Discussion on:
GONZALEZ, Rita & VIEIRA, Catarina (2022). Aprender+ Língua Portuguesa/Aprender+ Matemática - 1.ª classe (First edition in 2020). Plural Editores Moçambique. pp. 4-5.
Voice 1: "It’s a book that has a lot of, almost complete, representation of Black people. There is an instance of representing a person of Chinese descent, probably (presumably due to immigration). We focused on some images that, from a gender representation perspective, are quite appropriate. The girls are represented well, studying alongside the boys, participating in sports activities, with one of them even winning. An image that caught our attention is of a mother serving lemons, which seems to represent a caregiving situation [...] the role of women in the family imagination. Generally, it seems quite advanced in comparison to other representations. We didn't focus much on image analysis because we were discussing..."
Voice 2: "Those who are invisible remain invisible, such as white people in the book. It’s a matter of racism".
[…]
Voice 1: "There was a lot of disagreement; I particularly support... people who disagree. I’m not exactly sure what the colleagues’ opinions are, but I think it’s a great discussion. For example, in terms of racial identities in the book, I think it’s important to discuss the illustration of the campaign reality because there is an imagination that is built, present in art, present in the textbook, and present in the visual culture that prepares us for diasporas..."
[…]
Voice 3: "Actually, we are talking about everyone, almost everyone... we could say everyone, even because we don’t agree with almost anything. I actually have... this is not from the group, it’s my personal comment. I understand, I greatly admire this project that Margarida coordinates; it’s a fantastic, necessary, and super important project. I have a difficulty with it. I strongly believe in... or rather, the disclaimer is clear that there are inequalities that must be fought in a clear, objective, pragmatic way, and they need to be resolved, also with a change in mentalities. But... but, I am not sure if an exercise with some bias, in an analysis that can be, and some are factual, and then after the factual comes a certain subjectivity in the analysis. It seems to me, for example, that a girl at a typewriter is therefore a typist, a secretary, but it could also be a girl doing school work. That’s not the interpretation. A man... A girl taking a bath to beautify herself, the interpretation is that she’s beautifying herself for someone else, not that she wants to take care of herself and anyone can take care of their hygiene, it's not that, it's to beautify for someone else. The man behind her is there to offer protection because he is stronger, he is the male, so that’s the interpretation, not just a man behind a woman, just like in this book we saw a boy running after a girl, which if I want to read in a discriminatory way, the boy is strong and lets the girl win so he can marry her later. In other words, and to conclude, I understand that we are in a hurry, but I think some things can’t be rushed and I think there’s a... to conclude, the responsibility of the place of speech. Those who made these manuals have a responsibility, but those who read them also have a responsibility. So, it’s the responsibility of the place of speech, but I also believe there is a great responsibility in the place of listening. That’s all."
