GENDER REPRESENTATION IN SRI LANKAN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEXTBOOKS

Abstract

Gender stereotyping is common in cultural products such as children's books and textbooks. Gender representation in textbooks is critical because it plays a role in fostering gender roles in children. Although gender equality was introduced in Sri Lankan education reforms in 1999, it is unclear how completely these changes have been incorporated into textbooks ever since. Thus, this study aimed to examine the gender representation and gender stereotypes in English-language textbooks used in state-owned schools in Sri Lanka since the education reforms of 1999. Three eighth-grade textbooks published between 2001 and 2015 were analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively for textual and visual information. The information from the three books was then contrasted to comprehend how gender representation and stereotyping have changed over time. The findings confirmed that stereotyping and negative discrimination against women are prevalent in Sri Lankan English-language textbooks. The masculine presence is dominant in both the images and the texts, and the women's representation depicts stereotypical gender roles. Despite the 2001 textbook's initial attempt to reduce stereotyping and demonstrate gender equality, stereotyping, and gender representation have not changed positively over the last two decades. As a result, stereotypical elements were much more prevalent in recent textbooks. This unfavorable result appears to have been influenced by the absence of gender equality concepts in national educational goals as well as prevalent but unacknowledged gender perceptions in society, and this situation requires further research.