Browsing by Subject "gender"

Gender roles have an effect on relationships, identity, society and habits. Adolescents might experience conflict with their gender identity and the expectations of society. Youth literature probably effects adolescents’ ideas of gender and gives them a model of how to be a “woman”, a “man” or a transgendered and how to act accordingly in relationships and society. The Finnish grade school curriculum instructs that there must be gender equality in education. Teachers of literature and Finnish language should encourage students to read literature that offers a view to the lives of gender- and sexual minorities. This kind of literature should make students think about their own manner of speech and behavior and give them a way to notice gendered issues in society. The function of this thesis was to research the means in which Marja Björk`s novel Poika represents gender roles and transgenderness. The target of this thesis is to assess how the novel fits the decrees of the curriculum and how it might affect adolescents’ thoughts of gender and impact their habits as a gendered subject.The research questions are: 1) In which ways does Marja Björk’s novel Poika represent transgenderness? 2) How are gender roles present in its’ transgender representations? The source material of this thesis was Marja Björk`s novel Poika which has been published by Like-kustannus in 2013. Poika has been the candidate of Finlandia Junior –price 2013. The material was categorized and discourse analysis was used to observe its’ representations of gender. There were two opposite discourses of source material. They were the discourse of dichotomic transgender and the discourse of gender diversity. The results were that representations of gender roles were mostly stereotypic and heteronormative. Also gender diversity was always represented inferior to dichotomic gender. Even though representations of gender were mostly stereotypic the story can offer a feeling of idenfication in gender minorities’ lives. In this point of view adolescents might start to think about their own behaviour after reading the book. The problem is that the book loses the humanity of the persons who identify themselves outside of the dichotomic gender. In this point of view Poika is not on the line with the curriculum’s instructions of gender equality. On the other hand Poika is still one of the only books with a transgendered protagonist.

Tiivistelmä - Referat - Abstract Objectives. The aim of this study is to examine the impact of activity and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) gender differences in order to better understand the complexity and origins of these differences. I will focus on the gender differences in ADHD, and secondly, I will examine the emergence of gender differences; whether these differences arise from biology, or whether they are socially or culturally produced. The study will analyse the experiences of different genders in relation to their own symptoms, and whether these differences in symptoms are biologically or socially generated. The aim of the study is to gain a deeper understanding of the gender differences in the syndrome. processes of syndrome gender production and existing differences in syndrome between the sexes. Methods. The study used an umbrella review method to analyse and summarise existing literature reviews on ADHD and gender differences. Research material was systematically collected from two databases, Web of Science and ERIC, using predefined search terms. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied to the relevant literature reviews. Results and conclusions. Based on the survey data, I found clear gender differences in ADHD symptoms. Boys are diagnosed with ADHD more often in childhood compared to girls, and they hyperactive and impulsive symptoms, while girls and women with ADHD show more hyperactive and impulsive symptoms. ADHD symptoms tend to show more inattentive symptoms. This gender gap variance in symptom expression may predispose girls and women to underdiagnosis or misdiagnosis of ADHD. In the research data, I also paid attention to biological factors such as the influence of neurotransmitter activity on these gender differences. It is also important to note, that social and cultural factors have a significant impact on the gendered nature of ADHD. In understanding of ADHD and the emergence of differences in social expectations and norms, how individuals of different genders express their ADHD symptoms and how they are interpreted by the surrounding community. This can contribute to how a diagnosis is made and how individuals are supported.