An Analysis of Illustrations in Elementary School Textbooks based on The Gender Equality View-point

양성평등 관점에 기초한 초등학교 교과서 삽화 분석

This study examined the illustrations in the elementary school textbooks which was followed by identifying the parts that displayed gender-discriminating elements or traditional gender roles. The research results are as follows: 1) The ratio of man and woman in the figures appearing in those illustrations was 1.33:1, which means there were more men than women in the illustrations and that there was no balance in the gender distribution among the figures. 2) Male figures were presented as the protagonists in 39.7% of the illustrations, female figures in 25.5%, and both male and female figures in 34.8%. The results indicate that there were much more illustrations in which men were the protagonists than those in which women were. 3) The occupations of the adults in the illustrations were analyzed. As a result, the ratio of man and woman with a job was about 2:1, which implies that there were twice as many male professionals than female ones. Men had over 60 kinds of occupations and women had only 45 kinds of occupations with 59.5% of them concentrated in four jobs including teaching, farming and fishing, doing artistic works, and selling things. 4) The case analysis results of the illustrations in the textbooks demonstrate that the traditional gender roles of a father and mother were followed and that there were gender stereotypes in describing the characteristics of man and woman. Gender dichotomy was observed in the vocations. Men were the leading players in economic, political, and cultural activities, and most of the historical figures were men. Meanwhile, women were depicted as the subjects of economic activities and completely isolated and alienated from political, historical, and cultural activities. It turned out that the figures of the illustrations in the current elementary school textbooks had gender discriminating elements and profoundly reflected the stereotypes for gender roles.