Gender Visibility in Health and Physical Education Textbooks
Keywords:
Gender Visibility, Pictorial Illustrations, Textbook analysisAbstract
This research aimed at investigating the representations of genders through the pictorial illustrations in health and physical education textbooks. Based on the purposive sampling technique, the textbooks for grade 1 and 2 used at one public elementary school located in a northeastern part of Thailand were the primary source of data. To collect the data, all pictorial illustrations were examined in line with a systematic categorization process that involved classifying and defining themes. Then, the results were presented in tables using descriptive statistics to show the occurrence frequency of both genders, and the ways such representations presented in the textbooks were further discussed in a qualitative manner under cultural and gender perspectives. The results showed that female characters in the first textbook appeared 229 times (53%) compared with male characters, who were represented by 199 images (47%). Similarly, the second textbook included 162 illustrations (57.4%) of female characters and 120 illustrations (42.6%) of male characters. Based on a thorough qualitative analysis, it became clear that the illustrations of the female characters primarily showed traditional female roles and activities, including cooking, and setting a dining table. However, males were mostly shown in more intelligent, competitive, and challenging activities, for example, reading books, playing with Rubik’s cubes, and playing football. Moreover, in occupational roles, more males were engaged in highly-paid, intelligent, and challenging careers such as doctors, dentists, and policemen.
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