Browsing by Subject "maskuliinisuus"
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(2021)Objectives. As a future teacher, who identifies as a female, I felt the need to expand my knowledge of the expectations that agents of other genders, in addition to females, face. This study came to being from the need to examine what expectations are placed in executing masculinity. Connell’s (1995) theory of hegemonic masculinity is a central basis of this study. Hegemonic masculinity is a normative model of the most respected way of being a man while only few men are truly able to reach this. A list of hegemonic masculinity’s expectations composed by Arto Jokinen (2000) worked as a basis for five ideals which I searched from the study material: strength, success, control of emotions, power and heterosexuality. This set of expectations creates positions of dominance and subordination between men. I therefore expanded the purpose of the study to examine the ways in which boys organize hierarchies between each other. The purpose of this study is to describe, analyze and interpret the manifestation of ideals of masculinity in upper comprehensive school aged boys and their ways of organizing hierarchies between each other. Methods. I received the material from a study project called Local Educational Ethos (LEE). The material was composed of nine single- or group interviews and together there were 16 interviewees. This material I analyzed in a qualitative, theory directed content analysis method. Results and conclusions. All five ideals of masculinity were able to be identified from the material. The normativity of hegemonic masculinity is extended to affect upper compulsory school aged boys. The ways of organizing hierarchies Bullying, verbal teasing and calling other pupils gay stood out from the material as ways of organizing hierarchies. This observation is in line with the presented theories of organizing hierarchies.
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(2023)Previous research suggests that following a vegetarian/vegan diet or lifestyle can be challenging for men due to the surrounding community and the norms of masculinity in society. The initiation and adherence to a vegetarian/vegan diet may have to be justified or excused, and on the other hand, there may be a rebellion against the norms. Due to various tensions, models of masculinity can either be consciously modified, challenged, or compensated. This study deepens the understanding of the topic by examining the own experiences of vegetarian/vegan men regarding the relationship between masculinity and diet. In particular, research focuses on how men perceive the influence of hegemonic masculinity norms in society on adopting and following a vegetarian diet. The research has been carried out using qualitative methods. The focus is on adult vegetarian/vegan men who were recruited for the study through Facebook's “Sipsikaljavegaanit” community. The data was compiled in January-February 2023 using an online questionnaire. The form included open-ended questions, in addition to which background information was collected through multiple-choice questions. The survey was answered by 251 men who define themselves as vegetarians/vegans, 206 of whom experienced that the norms of masculinity had in some way affected their diet or its implementation. The analysis focused on the responses of the latter individuals. The data was analysed by means of theory-based content analysis, with the help of Atlas.ti software. The results of the study show that the norms of masculinity had influenced the previous food behavior of many respondents, emphasizing meat consumption and reducing the consumption of vegetables. Switching to a vegetarian diet and talking about it was considered challenging for many. With the change in mentality, efforts were made to challenge the masculine norm of meat consumption. More than half of the respondents said they had encountered ridicule, joking and/or questioning of vegetarianism/veganism and masculinity. Many people found the questioning distressing, but not everyone was bothered by it, because for some, masculinity was not a desirable trait. The traditionally masculine appearance soothed the commentary on the vegetarian/vegan diet. Also, the example of physically powerful men seemed to normalize vegetarian diets for some men. Many respondents felt it was important to form their own definition of masculinity, and some men used the vegetarian/vegan diet as a tool to rebel against the norms of masculinity. Based on the results, it can be interpreted that the norms of masculinity present many men with challenges when it comes to following a vegetarian/vegan diet. The biggest challenges occurred when other men sought to question or discount those who followed a vegetarian/vegan diet. From the results, it can be concluded that traditional, hegemonic masculinity is not very widely manifested among vegetarian/vegan men, but most of them implement hybrid or alternative masculinities. Many men expand the definitions of masculinity beyond traditional notions, partly for other men as well. With this type of activity, the problematic culture of restriction between men could be changed towards a culture of support between men.
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(2020)Gender diversity is one of the notable concepts that has been recently incorporated into the field of education by the new Finnish national curriculum. Gender diversity challenges gender binary. This study researches the concept of gender from the perspective of gender performativity, focusing on masculinity. Multiple forms of masculinities exist, with hierarchies within. The goal of this research is to find out how children analyze gender performativity, especially masculinity, and how they categorize a child from a video according to their gender performativity. This research was conducted through semi-structured thematic interviews where participating children watched provided material. Interviews were mostly admistered as pair interviews. The interviewed children were between the ages of 7 and 12. There were a total of 30 interviewees. The collected data was analyzed by membership categorization analysis and partly using ethnomethodology and discourse analysis. The results indicate complexity of gender category, a category of an abnormal boy and a category of the bullied. Also, the discourse of courage and the discourse of tolerance were evident from the data. Complexity of gender category included negotiation of the features that belong to the categories of a boy and a girl, and whether the child’s performative was an act or real. In the category of an abnormal boy, the child was viewed as odd and peculiar. In the category of the bullied, the child was seen in a role of a bullied person, which raised empathy among the interviewees. In the discourse of courage, the child was presented as courageous and daring because he was not afraid of exposing himself to bullying. In the discourse of tolerance, the interviewed children followed the surrounding discourse of tolerance and mirrored polyphonic speech. The research shows that children are perceptive and versatile at analyzing gender performativity. The research highlights the need for children’s perspective in gender and sexuality research.
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(2017)In all times and in every culture, there has been mutual consensus about the norms that define what kind of features has been seen feminine, masculine or gender neutral. The purpose of this research was to describe thru applied statistic methods what kind of features Finnish parents of 0-6-years-old children consider masculine, feminine of neutral in children's clothes. Besides this question the research aimed to reveal how children's clothing is considered to effect on the development of one's identity, what is parents' view on social norms and does one's age, education or residential area effect on how they view the gender aspect of children's clothes. The research was carried out as an internet survey in Mars 2017. The link to survey was shared on Facebook, in various kinds of parenting groups as well as on private users' walls. After the raw data was defines, the sample of participant was 2130. In the analysis both SPSS 24 and Excel were used as well as manual analyzing. The research data showed that most of the participants considered survey's clothes gender neutral, but still there were some clear features that were seen gendered. E.g. darker shades of blue and vehicles were associated with masculinity, whereas different shades of pink and floral prints were connected to femininity. Furthermore, the clothes connected primarily to femininity had higher percentage of feminine answers than what those connected primarily to masculinity had answers for masculine. The statements about social norm and identity development reviled that clothes are seen to effect on child's identity, though emphasising child's own will of choice. The answers also show that the traditional norms are recognised, but simultaneously it is evident that the outlook on them is on change. The underlying factors of the participants did not seem to have remarkable effect on how they viewed the clothes. Nevertheless, those participants with higher education or who lived in Uusimaa region were slightly more likely to consider clothes gender neutral than other participants of the survey. The theme for the research could be taken further thru many ways by changing the research frame, e.g. focusing on children's clothes of different age groups or on the models and patterns of children's clothes.
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(2022)The climate effects of food, and especially meat, have been in the news for a long time, and are prone to raise heated debate among Finnish consumers. The purpose of this paper is to examine how young, meat-eating men have experienced the climate debate to affect their eating habits, and how they rationalize their meat eating. This research concerns the field of food studies in home economics sciences, by examining the effect of food on the climate, and the effect of these climate effects on the consumer. The material used in this study is from a survey conducted by Helsingin Sanomat in the spring of 2020, concerning the food choices of consumers. The survey collected 23 000 re-sponses. The focus of this study was the 404 men between the ages of 25 and 34, who did not follow any form of plant-based diet, and their answers to an open-ended question about the effects of the climate debate on their eating. The answers were examined qualitatively us-ing theory-led content analysis. As a result of the research, six content categories were composed, describing the respondents’ experiences: climate skepticism and indifference; Finnish, local and organic food; reduced consumption of animal products; price, quality, and preparation; health and other ecological choices. From the results we can conclude that many respondents had a highly skeptical attitude towards claims of the climate effects of food, especially meat, or felt generally frustrated with the food-related climate debate. Similarly, the respondents did generally not believe Finnish meat to be bad for the climate. On the other hand, many respondents had decreased their meat consumption, mostly due to external factors, like family member’s plant-based diet, or the vegetarian food served at their workplace cafeteria. The results also indicate that seeing meat eating as a normal part of one’s everyday diet combined with a lack of experience with high-quality vegetarian food can be a major hindrance in transitioning towards a more plant-based diet.
Now showing items 1-5 of 5