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ERIC Number: EJ963577
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1551-2169
EISSN: N/A
Bringing Women in: Gender and American Government and Politics Textbooks
Olivo, Christiane
Journal of Political Science Education, v8 n2 p131-146 2012
This study of 12 introductory American government and politics textbooks shows that their main narratives still focus largely on men's experiences as political actors and pay little attention to women's experiences. While on average just 9% of pages included in-text references to women, 28% of images and 17% of sidebars, tables, figures, and charts included women. Especially in-text references to women focus almost exclusively on white, middle-class women, thus ignoring the complex reality of gender, race, ethnicity, and class. This article offers suggestions for how women's political experiences could be integrated fully into these textbooks, rather than relegating women to a sidebar or photo. I focus on three main topics within the literature on women and politics: ongoing discrimination against women in the political sphere; different life experiences that affect them as political actors; and the real political contributions of women that are usually overlooked. I argue that integrating the experiences of women would offer students a more nuanced and comprehensive view of American government and politics. I conclude that bringing women into American government and politics textbooks is both possible and worthwhile. (Contains 3 tables.)
Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Opinion Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A