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In this study we have analyzed five different history textbooks geared for the years 4 to 6 in the Swedish elementary school system. This analysis focused on how these textbooks manage representation based on gender. To analyze representation, we decided to analyze both the ratio of named men and women in the textbooks indexes, as well as how the women are presented by the authors in the textbooks.

To perform this analysis we have decided to use Yvonne Hirdman's theory about gender and the “natural order”. Using this theory we have interpreted all names identified via the indexes, according to how their actions are presented and how their relation to men in their life is described. We also analysed whether their actions are described as their own. This made it possible to compare how women are framed across the five textbooks, not only in terms of numerical representation but also in terms of agency and narrative context.

This study has shown that all of the textbooks have a definite underrepresentation of women, with women constituting only about 30% of the named individuals. And when women are presented in the textbooks they are often mentioned together with the men in their life. But this doesn’t necessarily mean that women are reduced to these relationships in every case. However, the frequent framing through men reinforces men´s position as the default historical reference point, even when women are also described as actors through their own actions.