Articles that essentialize the difference between feminine and masculine characteristics have obtained especial attention in national magazines with readers mostly composed lay people. Taking such a situation in consideration, the above subject matter is questioned through a discussion of certain articles from the gender approach. Magazines published from January to April 2005, most of them highly popular throughout Brazil, were analyzed. Magazines, hailing from the library of a private and traditional school in Florianópolis SC Brazil, were read by students aged 11 to 18 years old. Two Psychology magazines, found in the Psychology Department of the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, were also consulted. Out of 33 articles seventeen were selected and finally 8 articles were analyzed according to Discourse Analysis method (Orlandi, 1999). Results show that in the analyzed articles an expressive biological theorization on this subject occurred, valorizing medical, neurological and ethological approaches. Concepts of sex and gender are used in different ways, even as different concepts, while in others they are explained as synonyms.
Gender; discourse analysis; printed media