My main purpose with this paper of John Steinbecks Of mice and men is to both analyze the long-lived structures and the unique individual destinies of the novel. I employ the method of the historical Annales-movement and use three divided levels in my analysis to try to capture these high structures and low moments of humanity in Structure, Konjuncture and the Individuality. The first level, Structure, is used to see how long-lived almost invisible geographic structures set the human act of condition. The second level, Konjuncture, is easier to grasp in understanding of time and embraces for example economic structures as the industrialism. The last level of Individuality is the fastest in time and easiest to understand but in the long run also the least important.

In this study, I examine how educators are working with gender. My focus has been on gender and literature. The questions I asked is how educators choose the books that are read in the preschools and if they discuss literature from a gender perspective? I used two methods in this study, observations and interviews. My main base of theory is Lev Vygotskijs? sociocultural theory.

The purpose of this thesis was to examine the ways in which the constructions of heterosexuality and gender in three Disney movies about princesses affect the power relations between men and women in the movies, and how discourses on gender and heterosexuality have changed over time. Research questions were:How do characters in the movies talk about gender and heterosexuality?How does the interplay between gender and heterosexuality affect the power relations between men and women in the movies?What are the likenesses and differences between movies from different time periods?Discourses were mapped out using a model based on Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe?s political theories. These discourses were then analyzed with a theoretical framework consisting of Yvonne Hirdman?s concept of gender system and gender contracts, Judith Butler?s view on the heterosexual matrix and an understanding of power relations based on Michel Foucault.

This study attempts a literature based reconstruction of the impact of globalisation and modernisation on the gender identities in Vietnam. Recognising the explanatory albeit normative capacity of critical theory ? specifically the feminist and globalisation critical approach ? this thesis argues that in spite of the economic benefits of modernisation, it enhances existing unequal structures. By focusing on women in the labour sector, simultaneously Vietnam's comparative advantage and one of its economically marginalised groups, a contradictory movement can be discovered. Notwithstanding the economic development, a regression in terms of women's possibilities to self-empowerment seems to cancel the benefits for the individual.

The purpose of this study was to find out what thoughts some preschool teachers had about gender andgender work. The aim was also to investigate whether preschool educational orientation had any impacton how teachers thought about gender and gender work.The scientific method for the study was qualitative research interviews. The interviews were conductedindividually with four preschool teachers from two different preschools. The first preschool was agender-oriented school and the other was a non-gender-oriented school.The results of the study show preschool teachers have good knowledge of gender and gender work andwhat they mean in preschool, and this is regardless of the pedagogical approach the preschool they?reworking for has.

The object of this essay is to discuss the relationship between the definition of the concept of gender equality and attitudes towards gender equality and their consequences for gender equality measures. The point of departure is feminist political theory and interviews about attitudes towards gender equality at a department at the University of Linköping. The conclusions of this study is that there are a wide range of definitions and attitudes, and these conceptions are not necessarily the same as those being pointed out in the official gender equality policy at the University of Linköping. In this study the opinions of measures for gender equality among the interviewed are widely spread. Some finding Swedish men and women already being equal and therefore there is no need for measures, since this would result in discrimination of men since women would gain advantages from being women.

The health care organisation is built upon a hierarchical and gender segregated structure. The purpose of this study is to investigate and describe interprofessional relations between nurses and doctors within this context and to examine which factors may affect this relationship. The theoretical framework for the study is Yvonne Hirdman's feminist discussion on gender issues. The method consists of a literature review and includes eight scientific articles and one PhD thesis. The results show that the relationship between nurses and doctors is affected by several factors, among them power, gender and communication.

The purpose of this study was to find out what thoughts some preschool teachers had about gender andgender work. The aim was also to investigate whether preschool educational orientation had any impacton how teachers thought about gender and gender work.The scientific method for the study was qualitative research interviews. The interviews were conductedindividually with four preschool teachers from two different preschools. The first preschool was agender-oriented school and the other was a non-gender-oriented school.The results of the study show preschool teachers have good knowledge of gender and gender work andwhat they mean in preschool, and this is regardless of the pedagogical approach the preschool they?reworking for has.

The aim of this thesis is to analyse the conceptualisation of the social relations of class and gender within the Social Democratic Women?s Association during the period 1972 ? 1993, on the basis of their programmes for action. The analysis of the concepts is based on an ideology critical study focusing on the manifest ideology.The study is based upon the theoretical concepts of class and gender,  The class analysis is based upon the broadened concepts of class by Erik Olin Wright and Ira Katznelson. The gender analysis is mainly based upon a Marxist understanding and a critical point of view of Marxism and feminism in the context of patriarchy and capitalism.The period of the study is where the social democracy is challenged, both by radical socialism and feminist ideology and the economic crisis during the 1980?s, as well as the possible threat of an organised women?s party in Sweden.

The picture book is the children's first contact with the world of literature. The aim of our study is to look at how children and adults are portrayed in the picture book, from a gender perspective. Our aim is to critically examine how girls and boys, men and women are presented when it comes to both characteristics and appearance. Our research also focuses on how the text and images complete each other and we conduct a qualitative text and image analysis. We use Nikolajevas (2000) analytical model for picture books and previous research that already exists within the subject.In our paper we have clarified the concepts related to gender: gender, gender roles, gender equality and the picture book.

This essay reflects upon how recruiters working at a recruitment-agency interpret their gender equality plan and their understanding of the term gender equality. This was done by semi-structured interviews with five recruiters. Through theories concerning the gender system, organization theory with a gender perspective and the doing-gender-perspective we have come to the conclusion that the employees of the company lack a coherent interpretation of gender equality. Concerning the gender equality plan there were diverse understandings of its meaning and the application of the plan is partly insufficient. As a recruitment agency there are a number of specific difficulties related to working towards gender equality.

The purpose of this study was to find out what thoughts some preschool teachers had about gender andgender work. The aim was also to investigate whether preschool educational orientation had any impacton how teachers thought about gender and gender work.The scientific method for the study was qualitative research interviews. The interviews were conductedindividually with four preschool teachers from two different preschools. The first preschool was agender-oriented school and the other was a non-gender-oriented school.The results of the study show preschool teachers have good knowledge of gender and gender work andwhat they mean in preschool, and this is regardless of the pedagogical approach the preschool they?reworking for has.

The essay discusses how to look at a equality plan of a academic department experiences the, gender equality in general and how power is portrayed from a gender perspective in the academic department. Through the use of qualitative interviews and a short survey the results have shown that few of the staff members have knowledge about the equality plan and few are familiar with its contents. Furthermore results show that the academic department is run hierarchyilly and that both vertical and horizontal gender segregation exists.The climate at the academic department is characterized by the will to work with gender equality but so far there have only been few exercised or planned efforts to do so. The gap between theory and practise is wide, the will to be seen as an equal academic department concerning equality of men and women seems important. The conscious or unconscious strategy of covering up the real gender equality seems to be done by focusing on the numerical equality..

In this study I?ve used qualitative interviews to examine four male preschool teachers? interpretations of gender and their work with gender in preschool. Specifically, I?ve been interested in what thoughts male teachers have about the preschool gender assignment, how they express these thoughts in their work, and how they perceive their role as men in preschool in relation to gender and gender equality. The teachers express that the preschool gender assignment means that one should treat girls and boys equally and give them the same opportunities.

The aim of my thesis was to examine if educators need to be critical of what they read to the children from a gender perspective. I examined how picture books depict gender and if the books enhances or breaks perception of gender roles. I also examined educator?s perception of gender and if they think picture books can affect children?s perceptions of gender, but also what educators think about gender equality through picture books. The study is based on analysis of five picture books and interview with five educators.The results of analyzes showed that picture books are stereotyped and enhances perceptions of gender roles.