”Den seriösare heterosexuella mannen som har en homosexuell läggning.” : en studie om maskulinitet, manlig sexualitet & representation i tv-serien Queer as folk

Purpose/Aim: This study is an analysis of the view on masculinity, male sexuality and creation of identity with the television series Queer as folk as a base. The analysis is partly based on a semiotic analysis of the representation of masculinity and male sexuality from an episode of the chosen television series Queer as folk, and partly based on a thematic analysis of focus group discussions with young men with different sexualities. Material/Method: This study is based on focus group interviews and a semiotic and thematic analysis. The focus groups consisted of three men in three different groups and were chosen on the criteria of gender and sexuality. All groups were presented with an episode of the television series Queer as folk to see how they perceived masculinity and male sexuality. Their discussions were analyzed with a thematic analysis and the television series Queer as folk with a semiotic analysis. Main results: The three analyzed characters in Queer as folk showed different representations of masculinity and male sexuality. The discussions from the focus groups could be linked to the semiotic analysis and showed some similar tendencies. The focus groups perceptions were diffe-rentiated in relation to each other with certain diversity between the hetero, homo and bisexual participants. Above all, the participant’s perception was divided when it came to the male sexuali-ty that was featured in the episode but also of the representations of the homosexual characters