Arkiv

He saw the light in the United States in the seventies. Since then, associate professor Pål Bjørby has been committed to feminist research. Recently he turned sixty.

HIV and AIDS strike more African women than men, and the consequences of being open about one’s disease may be greater for women. Norwegian researchers have looked at how this affects whether women in Malawi show up for prenatal check-ups.

The health authorities claim that pelvic girdle pain is a common complaint during pregnancy. Pregnant women online take it a bit more seriously.

Prostitution is to an increasing extent considered a disturbance of the peace, while social measures receive less attention. This is one of the conclusions that the research project Prostitution in the Nordic region has drawn.

Is God sexualized by being called “mother”? The debate on a gender-inclusive language in Christian liturgy shows how primitive the notion of God is amongst some Norwegian theologians, says theologian Merete Thomassen.

What mechanisms lie behind who gets a career in physics and who leaves academia for other kinds of employment? What role does the workplace culture play in this? These and similar issues are being studied in an ongoing EU-project.

The medical profession is increasingly able to help infertile couples become happy parents. But when it is possible to buy an egg cell from a Russian woman, implant the embryo in an Indian womb and take the finished baby home to Norway, the ethics of medical technology gets mixed with discussions of class and race.

She was considered to be one of Norway’s most prominent pianists at the end of the 1800s and dedicated one of her works to the feminist Aasta Hansteen. Now all her music will be released on cd.

– In accounts of the history of gay liberation, the past is typically portrayed as dark and sinister, and contrasted to a bright and happy present, says anthropologist Hans W. Kristiansen. He has written about discreet gay life in Norway from 1920-1970, and wants to question the stereotypical images of the past.

Minister of Education and Research Tora Aasland has said that she wants to implement national measures to promote gender equality in science. But do we know enough about the cause of the gender imbalance? The relationship between research and measures in academia has spurred debate in Norway this spring.

How can we develop well-functioning and equal research collaboration projects between the North and the South? This was discussed at one of the semi-plenary sessions at the Women’s World’s conference in Madrid, 3-9 July 2008, with Norwegian and Ugandan participants.

What consequences does the Norwegian policy for biotechnology have for the individual? Has God been replaced by genetic determinism? And why can’t two friends get help to make a baby together? These were questions that were addressed at the conference "The future of assisted reproduction" on June 2, 2008.

A small group of urban middle-class women enjoy success in foreign companies in China. But the great majority of Chinese women hired in these companies still receive small pay checks.

Was it a boy, or a girl? What happens when the answer to the very first question is “we’re not quite sure”? Marit Vaula Rasmussen is doing research on the intersex children, children who are born with an indefinite sex.

More men in this particular academic field and more masculinity is what the Norwegian research community can expect after the appointment of Norway’s first professor in gender equality and masculinity research at the Centre for Gender Research at the University of Oslo.

Is it true that Swedish feminists are angrier than the Norwegian? Why do Russian women think that gender equality is more typically Norwegian than anything else? How come transsexuals seem to be rather uninterested in sex? These were just some of the issues that were addressed at the Gender Research Programme’s closing conference.

The level of female political representation affects our attitudes toward female politicians more than vice versa, claims political scientist Johannes Bergh in a new dissertation.

The world will be a better place if more girls become engineers, says Camilla Schreiner. She does research on the connection between gender and choosing a career within the Natural Sciences.

Can liberal sexual practices exist in a patriarchal society? Apparently yes, as that is the situation in today’s Russia. Young women are rapidly changing their sexual behaviour, but gender roles are still polarized, according to Russian sociologist Anna Temkina.

Lauren Osen came to Norway to study the country’s recent gender quota law for ASA companies’ corporate boards, but also had to contend with the peculiar lunch habits of the natives!

Shaking buttocks, homophobic hip-hoppers, pimped-up lady singers and hypermacho cock rock… The world of music videos is abundant with clichés regarding gender, race, class and sexuality. But according to musicologist Marita Buanes, there are exceptions that challenge this.

According to the teaching, Laestadian girls who dress inappropriately “stimulate the lust of the flesh”. This may lead both girls and boys to perdition. Through the length of their skirts girls convey their loyalty or distance to the congregation, according to religion historian Torjer Olsen.

Norway’s demand for 40 per cent female board members is unique. How could such a radical gender equality measure be implemented in a business world which is opposed to quotas? And by a minister from the anti-quota right wing party Høyre?

– The debate surrounding the use of hijab may indicate that sexuality currently is the main gender equality issue, while economy appears to be of less importance. These are the words of Berit Gullikstad, who has analysed the Norwegian debate over hijab that followed France’s ban in 2003/2004.

What method should be used when counting the victims of human trafficking? How does the average person feel about buying sex? And where do we learn about prostitution? Despite extensive research on prostitution there are still huge knowledge gaps. A new Nordic research project will gather, systematise and discuss what we think we know about ”Prostitution in the Nordic Countries”.

”Prostitutes.” ”Traitors.” “Contagious.” “Backward.” According to the myths of the post-war era, Norwegian girls who were involved with German soldiers during WWII were morally corrupt and inferior human beings. Historian Terje A. Pedersen believes that most of them simply fell in love.

- Women leave the field of science, both during and after the studies. But why? A new research project at the University of Oslo aims to find out.

Asking a group of feminist activists if I, the stranger, can join their lunch table still inspires the sort of anxiety experienced by “the new kid” trying to find a seat in a crowded high school cafeteria, writes American sociologist Kimberly Creasap after her summer in Scandinavia.

«A goodie bag» in the study of what body and gender means in our society and culture, says historian of religion Anne Kalvig about alternative therapy and neo-religious groups.

What do Eastern European women hope to attain when they come to Norway as prostitutes? In a new master’s thesis Irina Polyakova presents these women’s hope, reality and opportunities.