This essay focuses on the implementation of the strategy gender mainstreaming in the European Union and the member states. It starts to identify problems connected to the implementation process and recognizes significant prerequisites for an efficient implementation of the strategy. The main problems and prerequisites are: political will, governance and structure and knowledge about gender equality. The empirical material consists of reports from the EU that touches upon gender mainstreaming and gender equality. The problems and prerequisites will be analysed in relation to the governance perspectives top-down and bottom-up and expert bureaucratic and participative democratic and gender and feminism.

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.

In Stockholm there are currently five women, out of a total of 102 employees, working in public sports arenas. In sports arenas men are numerically superior amongst the workers as well as the visitors. These arenas are in many ways male dominated, masculinized environments. In this essay I investigate the reasons behind the uneven distribution, in terms of gender, among sports arena workers. I do this by interviewing seven female sports arena workers (the five current and two former), and by observing their workplaces.

Female musicians and actors are being disadvanteged in the music industry, because of standards that prevents women from participating on equal terms. Unequal distribution of resources and status depends on power structures which creates an hierarchy. This study is about how an organization, Femtastic, works for equality and diversity in the field of music, how they experience their positions and their possibilities. Also how they relate to the cultural policy objectives. Femtastic is trying to create a structural change in the male-dominated music industry.

AbstractThe school today has an assignment to offset traditional gender patterns as well as to create opportunities for all pupils to achieve the same good results in school regardless of sex, ethnicity and conditions. The educator?s assignment is determined by governing documents, and the educator plays a role in helping the pupil find their equal role in society. This means that the educator needs to work in a way that offsets traditional gender patterns and require approaches that would benefit equal opportunities for both boys and girls to achieve good results.The purpose of the study was, through interviews, to get an idea of how primary school teachers from a gender equal perspective perceive how they see them relate to boys and girls in their teachings. The study is based on the presumptions that the pupils have but focusing on the relationship between school achievements and equality.The study brings up concepts like gender theories, equality, the biological sexes, the history of the schools development and changes in acceptance of boys and girls and the role of the governing documents to reach acceptable achievements.

The purpose of this degree project is to study a work evaluation project in a municipality, on the basis of key participants. The municipality is the employer, per-forming the workplace project and the chief objective is to reach gender equality between the employees. Equal pay for equal work. Through work evaluation is it pos-sible to find out which of a lot of different jobs, which have equal requirements. The jobs, which have equal requirements, should have equal pay.

The purpose of this study is to examine the implementation of the Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, CEDAW, in Uppsala local council and county council. The aim is to examine how the respondents, in their daily work, understand and implement the convention as well as how they consider the prerequisites for a successful implementation. The study was conducted using qualitative interviews with three civil servants and four politicians. The theoretical approach was implementation theory whose concepts willingness, comprehension and capability were used as tools for the analysis. The results portray CEDAW as a well-known treaty amongst the respondents but at the same time absent in local politics and everyday work.

This essay is a discourse and a feminist theoretical analysis that focuses on the alternative discourse that we consider Feminist Initiative to be constitutive of. Our theoretical stance, with base in Laclau and Mouffes discourse theory, builds on the notion that reality is characterised by conflicts between different competing discursive formations and that the social is an endless struggle over the preferential right of interpretation of meaning. More specifically, the essay focuses on the discursive struggle over the meaning of the term politics. It is our understanding that the dominant perception of politics necessarily excludes other understandings, which can according to Eduards, be explained as a consequence of a patriarchal distribution of power that renders the subordination of certain understandings of politics accordingly. Feminist Initiative, as an alternative discourse, can therefore be perceived as a threat to the dominating discourse of politics, which in order to maintain its preferential right of interpretation seek to illegitimatise and depoliticise the politics that the alternative discourse represents.

Sex equality law within the European Union is well developed and has since the Rome Treaty, given rise to several directives and other judicial acts on this matter of community law. The concepts of direct and indirect discrimination emerge from the general principles of Equal pay and Equal treatment and have been codified and amended several times until present.The lasts years, authors within the field of Equality Law has been pointing out that there is a common desire for simplification of discrimination law in Europe. The question has arisen whether this simplification could be implemented trough the introduction of a general justification defence for direct sex discrimination.The concept of direct sex discrimination - when a person of one gender is treated less favourably, on the grounds of gender, than a person of the other gender would be treated in similar circumstances - leaves no possibilities for such justification today. Indirect sex discrimination ? which arises from the equal application of neutral rules that shows an adverse impact on one group ? can be justified if the rule answers to true requirements of the job.Does the proposition that direct discrimination should be justified find support in the inconsistency of the present legislation? This paper will examine this and other questions concerning the wish for a general justification defence through studies of case law from the European Court of Justice as well as differing opinions from authors within the field of equality law..

The purpose of this study is to analyze picture books from a gender perspective. The books are found in a book box that the libraries send out to preschools. This study is based on the following questions:How are boys and girls portrayed in picture books?Do the picture books encourage or discourage the principles of equality found in the Curriculum for the Pre-School and the equality work conducted in the preschools?I performed a qualitative text and picture analysis of 12 picture books. I used Maria Nikolajeva and Kajsa Wahlströms schedule of typical masculine and feminine qualities and activities when analysing the picture books.

The right wing party the Sweden Democrats is through their conservative and nationalist approach and socio-political heritage, connected to various extreme-right populist movements, which have all been in conflict with different branches of feminism. This connection is argued for in relation to the research survey. The party has likewise been accused of pursuing misogynistic, homophobic and racist politics, but differ from its ideological peers due to their outspoken equality policy. The party shows strong rejection of discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation or geographical, religious or ethnical background. In the analysis chapter of this study, texts produced by members of the party are analyzed by means of parts of Karlberg and Mral?s rhetoric analysis method, aiming to clarify what ideals of family and the roles within it are being constructed.

Media brings attention to the concept of preschools being in large need of more male teachers. In order to implement an increase of male teachers, various methods have been employed, most of which are based on the concepts of gender and equality. In question however, are the views of present teachers on the need for male teachers, and their expectations of those men! Or in other terms: What particular type of men are requested? And how does this correspond with the gender patterns induced by male teachers in their daily practical work? The purpose of this survey is to analyze expectations of male teachers and their role in the preschool context, through a gender perspective. I want to shed light on this purpose based on two questions: What ?kind? of men are requested by the present teachers? and Which gender patterns will the men induce to their daily work chores, and to their interaction with the children? The survey was conducted by means of interviews, polls, and observations, and the results were obtained from two preschools of which one in particular has extended focus on gender issues.

The number of female officers employed in the Armed Forces is low. Of the total proportion officers, female stand for 4.8 %. The Armed Forces are currently working actively to level out the distribution. This paper is intended to create a better understanding of the slow increase in female officers in the Swedish Armed Forces. The study is qualitative and the results from the data collection have been based partly on a text analysis, partly on a theme-based group interview in which three themes have been discussed.

The following study was undertaken in the spring of 2005 in Helsingborg, Sweden.It presents a study of the experience and values six young couples have related to parenting and gender equality. Twelwe people, six women and six men, were interviewed about the above mentioned topics related to their new found role as parents. How did these women and men choose to assign or elaborate their role as parents in terms of household chores and parental leave? Did they consider their parenthood to be equal or did they feel that their role as parents had already been assigned based on their gender? What were the decisive factors, if any, that determined their parenting roles?Although this study is relatively limited, the results are compatible with other published studies and indicate that young parents of today, without consideration to their gender, have a traditional view on parenting. The study also indicates that the attitudes seem to be established by traditional values, norms as well as sexualgender.

ABSTRACT Essay in political science, C-level by Chris Baldebo spring semester 2010. Tutor: Arne Larsson. ?Women?s conditions in municipal politics in the municipality of Karlstad - Six politicians tell?.  The purpose of this paper is to explore women?s conditions in the municipal political work in the municipality of Karlstad.