Kvinnor och män i avlönat omsorgsarbete
Hur kön, etnicitet och sexualitet kommer till uttryck i tal och handling på ett sjukhem
The aim of this study was to describe and analyse the constructions andinterplay of gender, ethnicity and sexuality between female and male careworkersand residents in a nursing home. To explore this from a qualitativeeveryday life?s approach, material was collected through participating observations,interviews, and informal conversation with careworkers and residents.The result points out that historical patterns of gender and caring relatedto this context still matter and affect both careworkers and residents. Forexample, female careworkers talked about the concept of caring as a genuinefemale experience, while male careworkers, who were in a minority, insteadtalked about caring in more gender-neutral words. The result also indicatesthat a larger number of male careworkers not necessarily leads to a highergrade of gender equality. Instead, the presence of male careworkers made thetraditional gender-power order more visible.When analyzing outcomes of the interplay of gender, ethnicity and sexuality,it was obvious that this was a complicated process. On one hand thisinterplay of different categories seemed to affect female and male careworkersin a similar way. On the other hand the interplay of gender, ethnicity andsexuality can confront female and male careworkers with different types ofdilemmas. Therefore, an attempt to understand the position and experienceof being a careworker with non-Swedish background or being a nonheterosexualcareworker must include a gender-perspective.A main result from the study was that the careworkers supported the residentsto perform their social gender-identity through the daily interactions.These interactions were foremost influenced by the careworkers? own expectationsabout older women?s and older men?s needs and behaviour. The fourgender-constellations that occurred in the care-interactions also differedfrom each other with regard to what careworkers and residents talked about,and how they talked and acted. Even if the outcome from different types ofgendered meetings differed, there were also some similarities. It was obviousthat both female and male careworkers seemed to think and talk about thefemale residents as more dependent and vulnerable than male residents. Toconclude, traditional norms and a gender-power order that influences societyalso affects careworkers and residents in the nursing home.