Svenska företags gömda bildspråk : En studie om representation och gestaltning mellan könen på svenska företags ”om oss”-sidor

Sammanfattning: Women are generally underrepresented in media and have historically been degraded to stereotypical roles in media content. Sweden is a country that has actively worked with equality between the genders since the 1970s. The country's progress in equality piqued the scientists interest in the extent of gender stereotypes in Swedish media content. This study examines whether there is a gender based variation in the framing of individuals in said content. The aim is to map the extent to which these gender stereotypes shape the communication in the images of 238 Swedish companies on their “about us”-pages. The images are analyzed to determine how individuals are portrayed based on their perceived gender. The study has a theoretical foundation in gender theory, representation theory, Roland Barthes mythologies and framing theory. These 4 theories form the basis for both the quantitative and the qualitative analyses in the paper. The content analysis applies mixed methods, consisting of a quantitative and qualitative component. The census method formed the basis for the quantitative part, whereas the study’s criteria limited a list of companies with an annual revenue of over 500 million SEK. The sampling method for the qualitative part is a systematic random sampling. The analytical tools that are used for the qualitative analysis includes theories about colors and non-verbal communication, along with semiotic concepts such as connotation, denotation and anchoring. Despite Sweden actively addressing gender equality issues, the study’s results indicated that Swedish company websites to some extent depict women and men differently, even though the numerical representation is equal. Some companies seem to reinforce gender stereotypes while others challenge them. Companies’ visual communication generally portrayed women as more accommodating, affirming the camera with a smile. Men, on the other hand, were generally depicted as more distant and reserved, with a more averted gaze than the women. The findings suggest that people’s perception of gender stereotypes and gender can be influenced by the websites they consume, potentially impacting how gender stereotypes are reinforced or challenged in society.