GCSE biology textbook features woman with Brazilian

"What if the first student who replies is a boy who says something that makes everyone else feel they have to agree?"

I don't have any boys in my upper sixth group. There are some boys in the group next door. We had a discussion last week about the use of reusable sanitary ware and many of the girls were talking to me and the group about what they use and explaining how a mooncup works. I feel confident that they feel comfortable enough to talk openly if they want to.

I intend on showing them the image (and some others if I can find them) and asking them what they think of it. Then seeing where the conversation takes us.

What if the first student who replies is a boy who says something that makes everyone else feel they have to agree? Such as expressing the view that any public hair is”gross”? Do you think any of the girls - or boys for that matter - will be able to give their honest views in front of their classmates without risking it becoming personal?

I think they very fact that this is about coercing girls and women into thinking their bodies should be hairless means it doesn’t lend itself to a whole-class discussion.

I just had a chat with my DD who did GCSE last year. She agreed and thought the image incredibly weird ( they didn’t use that book ) and promoted the sexist ideals of hairless women.

I agree with you OP.

Either show no hair (diagram approach) or natural hair (picture approach).

At first I thought over reaction.
But then I thought maybe not.
Not looked at biology book for 30 years but it looked ok at first to me. Same as usual. Just a pencil drawing.
At school 70's we girls were advised just to shave off any stray hair that may peak out the bikini (lol)
BUT my daughter used to shave the lot, though maybe because by that so did I - just prefayed it.

However l lived through the 'twiggy ' I used to feel my worth through being skinny.

Now through much more positive imagines promoted by years of work ,normal size healthy woman are acceptable.

Good example is Game of Thrones. (Yes I know there are some skinny women too)

But I feel more comfortable about my body than I ever have and deliberately put on 10 lbs about 3 years ago.

Look and feel better - thanks to good image promotion.

Fashion had a lot to answer for and 'waxing' is not away I would like to see it go.

On the program 'next supermodel ' they told them all
They 'had' to have a bazillion

That is utterly indefensible.

FamilyOfAliens - I am genuinely interested in what you think. Sorry if you thought I was being defensive. I intend on showing them the image (and some others if I can find them) and asking them what they think of it. Then seeing where the conversation takes us.

"No, but someone clearly either thought to themselves, and it clearly went through review with a specifically err.. manicured.. pubic hair illustration - someone drew that on purpose."

Yes of course, someone added it on purpose and it went through review. But was it to represent some pubic hair as more would detract from the purpose of the image? or was it because they thought a Brazilian was what women "should" have. The end effect is the same really I suppose.

I feel that the whole tone of the twitter post and some of the ones on here is that this was done as a disgusting, outrageous comment on women. I am sure that Pearson would welcome a discussion about the portrayal of women and their bodies in their textbooks. They are invested in educating young people after all.

You can get the same look with a bic razor and some cheap conditioner. and you can get painful ingrown hairs that way too....

FamilyOfAliens. How do you think I should frame it to them?

I have no idea. You’re the one who suggested asking the class, so presumably you already know how you’d get an answer that reflected honest opinions that weren’t influenced by what everyone else was saying and embarrassment at being seen as different. How do you normally ask such a question?

It's absolute nonsense that you need to be rich to have a Brazilian. And also nonsense that it needs to be painful. You can get the same look with a bic razor and some cheap conditioner.

Whoops Sorry. My copy and paste from a different thread.
Apologies.

"And it's not just one textbook- this is part of a much wider problem"

I agree with you. I fully intend on having a good look through my textbooks on Monday to see if this is representative. I teach a different specification and also have a lot of much older books.

You think they had an in-depth discussion about the pubic hair on a single image?

No, but someone clearly either thought to themselves, and it clearly went through review with a specifically err.. manicured.. pubic hair illustration - someone drew that on purpose.

Like others - bald, because it's an anatomical diagram, or full bush would have been fine, but this continuous drip of girls seeing that their bodies aren't fine as they are is terrifically damaging.

As zigzag says, this would have been swiftly solved in my day by the kids drawing pubic hair on there.... but then we had mums in the 70s.

funky

Can you post the email address you used to complain to Pearson?

I remember Gabby Hoffman said after she appeared on TV Show Girls naked with natural pubic hair, people kept asking if they stuck on a hair piece. Her reply was, ‘ no, I grew it, that’s what pubic hair looks like’.

Seriously, people are not used to seeing pubic hair on women. It’s a problem.

FamilyOfAliens. How do you think I should frame it to them?

Just so you know, I'm not talking about a class discussion where students will have to talk about this in front of classmates. I would never put my students in a position where they may feel uncomfortable. I intend on discussing it with my upper sixth form tutor group, all of whom are friends. A significant number are going on to study medicine so are comfortable with this kind of conversation.

You asked people to find 10 more examples before you consider we have a “fight in our hands”.

So what did you mean if not that any number under that isn’t worth a fight?

FamilyofAliens

I didn't say that under 10 was fine.

How will you frame the question to them, bigfluffy?

Because that will determine their answer, especially to a teacher, and in front of their classmates.