Research

The Portrayal of Gender Roles in Latvian School Textbooks


Year:
2001
Organization:
The Latvian Association of Gender Equality


ABSTRACTIn order to obtain objective information on the way gender roles are portrayed in school teaching materials, a study was done to analyse the occupations, leisure time activities, family status, appearance and other characteristics of persons portrayed in the texts and illustrations of school textbooks. The study covered 50 textbooks in Latvian currently used in comprehensive schools.

As with textbooks in many places in the world, men are more often shown in illustrations and mentioned in texts. It was clear that men are mostly linked to professional fields and women with housework. Both in illustrations and in the text a stereotypical division of work, responsibilities and professions into “men’s” and “women’s” predominates.

There are also differences in appearance (for example, women are still often shown in traditional clothing, which does not correspond to contemporary observations) and in the significance of family status (family status is mentioned much more often for women than it is for men).

This report on the results of the study includes an overview of similar studies carried out in other countries and recommendations for teachers regarding work in the future.

The Portrayal of Gender Roles in Latvian School Textbooks

((pdf Latvian, PDF, 690 KB)pdf)


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