This thesis analyzes contemporary Swedish discourse on Russia, i.e. the ways Russia and Russians are perceived in Sweden today. After a summary of historical Western and Swedish perceptions of Russia, and a discussion about the treatment of these tensions within modern research, contemporary Swedish discourse is reconstructed based upon analytical articles in three major newspapers during the period 1992-2007. It is argued that the prevailing image of Russia contains the reproduction of old Stereotypes and prejudices. The five major representations of Russia in contemporary Swedish discourse are: non-Western, unreliable, authoritarian, threatening and eternal, with the last one being a meta-representation functioning both as a representation of its own and a mechanism for the reification of the others.

The South African nation and society have experienced significant changes and reforms over the last decade. Less than ten years ago black and white people were not even allowed to share a bench in a park. Today they are expected to live side by side in what is called a"Rainbow Nation". When a new society is built language plays an important part. The language constantly reproduces daily the small things that identify a nation and the people living in it.

This study has the purpose to reveal whether gender Stereotypes are manifested or challenged in the children comic Bamse - världens starkaste björn based on six different stories widespread over 40 years. The results will be studied in the light of the contemporary gender development in society and emanate from theories about power, discourse, representation, queer and gender. An eclectic analysis based on semiotics and critical discourse analysis will be the method to reveal the underlying gender perspective in Bamse. The conclusion of the study shows an ambiguous perspective in the comic where both men and women occasionally are represented in a manifested as well as a challenged stereotypical role. In some of the stories the gender is erased and all characters are represented based on their individual attributes instead, meanwhile in some stories men are represented as active heroes while women are portrayed as passive nurturer.

Det finns stereotyper om kvinnor med olika hårfärg och stereotyper påverkar människors empati och bedömning. Därför gjordes ett kvasiexperiment där det undersöktes om en kvinnlig brottsling väcker olika mycket empati beroende på (a) vilken hårfärg hon har och (b) empatisörens kön. I studien deltog 132 personer, varav 61 kvinnor och designen var en enkät där experimentgruppen fick läsa om en gärningskvinna som antingen var blond, brunhårig, svarthårig eller rödhårig och därefter skatta empati utifrån Batsons empatiskala. Resultaten visade att (a) blondiner väcker minst empati medan rödhåriga väcker mest (b) kvinnor  känner högre empati än män och (c) empati stiger med åldern. Dessa resultat förklarades bland annat med att blondiner mer än rödhåriga ses som objekt i samhället och är därför mindre empativäckande, att kvinnor i högre grad än män förväntas vara empatiska då det är detta beteende som förväntas av kvinnorollen samt att empati är något som utvecklas med tiden..

The earlier studies of how gender is visually constructed in lifestyle magazines have mainly been done on photographs. But, photographs are only one part of the entire magazine Therefor3, we saw the importance in examining one of the other big parts, typography.We have been studying if gender can be constructed in lifestyle magazines through the shape and color of typography and the color context. It is important to point out that we have not been studying the written word but only the shape and color of the typography.The study has been conducted through a qualitative content analysis with a comparative process of the selected magazines. The analysis began with a semiotic analysis of selected parts of the magazines. The result was then analyzed with a feminist theoretical approach.The result of the study shows that gender can be constructed through typography in a number of different ways.

The aim of this study is to examine the opinions of eight 12-year old boys and girls about two comics; Sabrina ? tonårshäxan (Sabrina ? teenage witch) and Spiderman. Do children see gender differences in the two comics? Do boys and girls identify with the heroes in the comics and does this affect the children's own gender socialisation. We interviewed four boys and four girls from different parts of Sweden.

The purpose of this study was to examine gender depiction in picture books in preschools. Our experience is that many picture books contain old-fashioned gender Stereotypes. During the analysing process, we used the following theories: Yvonne Hirdman?s theory about the stereotypic gender contract and Lev Vygotskij?s theory about experiences increasing our ability to fantasize. We read through 154 picture books in two preschools and categorized them into two categories: normative and non-normative books.

On December 20, 2001, the Swedish citizen Mehdi Ghezali was captured on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Ghezali spent the following 930 days in U.S. captivity, without being charged with any crime. My aim in this essay is to analyze how Ghezali was portrayed in three Swedish newspapers under and after his captivity, two nationwide and one local newspaper based in Ghezali's hometown. My purpose is to see whether Ghezali's identity is constructed differently in the three newspapers, as regards The Other, Stereotypization, etc.

Studier har visat att frivilligt barnlösa individer stereotypt har betraktats vara olyckliga och otillfredsställda, något som inte har fått vetenskapligt stöd. Syftet med den här tvärsnittsstudien var att undersöka om det föreligger några skillnader i livskvalitet och livstillfredsställelse mellan frivilligt barnlösa personer och föräldrar i den svenska populationen. Forskningsfrågan undersöktes med en enkät som bestod av självskattningsskalorna QOLI (Quality Of Life Inventory) och SWLS (Satisfaction With Life Scale). 130 deltagare genomförde studien varav 54 är frivilligt barnlösa individer och 76 är föräldrar. Studien visade att det inte finns några signifikanta skillnader mellan grupperna med avseende på livskvalitet och livstillfredsställelse.

The present study tested the prediction that male offenders are judged more harsly than female offenders for involving in a violent crime. Three-hundred and fifty-four adult students (163 men, 190 women, 1 unspecified gender) evaluated a hypothetical crimescenario describing a violent conflict between two parties, as part of a 2 (Informants Gender: Male/Female) x 3 (Offender Gender Triad: Male/Female/Neutral) x 3 (Victim Gender Triad: Male/Female/Neutral) between-subjects design. In situations involving male offenders, compared to female offenders, the informants judged the male offenders more harshly which exposed a double standard, as we expected. Informants also believed that it was more likely that a male offender was a recidivist..

The purpose of this thesis is to study how homosexuals and homosexuality were represented in the press during the trials against the Pentecostal pastor Åke Green, and to what kind of social representations and narratives these representations can be related.Using critical discourse analysis and theories about the differentiation between in- and outgroups I try to unveil implicit meanings and attitudes towards gay people mainly at the local text level. The material consists of articles in Ölandsbladet and Dagens Nyheter that were produced before, during and after the trials.The analysis suggests that homosexuals are construed as a deviant outgroup and that the majority, the ingroup, is presented as an essentially heterosexual, tolerant community. Homosexuality is wrong and heterosexuality is the right way of living. Homosexuals, in terms of group lobbyism, are construed as an enemy, a threat, against Western ideals such as family values and freedom of speech. They indirectly become a threat to Swedish democracy.

The purpose of the study was to inquire into pupils? attitude towards the current beauty ideal from a gender- and an ethnicity perspective. The study was based on a quantitative survey among 116 young students about prevailing beauty ideal from two different schools in the Stockholm area. The result showed that the students are partially characterized by the stereotyped images of women and men but that there are tendencies towards another view especially among the girls. It is however clear that appearance still is important.

This Master?s Thesis aims to examine the attitudes concerning gender issues among children?s librarians. The main purpose is to examine what their views on the subject are, and if they consider gender issues when acquiring and mediating books. We are also interested in their opinions about gender stereotyping in children?s books.

This study has as its purpose to reveal whether female and male entrepreneurs are offered the same kind of conditions in their role of entrepreneurs in their respective media representation. This is studied by analyzing portrayals in the magazine Entreprenör (Br.E. ?Entrepreneur?). Methodologically the analysis will be making use of textual analysis, semiotics and discourse analysis in order to expose the underlying gender perspective(s) in Entreprenör.The entrepreneur portrayals? texts and visuals will be studied in the light of gender and entrepreneur theory, and more specifically on the basis of theories about representation, discourse and Stereotypes.The main conclusion of the study is that female and male entrepreneurs are not offered the same conditions in their roles of entrepreneurs in a medium such as Entreprenör.

The aim of this study was to examine which norms are applicable and how they are reproduced in two sports organisations. More specifically the aim was to find out how the leaders worked with gender roles and what message the organisations give out to young people. And at the same time, find out if there are similarities and differences between two different organisations, regarding norms and gender roles.  The study was based on observations and interviews. The observations were made during and after training in an ice hockey team and two gymnastic teams for girls nine to thirteen years old. The interviews were conducted with seven leaders and one senior ice-hockey player.