Gender ideology and its ruptures in locally produced ELT textbooks in Pakistan: a Southern critical discourse analysis

Language textbooks remain important epistemological sites for the construction of gendered subjectivities. Studies suggest that teachers’ beliefs and learning materials are influenced by androcentric cultures that de-privilege women by essentializing their traditional roles. These inquiries, however, do not adequately explain how textbooks embody competing views of gender ideology. This article analyzes Muslim gendered subjectivities constituted in Pakistani state-recommended English textbooks (grades 1–12) using Southern critical discourse analytic lens to demonstrate how gender ideology is shaped at the intersection of religion and social class. Findings suggest that gender ideology in textbooks is shaped through patriarchal interpretations of Islam, fostering masculinist intellectual/professional imagery and creating class-based gender disparities. Yet given the complexity of gender power relations, textbooks also create ruptures as they reflect religiously based ethical masculinity of men to counter patriarchy. The findings have implications not only for textbook writers and teachers, but also for feminist critical discourse studies (FCDS) scholarship.