"WHAT WOMEN LIKE AND WHAT MEN SEEK”: GENDER POLARIZATION IN (PSEUDO) SCIENTIFIC DISCOURSES

Resumo

This study, inserted in the field of Language and Gender, investigates the reproduction of gender polarization in (pseudo) scientific discourse. In order to do so, we first analyzed a workshop proposal for a research event at a renowned higher education institution in Brazil entitled “What women like and what men seek: the neurobehavioral basis of passion”. In order to have a more contextualized understanding of such workshop, we also looked into the curriculum of the researcher who proposed it (which is available in the Brazilian Lattes platform) as well as a personal blog in which he writes about relationships and his views on related issues. Departing from an analysis grounded on theories of Language and Gender (FAIRCLOUGH, 1995, 2003; CAMERON, 1998; WODAK, 1997), our purpose is to problematize the ways in which scientific discourse may function so as to reinforce gender binarism and gender stereotypes. Indeed, it is possible to conclude that the texts not only reproduce gender polarization but also seem to work to maintain the heterosexual market

(BING; BERGVALL, 1996). Moreover, the problem of gender polarization in scientific discourses seems to be related to another kind of binarism: the division between hard sciences and soft sciences.