Compulsory Heterosexuality and Regulatory Hegemony in English Textbooks

Gender representations are crucial in textbooks given that these instructional materials are integral and widely-acknowledged in the field of education. However, despite various efforts to circumvent gender inequalities, textbooks still remain as conduits for proliferating gender biases and heteronormativity. In this study, secondary English textbooks were examined and sequential explanatory research design was used to investigate how genders were demonstrated in the textbooks through the lens of gender performativity theory. The findings revealed that the textbooks adhered to historical gender conventions, as opposed to genders’ fluid and contingent nature. Additionally, all of the textbooks promote hegemonic masculinity with men dominating the texts not just in number but also in power. The findings imply that textbooks lean on the traditional belief that gender is the body rather than the performance, supporting not only the marginalization of cis women but also the discursive exclusion of nonheteronormative genders.