An analysis of the visual images of women in grade 12 South African history textbooks.

Abstract

This dissertation has contributed to the debate of the depiction of women in visual images in selected Grade 12 history textbooks. This dissertation was triggered by what I read in the South African Constitution and the History curriculum statement about promoting gender equity in schools as well as the fair treatment of women and in all spheres of life. I was, in the light of this, curious in finding out how women as historical characters are portrayed in visual images in history textbooks. Since I am an educator, living in contemporary South Africa I took an initiative in analysing the depiction of visual images of women in selected South African history textbooks for grade 12.The analysis part was completed by employing textual analysis as it assisted in analysing both the content and the visual components of the textbooks. The research questions of this study manifested and produced rich data that has revealed how history textbooks through the visual portrayal of women reinforced gender stereotypes and inequalities. The findings showed that severe gender inequality existed in the visual images in the selected history textbooks which is in contradiction to both the Constitution of South Africa and the curriculum. My study has revealed that women are silenced in history textbooks by the manner they are portrayed in, the roles they are showed in and by the number of images that I have counted in the chapters. This dissertation has concluded that the portrayal of women in visual images in history textbooks is still a barrier in promoting gender equity in South African schools. By adopting feminism theory I have understood how and why images of women in history textbooks are used the way they are and that this is greatly related to patriarchy.