Den maskulina kroppens dilemma

Statsvetenskaplig Tidskrift, 2009

2001

The purpose of this dissertation is to disseminate the construction of manliness and womanliness in sport and sports related research. The major research question is how sport and sports related research functions, on the one hand in the production of 'women' and 'men' as objects and subjects of knowledge, and on the other as a technique or procedure for regulating men's and women's behaviour and ways of reflecting upon themselves. The interest is thus aimed at how gendered subjects are made. Of particular interest is the concept of equal opportunities between women and men in sport as a new way of creating sexual/ gender difference. Michel Foucault's concept 'governmentality', roughly the relation between the histories of the practices of the self and the practices of government, serves as one important tool in this work. Empirically, the study derives from 22 interviews with teenagers and coaches in track and field athletics. The interviews comprises of three themes: 'me and other boys and girls in sport', 'the body' and 'the coach'. The teenagers' answers can simultaneously be seen as reproducing and opposing conventional perceptions of men as autonomous and goal achievement oriented, and women as dependent and relation oriented. What historical conditions have made this seemingly paradoxical situation possible? A genealogical study of the construction of sport, and of manliness and womanliness in sport and sports related scientific research, show that a patriarchal governmentality, where young men were seen as the only 'appropriate' competitive sportsmen, have successively been transformed into a social-liberal and a neo-liberal governmentality. In patriarchal discourses, a strong emphasis is put on gender differentiation and 'seriousness' (i.e. competition and performance) in sport. The sporting subject is constructed as a decidedly masculine subject. In social-liberal discourses, an emphasis is put on social relations and fellowship, and the sporting subject is constructed as a gender-neutral (and somewhat disembodied) subject. In neo-liberal discourses, the subject is constructed as an individual, however gender-specific (and heterosexual), subject. Neo-liberal discourses does not emphasise difference between subjects (social and physical difference), but difference inside the subject (individual). Modern power relations aim at procedures that occur inside the subject and not so much at what takes place between the subjects. The concept of gender equity between women and men has grown strong in sports discourse since the 70s. It can be seen as a practical strategy of guaranteeing women and men the opportunities to do the same things -competitive sport for instance. At the same time it performs two distinct and clearly differentiated gendered subjects, to be equalised. As such gender equity policies might be perceived as an apparatus that produces and regulates sexual/gender difference.

2015

The female chameleon-fashions importance in identity creating roleplay" focuses on how women are encouraged by fashion-and lifestyle related materials to create different identities and roles in everyday life. In the first part of the analysis it answers how women create roles when they actively engage in the process by seeking advice via different media. To understand identity-construction on a fundamental level it moves on to discuss how existential feelings are represented in its theoretical framework. The thesis continues by problematizing how feminine ideals are communicated by key participants in the fashion-and lifestyle business. In its final chapter this thesis argues that existential feelings such as fear of social embarrassment and anxiety will always play a part in women's process of creating identity. It positions itself by claiming that it does not believe that the individual has one authentic identity. The thesis argues that women must enter into an array of roles each day as they are faced with different responsibilities. It comes to the conclusion that that the effect negative feelings such as anxiety have on women could be lessened by a heightened awareness of how roleplaying effect the choices they make.

Statsvetenskaplig Tidskrift, 2014

Cartelization from a Gender Perspective The cartel party theory has generated a considerable research but not been discussed from a gender perspective. In general, the gender dimension was politicized later than the traditional cleavages that the cartel party theory discusses, which lead to an expectation that women delegates may be less affected by cartel tendencies, such as alienating from party grassroots, than men. The Swedish case in particular, however, also discloses that women representation to a considerable extent have been put forward by internal endeavors of parties, which resembles processes connected to cartelization. At the same time, research shows that women have evoked a stable and clear gender dimension in politics. Taken together, this might mean that strategies rooted in cartelization have come to undermine that same process. The article uses material from the Swedish Parliamentary Survey -, Gothenburg University, to discuss these propositions.

2014

2004

Den mentalhygieniska rörelsen under 1900-talet har kallats för den nya psykiatrins korståg i västvärlden. Det nya var ambitionen att utvidga den psykiatriska vetenskapen till att omfatta definitioner av psykisk hälsa och inte enbart definitioner av sjukdomstillstånd. Den ...

2015

2018

This is a dissertation about life style boutiques and the shopkeepers who operate them. Lifestyle boutiques are shops where a variety of goods and services is offered and staged as an overall concept, often targeted to specific groups and tastes with atmosphere-creating aesthetics. Aiming to understand how lifestyle is made into retail enterprising, this narrative ethnography describes and analyses stories about and from lifestyle boutiques. Taking point of departure in Pierre Bourdieu's field theory I depict lifestyle boutiques as an area within the field of retail where customers, influencers, media, retailers and suppliers gather around and negotiate specific conceptions and practices. The idea of the shopkeeper as part of a larger context where the forms and ideals for her occupation is negotiated works as an entry point to see and understand the order that organizes the lifestyle boutiques and the collective and symbolic structures where they are embedded.By putting the lif...

2012

2009

En del beslut gäller hela livet. En utvärdering av en cykelhjälmskampanj Referat (bakgrund, syfte, metod, resultat) max 200 ord: Syftet med studien är att utvärdera vilken effekt en riktad informationskampanj om cykelhjälmsanvändning i kombination med ett cykelhjälmsavtal fick på deltagarnas inställning till och användning av cykelhjälm. Ytterligare ett viktigt syfte är att tillämpa ett teoretiskt angreppssätt för att förklara vilka faktorer som påverkar avsikten att använda cykelhjälm. Ett icke-representativt urval bestående av anställda inom samma försäkringsbolag beläget på tre olika orter i Sverige valdes. Två fungerade som försöksgrupp och den tredje som en kontroll-eller jämförelsegrupp. Mätningar gjordes före och efter kampanjen. Utbildningskampanjen hölls av anställda vid Falck Ambulans och varade i en timme. Tyngdpunkten i kampanjen var att fokusera på olyckor och skador på hjärnan när man inte bär hjälm. Deltagarna fick också möjlighet att underteckna ett cykelhjälmskontrakt, vilket innebär att de fick en gratis hjälm om de lovade att använda den. Data samlades in med hjälp av en webbaserad enkät. Resultaten visade att andelen personer som använt hjälm vid cykling till arbetet hade ökat betydligt bland dem som deltagit i utbildningen. Undersökningen visade också att efter kampanjen var avsikten att använda hjälm större bland personer i försöksgruppen jämfört med kontrollgruppen. Då Teorin om Planerat Beteende (TPB) användes visade resultaten att den på ett övertygande sätt kunde förutsäga avsikten att bära hjälm. Den starkaste prediktorn var upplevd känsla av kontroll följt av subjektiv norm. Den svagaste TPB-prediktorn var attityd. Förklaringen av avsikten att använda hjälm förbättrades även då förväntad ånger och tidigare beteende lades till modellen. Resultaten från den Transteoretiska modellen visade att deltagarna i försöksgruppen i genomsnitt hade flyttat ett steg närmare förändring. Sammanfattningsvis kan det konstateras att en informationskampanj, som också omfattar inslag av förstärkning (dvs. att få en cykelhjälm efter att ha skrivit under ett avtal om att använda denna hjälm), på ett signifikant sätt ökar sannolikheten att använda cykelhjälm till arbetet.