SEXISM AND TEACHING MATERIALS

WHEREAS, a goal of education is to direct and inspire individuals so as to enable them to develop to their maximum potential; and

WHEREAS, valid teaching materials are crucial in attaining the goal of maximizing potential by developing a positive self-image; and

WHEREAS, teaching materials that portray limiting sex role stereotypes can result in irreparable psychic damage and distorted aspiration levels of women; and

WHEREAS, erroneous and/or biased sex roles are apparent in numerous ways in teaching materials:

RESOLVED, that teaching materials should include at least some of the following characteristics, when appropriate so as to reduce sexist caricature of women:

• The use of such terms as "humankind" or "person" or "people" should be substituted for "man" or "men" as neuter nouns;

• Females as well as males should be portrayed as problem solver, creator and executor of ideas;

• The portrayal of older women should depict them as individuals, free of age stereotypes and with a wide variety of personalities and interests;

• Females should be portrayed as receiving public recognition and succeeding in a variety of fields of endeavor;

• Females should be portrayed in a greater variety of actions in which they are shown as being independent, competent, athletic, persistent and interested;

• Females should be portrayed more frequently in illustrations in a variety of roles, in the foreground as well as in the background;

• The personification of inanimate objects as well as of animals should involve the female without traditional stereotypes;

• More content should focus on females;

• Females should in some instances, be taller, heavier, more intelligent and/or more capable than males; and

RESOLVED, the life-style of the family in teaching materials needs to be altered so that males are portrayed in a wide variety of homemaking activities, some first born children should be portrayed as female, some families should include only children who are females, working women as well as working mothers should be portrayed, family relationships should not show individuals subordinated to others because of sex and children and adults should be portrayed in single parent families and in a variety of lifestyles; and

RESOLVED, that Union contracts and locals provide for teacher membership on curriculum and materials selection committees; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT instruct the Women's Rights Committee to develop a process for rating teaching materials in light of sexism and to forward recommendations on texts to the Executive Council; and

RESOLVED, the AFT will notify all publishers of teaching materials found to be sexist that Union teachers will not recommend or purchase said teaching materials until the inaccurate portrayals of women are corrected.