An illustration of a family meal with grandparents, parents, and grandchildren is featured in a textbook for first graders. The mother, however, is pictured in an apron, serving food to her children rather than enjoying the meal. The housewife is shown doing the work, unable to participate in the meal with the rest of her family. In another picture of a family bowing to their ancestors, only the father and children bow while the mother watches from behind.
The Ministry of Education & Human Resources Development said on Monday that it will revise six textbooks for first and second graders to correct illustrations that might convey wrong ideas about gender equality.
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The Education Ministry has revised some illustrations in elementary school textbooks to promote gender equality. The top version is the original. After the revision, the mother eats with her family, and female family members join the males to bow during family rituals.
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The illustration of the family meal will be changed so that all the family members are eating together. In a textbook for second graders, an illustration of a family visit to an ancestral grave left the mother out of the scene. In the new version the mother will be included, bowing with her family. And in another drawing, a mother who is shown washing dishes will be changed to show the father doing the dishes.
The Education Ministry said it will change the illustrations like the dish-washing one because the old drawings might suggest to students that household chores are for just for women.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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