Since 1991 government control of textbooks no longer takes place and the pedagogical framing is influenced by production relations in a rectified global mass culture where impressions and role models from the media have greater influence on students’ worldview and their socialization. Norms, ideas, values and attitudes are conveyed through language which is therefore seen as central in the creation of ideas about what is considered male or female. The purpose of the study is to examine, from a gender perspective, how girls/women and boys/men are portrayed and represented in both text and image in two textbooks in the subject of Swedish for kids in the third grade. Furthermore, the study aims to investigate the type of professions and/or activities occurring as masculine and feminine. The theories used for the analysis of the material are Yvonne Hirdman’s gender theory, Raewyn Connell's conception of gender relations and Bronwyn Davies sociological theory. The questions that are answered in the study are the following:

* In what way is gender constructed in the representation of girls/women and boys/men by image and text in textbooks?

* Which professions and/or activities are linked to masculinity and femininity?

I have in my investigation concluded that boys/men and girls/women are represented differently in both textbooks. In the textbook ”LäsDax 3” I found that both genders are represented in a stereotypical way, while the other textbook “ABC-klubben, Nyckeln till skatten” is trying to move beyond the stereotypical representation. In the latter mentioned textbook, men and women are both allowed to exceed the prevailing genus contract of society by describing girls as active and men as emotional. Regarding professions and/or activities I could also find that they differ in the textbooks. ”LäsDax 3” follows the norms of society regarding what is seen as masculine or feminine, while “ABC-klubben, Nyckeln till skatten” exceeds society’s norms.