Gendered power structures in literature : A literary gender analysis in the footsteps of #MeToo of two texts by Margareta Strömstedt and one by Matilda Gustavsson

Abstract The purpose of this study is to analyze and find explanations in literature for the gender-controlled dynamics contained in the selected quotations, using the theoretical starting points of the essay and under the theme power structures between men and women. The analysis draws of theories of gender, feminism, power and underlying linguistic factors that make, and in what way, the message reach the reader. The study has focused on three excerpts from the books of Margareta Strömstedt Jag skulle så gärna vilja förföra dig – men jag orkar inte (I would love to seduce you - but I can't cope) and Natten innan de hängde Ruth Ellis och andra berättelser ur mitt liv (The nigth before hanging Ruth Ellis and other stories from my life), and an excerpt from the book Klubben (The Club) of Matilda Gustavsson. The analysis explores texts that describe sexual assaults and reveals positions of power and male dominance. Not only male physical violence, even social norms and social power relations prevent women from resistance. The texts express female frustration and discontent about having to accept being an object of male dominance