Jurnal Ilmu Sosial dan Humaniora
Vol 15 No 1 (2026)

Binary Oppositions in the Visual Characterizations of the English Textbook for Indonesian Junior High School Students

Gede Wisma Krisna Ari Aditya Blangsinga (Universitas Pendidikan Ganesha)
Ni Komang Arie Suwastini (Universitas Pendidikan Ganesha)
Made Hery Santosa (Universitas Pendidikan Ganesha)
Zulidyana Dwi Rusnalasari (Universitas Negeri Surabaya)



Article Info

Publish Date
30 Apr 2026

Abstract

Textbooks could be used to sustain or destabilize patriarchal binary oppositions, which associate women with inferior traits and roles to men. The present study aims to evaluate the visual images of the characters in an English textbook used by Indonesian ninth-grade students in junior high school, focusing on the possibility of deconstructive characterizations in these images. This study adopted interactive data analysis from Miles, Huberman, and Saldana (2014), and Millet's (2000) conception of patriarchal binary oppositions. It was revealed that the textbook's visual images assign stereotypical feminine traits and characterizations to female characters, such as grace, domesticity, passivity, caring, and fearfulness. On the other hand, the male character was portrayed as masculine, with traits such as handsome, proud, manly, active, and strong. However, some feminine traits are also attributed to male characters, while some masculine traits are assigned to female characters. Thus, despite the pervasiveness of gendered stereotypes in the visual images analyzed, a partial and  constrained shift in deconstructing gender stereotypes is present.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

JISH

Publisher

Subject

Humanities Social Sciences

Description

Jurnal Ilmu Sosial dan Humaniora (JISH) is a journal that uses a double-blind peer review model that can be accessed online. The purpose of JISH is to publish a journal containing quality articles that will be able to contribute thoughts from a theoretical and empirical perspective in society and ...