Considering the role of the media in the psychological development, we investigated the gender issues in adolescents’ conversation in an interactive situation focused on a scene from the Brazilian soap opera, "Malhação" (Globo Network, 2001 edition). A total of 47 students participated in the study, drawn from the 6th and 8th grades of primary school and from the 1st and 3rd grades of secondary school, divided into eight groups with three female and three male each. The results indicate: a predominance of conservative moral judgment of the characters by the groups of the 6th and 8th grades, with predominance of female verbalizations and male silence; a shift of the discussion in the 3rd grade to more general matters, such as the role of the media and education; a greater equity in the frequency of verbalizations, indicating female submissiveness. The analysis of the speech acts indicates the maintenance of male and female roles which favour male status.
development; identity; gender; media; focal groups
