Chinese publisher apologizes, yanks math textbook with different versions for boys and girls | World - CBS News

CBS News' Grace Qi reports, The company had said the two texts catered to gender differences, with games for boys and "practical scenarios, such as buying vegetables and fruit," for girls.

The two versions of a math textbook - blue for boys and red for girls - that was discontinued after an online outcry over sexism by Chinese publisher East China Normal University Press (ECNUP), are seen in an image posted online by the company.

A Chinese publisher has yanked a math textbook for junior high students from its product line amid an outcry over the fact that different versions were printed for male and female students.


"Blue version for the boys, red version for the girls," the East China Normal University Press (ECNUP) said in a post on its official account on China's WeChat social media platform. It claimed the books were designed specifically to cater to strengths and weaknesses of different genders.

"For example, the 'male version' includes content in the form of games as boys like to play games, and for the girls, we have more practical scenarios, such as buying vegetables and fruit in the market," one of the authors told local media outlet iFeng News...

The backlash prompted ECNUP to announce earlier this week that it was halting publication of the book immediately. On Thursday the company released a statement apologizing "for the negative impact of this matter," and promising to "draw lessons from it."
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Source: CBS News