Beyond the binary borders of sex -A LITTERATURE STUDY ABOUT TRANSGENDER THEORY AND ITS POSSIBLE CONTRIBUTION TO A SOCIAL WORK CONTEXT. GERGANA TOSEVA KARIN SELIN A thesis in Social work studies (15 credits) at Malmö University, Hälsa och Samhälle 2012. The discussion about sex and gender is always prominent in a social work context. Our purpose and questions are hence based on the discussion on transgender theory and the way of thinking about the non-binary, and how it relates to the nearby theories. The method of the essay consists of a semi systematic literature overview with the focus on discussing transgender theory in relation to other theories and perspectives, such as modernism, post modernism, feminism and queer theory. We answer the following questions: 1. Is it possible to go beyond or exceed the binary of sex and if so, how do we see it in the material we examined? 2. In what way are the existing theories of sex / gender in the binary? 3. Can one featuring a female embodied subject be of assistance to transgender people's search for an embodied subject? We consider it possible to move beyond the binary by using ?fuzzy logic?(Nagoshi & Brzuzy 2010, Tauchert 2002) which is a way of staying in the binary but expanding the term and work in the grey areas instead.

AbstractBachelor essay in Pedagogy by Johan Lidén &Kristian Sagfors, 2011."Genus i gymnasieskolan: En oengagerande fråga?".Supervisor: Zeki YalcinGender and gender equality in our school system has throughout the years become a well researched subject, however most of that research has focused on the lower levels of compulsory school. The upper secondary school has not gotten the same attention.We have chosen to explore how social science teachers in upper secondary school treat the subject of gender and gender equality, what strategies they apply in the classroom and how their pupils respond to the subject.We wanted to get access to their classrooms so we could do an ethnographical study to find the answers to how their lessons were planned and executed, if different teachers made different didactic choices depending on the orientation of the class. As our work progressed we ran in to an interesting problem which ultimately made us rethink the purpose of this paper.In our pursuit of respondents we contacted many schools by e-mail and later visited the schools to find participants. This proved difficult as we were met with a wall of silence and lack of interest.

This thesis aims to study whether the Swedish corporate law is in need of additional rules regarding the composition of the board of directors from a gender equality point of view. Sweden is internationally a state that is far ahead when it comes to creating equal opportunities for all its citizens. The Swedish labour market consist of men and women to an equal degree, although this is a phenomena that is not reflected on the leading positions in the larger limited corporations listed on the stock exchange. This is a trend that definitely needs to be attended to, since women can provide crucial knowledge that is important not only to the individual corporation but also to the society as a whole. This is strengthened by the fact that demographic differences in boards stimulates creative solutions and well reasoned suggestions.The opponents to legal measures regarding affirmative action base their arguments on the fact that the shareholders right of ownership is limited as a result of such measures and also that rules regarding self-regulation through corporate governance is preferable.

AbstractBachelor essay in Pedagogy by Johan Lidén &Kristian Sagfors, 2011."Genus i gymnasieskolan: En oengagerande fråga?".Supervisor: Zeki YalcinGender and gender equality in our school system has throughout the years become a well researched subject, however most of that research has focused on the lower levels of compulsory school. The upper secondary school has not gotten the same attention.We have chosen to explore how social science teachers in upper secondary school treat the subject of gender and gender equality, what strategies they apply in the classroom and how their pupils respond to the subject.We wanted to get access to their classrooms so we could do an ethnographical study to find the answers to how their lessons were planned and executed, if different teachers made different didactic choices depending on the orientation of the class. As our work progressed we ran in to an interesting problem which ultimately made us rethink the purpose of this paper.In our pursuit of respondents we contacted many schools by e-mail and later visited the schools to find participants. This proved difficult as we were met with a wall of silence and lack of interest.

Utifrån ett genusvetenskapligt perspektiv undersöktes i uppsatsen vilka möjligheter och hinder som finns för jämställdhetsarbete på ett IT-företag. En enkätundersökning utifrån en bearbetning av ett enkätförslag från JämO kompletterades med kvalitativa intervjuer och relaterades till koncernens jämställdhetsplan och personalpolicy. Att organisationen bestod av tjänstemän och hade en platt organisationsstruktur var två faktorer som antogs prägla dess genuskontrakt, ett begrepp som hämtades från Hirdmans teoribildning. För att undersöka skillnaden mellan det samhälleliga jämställdhetsidealet och jämställdhet som praktik användes två teman, arbetsmiljö relaterat till genus och attityder till jämställdhet. Resultaten visade en organisation där jämställdhet var ett outtalat ideal, medan praktiskt jämställdhetsarbete saknades.

This thesis takes as its point of departure the Swedish governmental family policy and the debate on the proposed reform ?vårdnadsbidraget?. The supporters of the reform present it as something that will increase the freedom of choice for families and benefit the children, whereas the opponents warn for decreased equality and a return to the male breadwinner-model.From a constructivist perspective, language is closely related to power through defining and ascribing meaning to reality. By applying a feminist political theory on the debate within the Swedish national parliament 2007/2008 and conducting a discourse analysis, the aim of this paper is to analyse which concepts are used and how they construct to what makes a family within the political debate ? is there any difference or similarity between the view of the opponents and the supporters of ?vårdnadsbidraget??The main conclusion of this paper is that even though the political ideal and rhetorical concepts differ between the supporters and the opponents, they still constitute the heterosexual nuclear family as an obvious norm in family politics.

This study in Public Administration uses feminism and historical institutionalism toanalyze a highly debated contemporary policy problem that concerns genderequality in the policy of parental leave. The parental insurance was introduced in1974 with the governmental goal of gender equality. In 1974 only 0,5 percent of thenumber of days of parental benefit was paid to men. Today, 40 years later, the goalremains the same and the numbers of days of parental benefit paid to men are 24,8percent.The debate that has characterized the Swedish policy of parental insurance andspecifically the design of the parental benefit is the debate of freedom of choiceversus quota.Our study focuses on ideas and arguments that influence the policy of parentalbenefit. The study assumes, with basis in the theories of feminism and historicalinstitutionalism, that a policy like parental benefit is slow-moving and that pathdependency has lead to a slow development of gender equality..

The aim of this study is to examine the religious landscape of Brazil, and based on the theory of secularization by Pippa Norris and Ronald Inglehart to explain why Brazilians are religious and not secular. The study is a secondary analysis that uses existing statistics to examine different units of analysis of Brazil?s religious landscape, economics and equality, etc. Based on their theory I find that Brazil is still religious due to the lack of security in the country. Brazil is insecure in terms of measures of socioeconomic equality, stable politics without corruption, and physical safety of the citizens in Brazil.

The aim of the study has been to examine how young men from Stockholm construct "Masculinity". This has been done by examining what men think is an ?ideal man?, what "makes a man a man", which expectations they meet as men and how the life of a man differs from the life of a woman. This has been examined through three semi-structured group interviews with the total of ten men. The results have been analysed with Raewyn Connells Theory of Masculinities, the idea of ?Doing Gender? by Candace West and Don.

The main purpose of this paper is to examine how the regulatory environment of ?equality plans" are implemented at the municipal level of decision making in the school environment - in terms of both local politicians, school structures and management by teachers.The paper will present how the implementation theory works in practice by examining two high schools in the Municipality of Norrkoping and see what differences exist in the implementation process of "equality plans" in schools with a variety of high and relatively low immigrant background among students.We will present how it seems from different perspectives. Are teachers today controlled by public professional ethics or personal reasons, where those street level bureaucrats mainly act on feeling depending on the case? And how might this affect the law? Do they in fact understand, or have the knowledge and the willingness to implement?In our study, we are using a comparative case study method with an interview guide. A comparison between the two school´s equality plan have been analyzed where we have developed key differences and similarities that we recognized regarding the subject.The results of the study demonstrate that the context is very crucial to addressing these issues.

The elderly care is an area of great importance to women. Women are more often in need of elderly care; they work with the service and provide a majority of the informal service. Research shows that managers? work-related prerequisites are significantly different between the male dominated technical administration and the female dominated care and educational administration. Studies also show that what the highest managerial organisation gives priority to, often permeate the whole organisation.

This Bachelor Thesis is entitled ?Swedish parental leave and gender equality. Effects on women?s conditions on the labour market?. Through our empirical results in conjunction with economical and sociological theories, this Bachelor Thesis attempts to answer the questions: 1) Why are the claims for Swedish parental leave unevenly distributed between men and women? 2) Does the uneven distribution result in discrimination of women on the labour market? 3) How do different designs of parental leave scheme influence women?s conditions on the labour market and which possibilities are there to change these conditions through changes in the design? We make use of case studies from Denmark, Iceland and Great Britain, which work as basis for policy implications for the Swedish parental leave scheme.

The aim of this essay is trying to understand the ideological changing process over the last decades and the ideological meaning of the relatively new conception lifelong learning as well, and how it comes that the opportunities offered the individual pre-school child and the individual compulsory-school pupil to assimilate the so important learning, differs so dramatically all though the expressed ambition to offer each and every one equal opportunities. What are the ideological structures that are, and have been in function, that carries and have carried the perceptions of the use and value of fostering and education?In a time with the welfare ideology in a hegemonic position, it was seen important that the state took major responsibility for the education of the citizens. In our time, it appears, an economist ideology has taken the hegemonic position, and education is becoming an increasingly economic issue, and equality is decreasing along with, as in general society, the increasing of segregation within the educational system..

Idag finns hälsoskillnader mellan könen, vilka delvis beror på ojämställda förhållanden i samhället, som uppkommit av värderingar för hur kvinnor och män ska vara. En förändring av värderingar kan ske i skolan där läraren har en betydelsefull roll. I lärarutbildningen förekommer ingen kontinuerlig undervisning kring hur lärarstudenterna ska integrera ettgenusperspektiv i sin framtida yrkesroll. Syftet med denna uppsats var att undersöka på vilket sätt lärarstudenter anser sig kunna arbeta med jämställdhet i skolan ur ett lärande- och hälsofrämjande perspektiv. Datainsamlingen har skett genom tio intervjuer med lärarstudenter.

Sweden is described as one of the most forward-thinking countries in the world when it comes to equal opportunities, yet still management is being dominated by men. Looking at entrepreneurship and gender, the author has written four herstories about female entrepreneurs working, through enterprise, to bring about change to the male domination of top level management. The primary purpose of this master's thesis has been to look at theories on entrepreneurship/ management and gender to analyse how the entrepreneurs relate to their roles as [i] entrepreneurs, [ii] agents of change, and [iii] women. The findings show that they attach particular emphasis to their roles as entrepreneurs. As regards the work for change, being female is described as both advantageous and irrelevant, or insufficient.