Abstract
This comparative study of gender messages in Japanese textbooks reveals a pattern of underlying sex discrimination as well as efforts at reform. There is a “hidden curriculum”—the presence of powerful, hegemonic messages that reinforce dominant social structural values of a gender binary—shaping the learning environment and sustaining structural inequalities. An effort to address the hidden curriculum of gender and sexuality biases in Japanese textbooks was published in 2020 through the National Elementary School Health textbooks and curriculum. This study analyzes existing gender messages permeating the explicit and hidden curriculum and reform efforts, employing mixed methods of content analysis and ethnographic observations.
TopJapanese Feminist Movements: Implications For Representations Of Gender And Sexuality
Women’s rights initiatives in Japan over the last 150 years sought to infuse feminist consciousness into societal transformations. Feminist sociologists have contributed a rich literature on gender issues in sports and PE as part of the multi and interdisciplinary scholarship that is Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. This overview contextualizes and situates our research within key issues around gender equality, linking feminist movements to current changes and persistent gender norms in National Health textbooks and PE education.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Uman Libu: The women’s rights movement in 1970s Japan.
Hidden Curriculum: Refers to the presence of powerful, hegemonic messages that reinforce dominant social values, shaping the learning environment, and reinforcing social structural inequalities.
Gender: Social and cultural meanings, roles, beliefs, and norms associated with biological sex.
Transphobic: Fear and hatred of transgendered individuals.
Gender Feminism: Theories and activism pertaining to the rights of gender diverse persons.
Biological Essentialism: The belief that socio-cultural roles flow from biological sex.
Feminisms: The theories, social movements, and forms of activism about the rights of women and girls, gender roles, and the nature of patriarchies.
Intersectionality: The ways in which interlocking oppressions such as race, class, gender, sexuality work together to compound inequities and discrimination.