Gender Representation in East African History Textbooks: The Cases of Rwanda, Kenya, and Uganda

Abstract

Various studies have analyzed the ways in which gender is represented in textbooks. We draw on the cases of lower secondary history textbooks from three East African countries—Rwanda, Kenya, and Uganda—where gender mainstreaming has been integrated into national education policies to varying degrees. Through a qualitative analysis of nine secondary history textbooks from these countries, we investigate how gender is represented in both text and images, illuminating the power relations in these representations as well as how gender representation varies across the three country cases. Our analysis demonstrates that despite the nominal inclusion of women, the texts draw on gender-biased language, discuss women primarily in relation to men, and construct men as the default. We argue that the representation of women in the textbooks also intersects with notions of race and class, serving to perpetuate gender stereotypes and reproduce hierarchical gender relations, contradicting the gendermainstreaming policies stipulated in education curricula within the three countries.