Relações de gênero e sexualidade em livros didáticos dos anos finais do ensino fundamental: um estudo de caso em uma escola de Ilicínea-MG

Abstract

This dissertation was developed based on the research problem "How do textbooks aimed at the final years of elementary school approach the theme of gender relations and sexuality?”. This study is a case study that aims to analyze the representations regarding gender relations contained in textbooks, through images and texts, focused on the early years of elementary school. The selected books were used by students and teachers of the ninth grade of elementary school in a municipal school in the city of Ilicínea-MG. The chosen subjects are Geography, Mathematics, Portuguese Language, Science and History. The research is divided into three sections: the first, gender and sexuality in which the research was based on the concepts of Guacira Louro, Raewyn Connell and Daniela Auad for understanding the social construction of gender and sexuality relations. In the second section, which is related research, several postgraduate works were selected that analyzed the representations of gender and sexuality in textbooks. And the third and last section, gender and sexuality in the textbook: what do they reveal? Is the analysis procedure, the methodological route detailed and the dialogical research data presented. The results of this study confirm that textbooks reinforce stereotypes around gender relations, that is, strengthen the personal attributes appropriate to men and women, relying, for example, on physical strength. Analyzes around sexuality, when they exist, are not explicit, thus implying heterosexuality as the only way to live this dimension of life.The textbooks silence, through their images and texts, questions concerning sexual diversity. Given these results, we can understand what values are being produced and reproduced around gender relations and sexuality. Thus, it is clear that the books analyzed do not contribute to thinking about a society that respects gender diversity and sexuality. And to think about another kind of society, the choice of textbooks must become a process that allows a more transversal look capable of pervading the unique dimension of looking at content. That is, if we want another kind of society and recognize the central role of education in this process, we need to take care of the choices of these cultural artifacts that are sometimes the only tool of the classroom teacher.