Stereotypical Representation of Women in Junior High School Textbook: A Study of the Textbook English Published by Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press

Abstract

Supervised by SDG goals (Gender Equality and Quality Education) and renewed national standards, China is performing an ongoing reformation of education curriculum, aiming to eradicate gender discrimination of all kindsincluding the omission and stereotyped representation of females in textbooks. To undo the historical preconceptions towards females and build impartial cognition in students, this paper demonstrates a critical approach to exam and refine the acclaimed textbook English (SFP Oxford Edition). The research adopted data collected by Sheng to testify the low participation of female figures in this textbook, and by deep down analyzing the contents of all six textbooks, the prescribed occupation for women, the inadequate representation of motherhood and heroine, and the omission of minority groups have been revealed. This research deconstructed the widely-used textbook in China, raised and categorized problems on equal and precise gender representation, which will guide and facilitate the development and iteration towards ideal textbook.