Physical activity according to gender in Brazilian Physical Education textbooks

Abstract

One of the purposes of Physical Education is promoting physical activity through equal opportunities for boys and girls, accepting diversity. Aware of the power of the image for the reproduction of gender stereotypes, this research aimed to analyse its existence in Brazilian textbooks. The study was empirical, descriptive and comparative among analysed books that used content analysis and inferential statistics. The sample comprised 1327 images. These images concerned 10 Physical Education textbooks published by four Brazilian publishers who edited them as teacher’s guides for primary education between 2017 and 2018. A content analysis was carried out through the adaptation of the SAIMEF tool. The classification and categorization of the images were performed by five expert judges, using, as a criterion, the coefficient of agreement between them. The results indicated greater importance of images linked to the male gender, with a predominance of sports and fights as main activities, while the female gender is characterized by individual practices, such as gymnastics. The study concluded that Physical Education guides in Brazil convey a sports educational model, which can influence the choice of body practices and consolidate students’ imagination based on hegemonic standards present in society. Therefore, teachers need to make a critical analysis of these images to avoid promoting this hegemonic male sports model among primary and secondary school students in their physical education classes. Keywords: textbook; gender, physical education, content analyses, Brazil.