Challenging Stereotypes: The Social Construct of Teachers

The woman on the cover of That’s Funny, You Don’t Look Like a Teacher by Sandra Weber and Claudia Mitchell is not one that anyone would tie with a book about education. Society for decades has had an imagine in their head of what a teacher looks like, and the cover image is not that. Like our class demonstrated, our drawings of teachers don’t reflect the teachers we’ve actually had, but the teachers we’ve seen through the lens of our society. “These images are so pervasive in television and films that they have the power to rewrite our memories, papering over the fashionable, casual, or colourful attire that some teachers really do wear, urging us to incorporate a small range of standard ‘teacher’ looks into our very identity as teacher.” (Weber and Mitchell 1995, 171) This quote demonstrates that the social construct around teachers is powerful enough to rewrite memories we have of our past teachers to envision something

we think we should remember. The teacher on the cover isn’t drawn in the traditional way that we’ve seen teachers; she is drawn confidently enjoying her nudity and sexuality, but we still see the image of the apple next to her. Even in this woman’s own personal moment, the apple is there as a reminder that she is still a teacher, even in this moment.
The apple, though seen as an image relating to education, was originally seen as the downfall of Eve in the biblical story of Adam and Eve. Eve was unable to stay away from the apple that held all the knowledge of good and evil. The apple when it comes to education also represents the knowledge that is gained from attending school, but the apple also represents temptation. Teachers are seen as people who are asexual, and this may stem from the idea that women are teachers and that women’s sexuality is dangerous. “The sexuality of female teachers is often portrayed, not as healthy or enriching, but as perversion, as dangerous. Teaching and learning, after all, are not supposed to have anything to do with sex. Any hints to the contrary must be swept under the carpet, ridiculed, blamed on woman’s inherent weak nature (back to Eve and the apple again), or covered over.” (Weber and Mitchell 1995, 124) Eve ate the fruit from the tree, not Adam. Eve was unable to to say no to temptation, and this is a trend we still see today regarding teachers.
The book title, “That’s Funny, You Don’t Look Like a Teacher” almost reads the minds of the people who look at the cover and realize that is suppose to be a teacher.

Since teachers are thought to be asexual, anyone who doesn’t fit the stereotypical teacher image we all know, doesn’t seem to have the skill and education to be a teacher. People have a set imagine in their head about what a teacher looks like, and if someone doesn’t fit this imagine, the title may be their verbal response. People would never question your certification or your IQ if you disclosed that you were a teacher, but the way you look may be. When people imagine a teacher it's the clothes and appearance they think of, not their education, which is what actually make them a teacher. “When we think of teacher, or remember a specific teacher we have known, it is often the way they dress that stands out.” (Weber and Mitchell 1995, 58) The woman on the cover is being remembered and talked about for her clothing and her sexuality because teaching and sexuality don’t go

together.
The cover represents the title because it represents how appearance in teaching is presented as more important than qualifications. Society seems to be more interested in how a teacher dresses and acts than how they teach. The woman on the cover seems to be a teacher who is engaging in a private moment in the comfort of her own home, but the apple still being next to her signifies how even in this private moment, she’s looked at as a teacher. This isn’t just her career; but part of her identity.