SOUTH KOREA: Textbooks create gender bias

[24 October 2010] - The State-run human rights agency has advised the education ministry to revise social studies and other textbooks currently used for elementary and secondary schools as many illustrations and other content has connotations of gender bias and represents a violation of human rights.

The National Human Rights Commission held a workshop Friday to discuss the content and illustrations in textbooks and examine them for possible infringements of human rights. Textbook publishers, teachers, education experts and those from civic groups were invited. Teachers who participated in the workshop also said textbook writers should consider changing society content to reflect a more multicultural one.

During the session, the agency pointed out that males in textbooks are still portrayed as the main characters, while females play passive roles. "Men do public and important work in the books, while women usually take care of domestic affairs and spend money. This could cause children to have a prejudice regarding gender roles," said a commission official.

Also, the agency said males are depicted as "troublesome" and "impulsive," while their counterparts are described as "virtuous" and "honest." "Although these cases don't directly discriminate against males and females, they could further create stereotypes on 'male jobs' and 'female jobs', restricting employment opportunities for men or women," it said.

The agency also presented some expressions that were against human rights. Homosexual lovers, who are usually addicted to drugs and criminals, are described as deviant people in high school textbooks. "This could generate social prejudices against those people," the agency said.

In addition, some textbooks contain expressions humiliating the disabled, describing such as a "mental weakness," "crippled" and a"retarded child."

The human rights agency found some 30 cases that were problematic in textbooks and last month advised the education ministry to remove or revise the content and illustrations containing biased role models and sexual stereotypes.

It formed a committee in May, consisting of 39 students and 25 teachers in order to monitor the content in textbooks. The agency's advice is not legally binding, but government bodies usually accept it.

Further information

• South Korea: Students to participate in policy-making process (Korea Times, September 2010)