This study explores how gender markers are translated in Indonesian–English bilingual museum texts and how these translation choices influence the representation of women in institutional narratives. In multilingual museums, translation is not only a matter of transferring meaning between languages. It also plays a role in shaping how gender is made visible or invisible. While gender issues have received attention in translation studies, research that closely examines gender markers in museum translation is still limited.

This study is based on 25 pairs of source and target language captions taken from permanent exhibition texts at the Sangiran Early Man Site, specifically the Krikilan Museum complex. Using a qualitative approach, the analysis focuses on translation shifts related to grammatical gender, pronoun use, and generic masculine forms. This study is based on feminist translation theory and critical discourse analysis (CDA), both of which view translation as an ideological practice rather than a neutral technical process.

Feminist translation theory is used to examine how specific strategies, such as neutralization, over-marking, addition, and compensation, affect the visibility of women in the target text. These strategies are assessed to determine whether translation choices maintain, weaken, or strengthen gender representation. CDA supports this analysis by connecting small-scale linguistic choices to broader institutional discourses on authority, knowledge, and gender hierarchy in museum narratives.

The findings are expected to show that limited attention to gender markers, especially the uncritical use of generic masculine forms or inappropriate gender neutralization, can contribute to the invisibilities of women. In contrast, gender-aware translation strategies may improve representational accuracy and inclusivity. By highlighting gender markers as a key aspect of translation quality, this study contributes to more inclusive practices in museum translation.