Lack of communication hampers the prevention of female genital mutilation, according to anthropologist Rachel Issa Djesa. She has observed encounters between Norwegian authorities, health personnel and Somali women in Norway.

Boating with grandad may affect one’s choice of education just as much as gender does, according to researcher Marianne Løken. She is critical to the gender stereotypical recruitment campaigns to the hard sciences.

Norwegian musicians make careers from experimenting with queer gender identities. According to musicologist Agnete Eilertsen, pop music shows that the gender norms are changing although there is still a shortage of queer musicians.

Female drug dealers are a minority. According to sociologist Heidi Grundetjern, they gain self-confidence by succeeding in a cutthroat business, but they do not challenge the male dominance.

While western couples get their longed-for child, Indian surrogate mothers are left with a feeling of having sacrificed more than they have gained. Surrogacy can never become a win-win situation, according to anthropologist Kristin Engh Førde.

“The gender positions in Egyptian society are changing,” says Monika Lindbekk. According to her, clear-cut antagonism between Islamism and feminism is now being challenged by legal changes.

Notwithstanding the welfare state, employed mothers in Scandinavia experience just as much conflict between work and family life as mothers in Southern Europe, but the Scandinavian mothers are happier.

Why did Simone de Beauvoir fight rape in France while Unni Rustad simultaneously became famous in Norway by burning porn magazines? Factors such as national differences and personal experiences may help explain why the struggle against sexual violence manifested itself so differently in the two countries.