Othering the rural: About the construction of rural masculinities and the unspoken urban hegemonic ideal in Swedish media

Place, (In)Equality and Gender

“…However, in contrast to this, Stenbacka (2011) writes that the idea of the rural macho-culture, which is also underlined in the Swedish TV programmes she has studied, can be seen as an attempt to place the blame for the problems in the peripheral areas on the men, who choose to stay there (elaborated later) (see also Forsberg and Stenbacka 2013). 5.2 Norway Dahlström (1996) argues, in the often quoted article Young women in a male periphery, that the strong patriarchal structures embedded in the peripheral areas are part of the explanation for the fact that particularly the young women decide to move away. Thus, Dahlström writes that women are not only attracted by the possibilities found in the urban areas, but the women are also particularly "pushed out from a male rural area in which there is little place for them culturally or concerning work opportunities" (Dahlström 1996: 262).…”

“…6.1 Sweden Stenbacka (2011) has explicitly considered the images of men in the peripheral areas as presented in the Swedish media and in Swedish TVshows and films. She concludes that this group of men often is referred to ruthlessly.…”

Backward, Dumb, and Violent Hillbillies? Rural Geographies and Intersectional Studies on Intimate Partner Violence

“…iii This is the representation, for example, in the film The Hunters, but also in various Swedish TV productions, as discussed by Stenbacka (2011). In her study of three TV series on rural Sweden, she finds three different repertoires: rural as help-seeking and backward; rural as marked by gender inequality; and rural as deviant.…”

“…Swedish researchers have, moreover, pointed to how a central part of the popular discourse on Swedish rurality as problematic, non-progressive and backward is in fact the image of the stereotypical gender relations of Swedish rural inhabitants. Rural men particularly are represented as backward and unable to keep up with modern ideals of gender equality (Eriksson, 2010;Stenbacka, 2011).…”

Køn, uddannelse og befolkningsstrømme

“…I forlaengelse heraf kan man tale om, at de geografiske lokaliteter er med til at definere hvilke mulighedsrum, der eksisterer og herunder hvilke grader af frihed den enkelte mand eller kvinde oplever at have" (Faber, Pristed Nielsen & Bennike 2015: 7) (se også bl.a. Dahlström 1996;Stenbacka 2011;Rafnsdóttir 2010).…”