When “Women” Means “White Women”: U.S. Social Studies Standards Centering and Essentializing White Women’s Experiences

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Sunday 11:40 am Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: Examining Historical Gender and Geopolitical Issues in Curriculum (Table 11)

Abstract

An analysis of U.S. social studies standards by state revealed that women are included in predictable ways that essentialize and center the experiences of white women, all while presenting white women as deracialized. Furthermore, the standards are often worded in ways that force Black women and Indigenous women into a choice between their racialized identity or gender identity. Finally, Latina women and Asian American and Pacific Islander women’s history is almost entirely absent throughout the standards.

Author

• Meghan Moore-Hubbard, Kennesaw State University