The new information society has revolutionised almost the entire world. But the new technique does not only bring good. That which was before only available on paper may today only be available on a computer system. This makes it possible to send data electronically. In the wrong hands that information can become a threat against the security of an individual, a company or even a nation.

In this thesis I discuss how the western conception of reason is an aspect of power. I consider the western comprehension of rationality to be a masculine and ethnocentric understanding, though by itself acclaimed to be universal. My purpose with this thesis is to analyze how this western and masculine conceptualisation of reason follows a gramscian structure of power, which makes it reproduce itself in the postcolonial project of science.The theory of hegemony and ideology of Antonio Gramsci is central for analyzing the reproduction of the western subject of knowledge. The theoretical approach is also based on the understanding of the Other as essential for defining the identity of the self. My two main objects of study is one text of Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, which discuss the problems of representation, and one of Chandra Talpade Mohanty, in which she examines the tendency to neocolonization in certain western postcolonial feminist research.

"What's feminine about the Women's library?" This library, Kvinnobiblioteket, is abranchoffice at Björkskatan in the city of Luleå, and the introducing question is thestartingpoint of this essay. To find some possible answers is its object.One way of describing what's feminine about Kvinnobiblioteket is through presenting itsobjective, ambitions and methods of working. That is done mostly in a chapter headlined"Kvinnobiblioteket", and shows how the women's perspective concerns for exarnplepurchase of books and magazines, displaying of books, the opening hours, design etc.Although the focus in the survey is not in the former kind of description, but in the interviewsbeing made during a two week long period of time with ten women at Kvinnobiblioteket(both library user and personnel) at spring 1995. The results of the interviewsthen have been compared with theories from psychological-, feminist-, literature- andlibrary and information sciences, as we11 as to former surveys and essays.The material together leads to some keywords that seem to be important when trying tofind out what's female about the women's library.

This study examined by content analysis and semiotic picture analysis how gender equal the UK newspaper The Times, the U.S/Iranian nespaper Iran Times International and Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet were May 1st 2009 and May 8th 2009. The study had a foundation of feminist theory about patriarchy and gender theory with a contribution of research about race and its impact on patriarchy.None of the three papers were fully gender equal. Even though Svenska Dagbladet was found to be the most gender equal when it came to the number of women represented all of the newspapers examined showed patriachal structures since women more often than men were described as victimes, trivialized, incompetent and inferior.  People with a race other than white were in minority but patriarchy seems to be a stronger form of oppression than racism. White men were in majority and were less opressed than other groups and were because of that most in favour of the newspapers symbolic powers..

Sexual harassments have since long been an issue all over the world and schools have not been an exception. Reports from Swedish secondary schools show how 47% of the female pupils state that they have, sometime during their time in school, been the victim of sexual harassment. Other studies claim that pupils exposed to sexual harassments will develop low self-esteem and a decreased sense of self. The Swedish curriculum state that all children shall have the right to a harassment free school environment, but still many pupils claim to be exposed to sexual harassment in school. Several studies have theorized about why sexual harassment is so prevalent in schools but what do the pupils think? This study aims to reveal and analyze pupil opinions about sexual harassment; what do they think it is and why do they think it occurs? This will be done from a post-structural feminist point of view with focus on the shaping of identity among the respondents.

This essay ? Discourse and Dissonance ? deals with Mary Shelley?s gothic novel Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus (1818). The focal point is the construction of ?Them and Us?, as defined by scholars such as Stuart Hall, viewed in terms of the following categories: race, gender and family, class, and sexuality. Rather than applying an outside perspective, e.g.

AbstractThe author Selma Lagerlöf was born in 1858 at Mårbacka, in Värmland and died in 1940. Fifty years after Selma´s death were her correspondence released and ten thousand of letters were found in the collection. But it was just the correspondence between Selma and Sofie Elkan who interested people because they wanted to know if Selma and Sofie have had a sexual relationship. Later, in time for Christmas 2008 the Swedish Television shows a film about Selma. "Selma Lagerlöf Society" was critical to the movie and thougt that the movie focused too much on Selma`s sexual orientation.

This thesis examines the possibility of Bolivian indigenous women?s social movements? getting their demands of a gender equal society fulfilled in the new state which was initiated in 2005 when Evo Morales became the first president representing the indigenous people of the country. By using a qualitative method I have showed that although the Bolivian indigenous women?s social movements? historically has been significant political actors for social change in the country, with representation at both regional and national level, Bolivian women are still subordinated in the social and political sphere. By applying a feminist intersectional perspective which takes its point of departure in a understanding of power as multidimensional, where gender, ethnicity and class are constitutive principals, multiculturalism theories and a social movements theory framework, I have found that even if institutional changes, that opened the system increased the indigenous women?s social movements political participation in Bolivia, power structures based on gender limited their possibilities to influence both socially and politically.

My own experiences as an upper secondary school teacher and the increase in research on masculinity in educational settings that occurred during the late 1990 emphasizing on the gender gap in achievement and grades is the point of departure for this thesis. The aim is to investigate how boys in upper secondary school are constituted and constitute themselves as motivated and achieving learning subjects. Another aim is to see what possibilities there are to form different teaching practices to create other possible positions for me and the pupils. The research questions are 1) How does boys´ construction of masculinity constitute how they see their own ability to be motivated and achieve in school 2) What significance do my shifting approaches and expectations on the pupils as well as teaching have on the boys constitution as learning subjects? To answer these questions I use a theoretical framework of feminist poststructuralist.

For almost a century the debate about women as ordained servants in the Church of Sweden has raged on and on. The decision to open up the priesthood for both genders in 1958 was a milestone in the women?s liberation movement as well as it marks an important time in the church history. The debate has mainly been about how to interpret scripture, who has the right to do so, and so on. Feminist theology has become one way in recent decades to paint a wider and more nuanced picture of history and how to interpret the texts often used to repress women.This essay surveys some of the steps towards that decision, as well as it paints a rough picture of what leadership among women in the church could involve before ordination became an option.

The aim of this study was to identify and analyze the dominating discourse in the preliminary work of the Sex Purchase Act. In order to achieve the aim of this study we selected preliminary work of the Sex Purchase Act that was produced between 1977 and 1999. The selection is based on the fact that prostitution began to be recognized as a social problem and a gender equality issue between men and women in society. The ongoing debate during the chosen years resulted in the Sex Purchase Act, which was passed in 1999. By using discourse analysis as a methodological and theoretical approach, we have empirically studied and theoretically analyzed the dominating discourse in the preliminary work of the Sex Purchase Act.

The purpose of this Masters thesis is to investigate and describe the literary life of Madame de Staël, during the period of the French Revolution and the time shortly after. My intention is to do research on her impact and influence. I also want to examine her effect on Swedish literary society, with special references to Swedish authors. The method used is a qualitative one, where I have studied nonfiction and fiction connected with the field, for example Mme de Staëls own writings, which I make use of to illustrate the phenomena. During this period the society was dominated by patriarchical values and patterns of life.

The new information society has revolutionised almost the entire world. But the new technique does not only bring good. That which was before only available on paper may today only be available on a computer system. This makes it possible to send data electronically. In the wrong hands that information can become a threat against the security of an individual, a company or even a nation. The possibility to protect oneself against attacks from the outside becomes increasingly difficult.

This thesis aims at examining factors that influence women?s choice of clothing. Focus lies on what women want to communicate with their clothes, how consumption is used as a means of expression, women?s attitude towards the clothing and the body image that media has created. Is there an underlying idea in a women?s choice of clothing and is she trying to express something specific? Why do women buy the clothes they do? The aim with this thesis is to identify if there is a difference between people from an urban area and those from a small town, as well what role the geographic difference plays in how fashion conscious you are or how you choose your clothes.

The aim of this paper is in part to distinguish the ideas raised in the Swedish political debate on the new discrimination law in relation to protection of groups. Is protection by law against discrimination needed for the individual or the group? If it is needed for members of groups, are these groups viewed on as static or variable. Are there any conflicts present between group interests? We link these ideas to three different theoretical perspectives: multiculturalism, feminism and intersectionality and further examine the differences and contradictions between the perspectives represented by members of parliament.