The purpose of the thesis Masculinities ? Gender and its Impact on the Social conditions of individuals is to perform a critical study of how gendered norms influence the social conditions of individuals. This has been done by a problematization and the attempt to answer the question of how the hegemonical masculinity can be analyzed as a discourse, and how the structural aspects of this discourse inflict on the social conditions of masculinities.The question was divided into the analytical themes: the boarders of the discourse, the institutionalization of the discourse, the actuation of the discourse and the agents of the discourse. The theoretical frame is constituted by the theory of discourse by Michel Foucault, the theory of the hegemonical masculinity by R.W. Connell and a subversive identity theory by Judith Butler.

The aim of our study was to examine how homosexual and heterosexual men and women are represented in the Swedish magazine QX, a magazine for gay, bisexual and transgender people. We wanted to find out what kind of roles the persons in QX appears in, and inquire the relationships that exist between them.We analyzed the texts in twelve magazines, from December 2008 to November 2009, in order to get the most current results as possible. We used a discourse analysis, with focus on identities, relationships and the representation of the world. Representations, gender, Hegemonic masculinity and stereotypes have been significant theories to analyze our results.The results showed that the successful gay man is the most important person in QX. He is the perfect masculine macho fagot, who is highest in rank.

The thesis explores representations of fatherhood in the Swedish blog 'Hemliga pappan' ('Secret/Anonymous Daddy'). The purpose is to identify three themes in the blog material; The Father, The Son and The Partner. I have performed this study using discourse analysis as methodological tool and Critical Studies on Masculinities and Fatherhood as theoretic approach. The theories are Social Constructionist and consist of sociologists and socio-psychologists as Connell, Hearn and Johansson. Important theoretic concepts are the presence and absence of the father as well as Hegemonic masculinity.

This study is a qualitative content analysis which sets out to examine the representation of stereotypic masculine traits amongst the main characters in two films from The Swedish Institute of Film's (Svenska Filminstitutets) selection for ?School Cinema? (Skolbio). The study is operationalised through the use of a scheme, constructed by Lorraine Evans and Kimberly Davies for their study No sissy boys here, which maps stereotypical masculine and feminine traits and originates from Sandra Lipsitz Bems ?Sex Role Inventory?. The masculine traits in the scheme are: aggressive, competitive, argumentative, decisive, assertive, risk-taking, self-reliant and adventurous, and the feminine are: affectionate, emotionally expressive, impetuous, nurturing, panicky, passive, tender, and understanding.

The aim of this study has been to examine, describe and analyze how masculinities can be represented and understood among boys in a Swedish primary school context. The study was conducted within a school located in a small community on the country side. Through the use of a qualitative research design we interviewed 13 boys from the fifth grade of this school, who all got to express and reason their perspectives of what it meant to them to be a boy in primary school and how that could impact their social life. For a wider understanding of the different dimensions of masculinity we used R.W. Connell's (2008) theoretical framework, Hegemonic masculinity, which implies that there are multiple definitions of masculinities that are constructed in relation to each other in a hierarchical order.

Purpose/Aim: This study is an analysis of the view on masculinity, male sexuality and creation of identity with the television series Queer as folk as a base. The analysis is partly based on a semiotic analysis of the representation of masculinity and male sexuality from an episode of the chosen television series Queer as folk, and partly based on a thematic analysis of focus group discussions with young men with different sexualities.Material/Method: This study is based on focus group interviews and a semiotic and thematic analysis. The focus groups consisted of three men in three different groups and were chosen on the criteria of gender and sexuality. All groups were presented with an episode of the television series Queer as folk to see how they perceived masculinity and male sexuality. Their discussions were analyzed with a thematic analysis and the television series Queer as folk with a semiotic analysis.Main results: The three analyzed characters in Queer as folk showed different representations of masculinity and male sexuality.

The aim of this study was to explore and try to understand the subject of AnabolicAndrogenic Steroids (AAS) from the users own perspective. Four qualitativeinterviews with former AAS-users was carried out to find out why the informantsstarted and continued to use AAS, and what benefits and disadvantages theyexperienced in relation to their use of AAS. Two of the interviews were conductedby telephone, and the other two in person. One of our main results was that maleusers of AAS in our study tried to attain a higher status in society, which we haveexplained with Connells theory about Hegemonic masculinity. The two othertheories used in the study are Erving Goffmans Stigma Theory and SystemTheory.

Our study describes how much influence and importance Zlatan Ibrahimovic has on a part of Malmö called Rosengård where he himself grew up. We made interviews with 16 children in the ages of six to ten. The theoretic views applied in this study come from Robert Connell?s Notions of masculinity and William Corsaro?s Sociology of childhood. The questions we answer in this study are; if Zlatan has any influence on the children in Rosengård? How do children and media look at Zlatan and the myth that surrounds him? How does the picture of Zlatan Ibrahimovic get constructed amongst the children? How does Hegemonic masculinity present itself amongst the peer-cultures of the children in Rosengård? Our study shows that Zlatan has no influence amongst the children we interviewed.

In this study I will analyze how men who buy sex interact with one another on two different Internet communities: ?Sekreterarakademin? and ?Flashback?. This analysis is carried out in an attempt to challenge the conventional image of the man who pays for sex.The aim is to examine the role of Internet forums for men who buy sexual services related to cross-border, both in terms of standard borders, gender boundaries, boundaries of sexuality and masculinity. I will also attempt to investigate what opportunities that are available to overrun different borders and how these opportunities affect the conditions of the various players. I will evaluate theories such as homosocialtet, Hegemonic masculinity and normalization used by KAST (Köpare Av Sexuella Tjänster, the Swedish public support for clients of sexual services) and which are partially consolidated in studies published by KAST concerning issues related to internet based prostitution..

The survey aims to problematize masculinity in the exhibitions of the museum.  In what way is masculinity interpreted and valued in exhibitions? What is the attitude towards masculinity in gender oriented museological texts? This study investigates in which way masculinity is written about ? how interpretations of masculinity emerge in the texts and what consequences this may have.The survey is based on the method of discourse analysis and the material is processed from a gender perspective. The source material consists of museological texts dealing with the topic of gender and museology, which also is the core material. A complement to this is a selection of exhibition catalogs from museums as well as reviews which are also based on art exhibitions. The main point of the source material consists of the museological texts.The survey highlights that the gender-conscious museological discourse understands, interpret and evaluate masculinity on a more or less given regulatory framework.

This study indicates that research about men and masculinity does not appear to have advanced as far as research about women and femininity. Similarly to attitudes concerning women and femininity, clear norms and attitudes regarding men and masculinity pervade society. Hence, there is a clear need for further research within this field to be carried out. This study, with the support of previous research, looks at gender norms which exist in educational material and the impact it might have on students. Against this backdrop, the author has focused the analysis on one textbook as educational material at upper secondary level with particular emphasis on masculinity and its associated norms.

In this study I examine the representation of masculinity in the manga, Naruto. The manga is about the orphan Naruto, who, together with other children goes to a ninja school. Boys and girls study and practice together, at first sight seemingly without emphasized gender differences. As the story continues, the gender differences are, however, quite obvious and to the boys advantage.I find the difference between Naruto and other popular culture ususally presented to pre-bubertal and teenage boys to be considerable. Whereas the domination of women and the message that you can get as far as you wish, are common in American and west produced popular culture as well as in Naruto, the difference lies in how the success is achieved. The men in Naruto reach their goals by allowing their feelings to be seen and expressed.

Islamic masculinity which quite often associates with oppression of women has remained an underexaminated category despite its constant presence in the debate on honour related oppression. Honour has primarily been studied from a feminine point of view and theories of masculinity have taken insignificant interest in the issue of honour. The aim of this study is to understand what attitudes boys/young men from the Muslim world have toward native Swedish men and what these attitudes do imply for their own conceptions of masculinity and honour. The ambition of this study is also to make explicit the similarities, differences and connections between honour and masculinity.The empirical basis of this study consists of twelve interviews with boys/young men from the Muslim world about their notions of honour and masculinity. The theoretical platform arises from theories of masculinities and honour.Some prominent ?patterns? that I have found:- That religious norms and rules appear to be significant in how the masculine manners of conduct should be adjusted.- That honour and women as carriers of men?s honour, play a crucial role for the constitution of proper masculinity.- That the Swedish context and its policy of equality seem to threaten the obviousness of the islamic masculinity.

Hur man som kvinna eller man ska agera är något som funnits med oss sedan barnsben. Men i Japan har man i högre grad än i exempelvis Sverige inte bara lärt sin barn hur de bör agera utan även hur de bör tala. Japan har genusorienterat språk känt som dansei-go och josei-go vilket betyder manligt och kvinnligt språk. Beroende på vilket första-persons pronomen, satsfinala partiklar eller formalitetsnivå man använder kan man i Japan tala manligt eller kvinnligt. Forskning kring kvinnligt språk och dess koppling med kvinnans samhällsstatus är ett väl utforskat område medan dess motsvarighet mannen och mansidealen har försummats.

This thesis aims to spread some light over the phenomena of gender construction in the upper secondary school. The background of this thesis is the gender gap in education. Girls are more successful in school and receive better grades than boys. The explanation that is given for this is that pupils are limited by far to rigid gender roles (DEJA 2010). The question is how these gender roles ? and specifically masculinity ? are constructed.