Consensus and Invisibility: The Representation of Women in Human Geography Textbooks∗

Abstract

Neither the accomplishments of feminist scholarship, nor recent geographic research on women, seems to have had much effect on the representation of women in human geography textbooks. Relying on a set of traditional models, these texts reproduce the gender blind fictions of consensus, neutrality, and objectivity that the models and the textbooks themselves construct. Because the texts that initiate students into the discipline lag so seriously behind current consciousness and scholarship, women's invisibility not only continues in the human geography curriculum and classroom but is actually intensified by our own pedagogy.

“If You Raised a Boy in a Pink Room … ?” Thoughts on Teaching Geography and Gender

“…Representations of gender in geography textbooks have greatly improved from previous standards of omission (Mayer 1989). Gendering geography in introductory classrooms has been abetted by texts that include gender in discussions of development, population, urbanization, inequalities, and political violence (e.g., Pulsipher, Pulsipher, and Hapke 2006;Knox and Marston 2007;Marston, Knox, and Liverman 2008).…”

The Influence of Environmental Exploration on Geographic Performance among Adolescents: A Gender and Cross-cultural Analysis

“…Some scholars identify discrimination within the educational system as a cause of gender differences in geographic learning, arguing that females are treated differently in the classroom (Holt, 1990;Zelinsky et al, 1990;Mayer, 1989;Larsen, 1983;Larimore, 1978). These studies argue that girls are not given equal attention in classroom discussions and activities because they tend to be less active students.…”

Reviews

“…Recent studies of history (Davis et al, 1986) and geography texts (Mayer, 1989) show that women's contributions continue to be minimized or overlooked entirely. However, if textbooks, storybooks and educational television are any indication, boys have it good.…”