@article {3178132,
	title = {Schooling \&$\#$39;Soft-Spoken Boys\&$\#$39; and \&$\#$39;Masculine Girls\&$\#$39;: Morality, Equality, and Difference in China\&$\#$39;s Gender Education},
	journal = {Nan N{\"u}: Men, Women and Gender in China},
	volume = {26},
	year = {2024},
	pages = {85-113},
	abstract = {<p style="text-align:justify">
	Young people{\textquoteright}s gender practices and the function of the school in shaping these practices\&nbsp;have become a contentious issue in Chinese public discussions over the past\&nbsp;decade. This article explores an emergent strain of thinking within this debate: that\&nbsp;schools should promote the notion of gender equality. Focusing on the case of Daode\&nbsp;yu fazhi (Morality and legal rule) textbooks currently used in all junior high schools\&nbsp;(Grades 7-9) across the country, the article employs qualitative textual analysis to\&nbsp;examine whether and how the gender equality principle is presented to youth in the Xi\&nbsp;Jinping era (2012-). The study finds that the Xi-era textbooks promote the principle of\&nbsp;equality between men and women and urge young people to fight for the implementation\&nbsp;of this principle. In a notable break from the past, the books also acknowledge the\&nbsp;existence of diverse gender practices among contemporary youth. At the same time,\&nbsp;the textbooks endorse the notion of {\textquotedblleft}natural{\textquotedblright} gender difference and {\textquotedblleft}harmonious{\textquotedblright}\&nbsp;gender complementarity. The books also censor gender/sexuality expressions that do\&nbsp;not conform with hegemonic binary gender norms. Reflecting patriarchal and heteronormative ideologies reinforced by nationalist politics and a growing moral anxiety\&nbsp;about the blurring of boundaries between masculinity and femininity, the Xi era curriculum\&nbsp;ultimately leaves little space for flexible gender formulations.
</p>
},
	author = {Naftali, Orna}
}
