Fega pojkar pussar aldrig vackra flickor : Könsrelaterade ordspråk i nordnorrländsk agrarmiljö belysta ur språkligt och kulturellt perspektiv.

This dissertation deals with 199 gender related proverbs that were collected in northern Sweden and were used in an agrarian environment, approximately between the beginning of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. The conceptions of gender which these proverbs convey also belong to the same time range and place. The aim of this dissertation is to find out which conceptions of gender that is conveyed by proverbs in an older agrarian environment in northern Sweden. In order to achieve this aim the following question is examined: What conceptions are found in the proverb material of the cultural category woman, the cultural category man and of the relationship between these categories? As a base for an interpretation of the proverbs, which are written in various Swedish dialects, a linguistic analysis is carried out. The interpretation is then formed through a concept that was developed by Kirshenblatt-Gimblett (1982); namely, base meaning. This concept relates to the shared meaning of a proverb by a group of people. The proverbs that include metaphors and similes are analyzed with a method that is developed from the cognitive linguistic theory of blending (Fauconnier & Turner 1996, 1998). The proverb material is sorted in three analytical categories, and presented in separate chapters: Chapter four, The Marriage Market (Äktenskapsmarknaden), chapter five: The Household (Hushållet) and chapter six, Sexuality (Sexualiteten). These categories are in turn divided into sub categories. One example of a salient conceptions of gender that is found in the category The Marriage Market is that the man chooses a woman, not the other way around. One example of a central conception in the category The Household is that the man earns money and supply other resources and the woman takes care of these resources. The significance of the conceptions of male and female sexuality is that they convey the difficulty in controlling a virulent male sexuality. The gender conceptions are analysed as part of a system of gender hegemony and a cultural model of the successful household is suggested based on the proverb material