Sexism som symboliskt våld i skolan

Abstract

In this paper sexism as a symbolic violence in school settings is discussed. A short and general introduction about the construction of gender in education and tendency in society to exploit sexuality as a market is followed by a discussion of the use of language. Traditional "bad language" in Sweden has been connected to the devil and to hell. Among young people today the influence from the English is obvious. "Fuck" as well as Swedish words related to sex are frequently used both as expressions of anger or annoyance and as sexual harassment.

Sexual harassment in school has not been discussed and investigated in Sweden as has been the case concerning harassment in workplaces. It is obvious that it is a phenomenon that has existed long before it was head lighted by researchers especially from USA and Canada. The situation might be different in Sweden but we do not know if and in what ways. Research about sexual harassment in schools might give valuable contribution to our knowledge about what young girls and boys have to cope with when growing up and about the construction of gender in Sweden today.