Discussion on:
RODRIGUES, Angelina, MARCELINO, António, PEREIRA, Cláudia, AZEVEDO, Luísa & ANTUNES, Ricardo (2019). Eureka! – Estudo do Meio 1. Estudo do Meio – 1.º Ano (First edition in 2016). [Illustration by Ana Freitas & Nuno Alexandre Vieira]. Areal Editores. pp. 12-13.
"We have a Social & Environmental Studies textbook and we analysed pages 12 and 13 for the diversity of situations represented on these pages.
[…]
So, very briefly, what we observed was that women are represented... women are generally caregivers, men are unique and illuminators, therefore representing "the light," being in a position of knowledge transmitters, and children are represented in a learning situation. The child is a learner, playful, and simultaneously in a protected situation with the adults. Regarding the stereotypes of the identities represented, it seems there is an ideal physical image of childhood, white... bourgeois, let's say... The adults and families are all heterosexual, so there is a compulsory heterosexuality on both pages. Girls are represented in pink and boys and men are represented in a blue world, engaged in physical and bodily action. Regarding... the middle class... So, concerning class, it seems a middle/upper class is represented, with great social privilege for someday accessing a certain way of life. From the point of view of invisibilities, there are no Black people on the pages we observed, nor people with disabilities, nor other ethnicities represented besides Caucasian. The girls' hair is always long and light, with some exceptions, and the boys' hair is dark and short. Girls are mostly depicted in skirts, with some exceptions, and the elderly are at home in a passive attitude, ready to welcome and always available. In conclusion, it seems that in these two pages we analysed, there is no alterity, only naivety."
