Äkta kärlek. Heterosexuell samvaro speglat mot diskurser om kärlek, heterosexualitet och kropp

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this dissertation is to acquire more knowledge about how young women 15 years of age create meaning about sexual interaction with boys and pornography. This dissertation includes four contributions: The licentiate thesis "Somewhere in between - Young women's accounts of heterosexual practise and pornography" (Berg 1999). Article 1. "The ambiguous conversation" (KvT 2000/3). Article 2. "Hoping love will solve everything." (Being published 2002). The fourth contribution is an overall commentary and conclusion. The dissertations' analysis is based on qualitative interviews with ten girls of whom six girls also participated individually. The analysis results in two overall discursive projects of importance for the way the informants create meaning: the somewhere in-between project and the love-project. The somewhere in-between project tells us of how these 15-year old girls manage to avoid being perceived as a 'slut' at the same time avoiding the epithet of being regarded as 'frigid' (torris). The act of balance the author interprets as being somewhere in-between (lagom). The author discusses the solution of being somewhere in-between in relation to discourses of heterosexuality that are important for determining which kind of sexual actions will be comprehend as risk-free of failing in to disrepute. The somewhere in-between project is also important for how the informants relate to pornography: If they use pornography they risk being called a 'slut' and if they not are interested they risk being seen as 'frigid'. The author interprets the informants' understanding of pornography in the light of the discourse of the body as more or less a sexual urge. This helps the informants to handle the experience of both being sexually aroused and disgusted by pornography. Concerning the love-project the author analyses the informants' accounts in relation to discourses of love as a beneficial, altering and reliable force. The informants' construction of the love-project as an altering force the author interprets as being an overall context of creating meaning about heterosexual practice. Within the love-project the informants expect the young men's sexual behaviour to be impregnated with mutual behaviour but also that the risk of being disrupted is minimal. The author's main analytical point is that the love-project creates an overall context of creating meaning, where the somewhere in-between project and the culturally "split" femininity is built in. Who wants to start a love-project with a 'slut'? Love requires a girl who is somewhere in-between.