextualitet var avgörande för hur etniska minoriteter representeras i de båda serierna. När narrativet kretsar kring vad som ska föreställa svenska familjeliv och de relationer och konflikter som förekommer där, visade det sig att etniska minoriteter fick betydligt mindre betydelsefulla roller och därmed kortare skärmtid. När det istället handlade om kriminalitet ökade skärmtiden för etniska minoriteter då de fick viktigare roller, men detta kopplades starkt till att de representerades som kriminella. Beträffande det estetiska och beteende påträffades inga större avvikelser mer än att etniska minoriteter oftare observerades med våldsamma beteenden, men enbart i den serie som handlade om kriminalitet. Även detta kopplades till kontextualitet och hur etniska minoriteter oftare representerades som kriminella då det övergripande var de brottsliga karaktärerna som iakttogs utföra våldshandlingar. Slutresultatet diskuterades i koppling till de nämnda teorierna och även tidigare forskning om representationer av etniska minoriteter och karaktärsdesign. För att undvika att förstärka stereotyper designades karaktärer utifrån undersökningens resultat. De fyra, unga karaktärerna fick därför olika etniciteter och en jämnare fördelning av skärmtid. De placerades även i kreativa miljöer och representerades med intressen därefter för att motverka stereotypen av att etniska minoriteter oftare är kriminella. / The meaning of LIV1: Semiotic character design for animation is a report written for a graduation project by Kaj Banfather and Kristofer Johansson who studies Media and Communication Studies: Visual Communication and Design at Karlstad University. The project's commissioner was the organisation Fryshuset, where an animation describing one of their many social projects, LIV1, that aims to highlight the positive effects of ethnic, cultural and religious diversity, was to be created. To keep in line with Fryshuset's values ​​and the objective of LIV1, it was therefore important to design the characters that would exist in the animation in an ethical way that did not amplify stereotypes. With theories concerning stereotypes and banal nationalism the report also explored the idea of ​​the existence of banal stereotypes. Stereotypical representations that have become normalised to the extent that they are often not seen as directly controversial. To identify the signs and codes that came to be used (or avoided) to represent ethnic and cultural minorities without building on existing stereotypes, whether banal or not, a semiotic analysis of the two popular Swedish television series Bonusfamiljen and Torpederna was performed. The analysis was conducted by examining signs within the categories the aesthetics, behaviour and contextuality. The results showed that contextuality often was crucial for the representation of ethnic minorities in both series. When the narrative revolves around what is supposed to represent Swedish family life and the relationships and conflicts that occur within that, it turned out that ethnic minorities gained significantly less important roles and thus, shorter screen time. When crime was the main topic, screen time for ethnic minorities increased as they were assigned more important roles, but this was linked to being represented as criminals. Regarding the aesthetics and behaviour, no major discrepancies were found more than that ethnic minorities more often were observed with violent behaviours, but only in the series revolving crime. This was also linked to contextuality and how ethnic minorities more often were represented as criminals and how criminal characters mostly were the ones observed to carry out acts of violence. The final results were discussed through the perspectives of the mentioned theories and also previous research on representations of ethnic minorities and character design. In order to avoid enhancing stereotypes, characters were designed based on the results of the analysis. The four young characters therefore received different ethnicities and a more even distribution of screen time. They were also placed in creative environments and then represented with the interests to counteract the stereotype that ethnic minorities more often are criminals.

The aim of this study is to analyze legal texts under the law with special provisions for the care of children, to create a deeper understanding of, and if so, how social workers in the Swedish social services and courts construct different discourses on culture and violence. Compulsory care of children according to the law mentioned above is one of the biggest intervention the Swedish state has the authority to do against individuals. Swedish courts decide whether the child should be taken into care based on the social services investigation. The empirical data for the study is eight legal texts, where the child was abused by the legal guardian, which have been studied through discourse analysis. Discourse focuses on how people through language construct and reconstruct perceptions of the reality. The focus of the analysis was to find constructions of subject positions, categories and relations. The results of the analysis showed that the selected legal texts constructs stereotypical ideas about “honour culture” and gives culture a great explanatory value to the violence practiced by people assigned the “honour culture”. The “Swedish culture” on the contrary, was made invisible and was given no explanatory value to the violence. Instead the violence was given social and individual explanations. The selected legal documents had a tendency to construct perceptions of “honour culture” and honour related violence in a stereotypical and homogeneous way.

Women in visual media are generally underrepresented and stereotypically portrayed.  It is a very undifferentiated image, that few women can actually identify with. Norm-breaking characters can have an essential part and a positive influence on humans identity formation, research shows. The purpose of this study is to examine eight women’s stories about how television shows had an impact on their identity formation, primarily focusing on Hannah from the very popular tv-series Girls. Hannah has been described as a plain and slightly overweight heroine, not suited for modern television. The study is built on a qualitative science-method through semi-structured interviews, with subjective stories as focal point. The selection of interviewees identify themselves as women and have seen Girls. The study shows that Hannah works as a role model by inspiring the interviewees to acknowledge and accept their self-view, in addition to increasing their bravery and place amongst other people. Thenceforth, they felt that there was a small representation of strong female characters on modern television and saw a necessity for Hannah in popular culture.