Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro

Faculdade de Letras
Departamento de Letras Anglo-Germnicas
Setor de Lngua Inglesa
ACADEMIC REVIEW
by Isabela Vitria de Oliveira dos Santos
Ostermann, A. C.; KellerCo!en, D. "#$$%&
'(ood )irls )o to !eaven; bad )irls*+ learn to be )ood, -.i//es in Ameri0an and 1ra/ilian
teena)e )irls+ ma)a/ines. Dis0o.rse and So0iety $ "2&, 34#33%
Assi)nment )iven to t!e Rodri)o 1orba
as a eval.ation 0riterion 5or t!e s.b6e0t Writin) S7ills 8EW9 4:
Key-words: Critical discourse analysis, (hetero)sexist discourse, quizzes,
ideological instruments
Palavras-chave: Anlise crtica do discurso, discurso (hetero)sexual, quizzes,
instrumentos ideolgicos
Good girls go to heaven; bad girls learn to be good: quizzes in American and
Brazilian teenage girls magazines is an arti0le t!at 0overs t!e .se o5 lan).a)e as a 5orm
o5 so0ial ;ra0ti0e. Ostermann and KellerCo!en, t!e <riters, ;roblemati/e t!e .se o5
lan).a)e as an ideolo)i0al instr.ment o5 0ontrol o5 individ.als+ be!avior by analy/in)
-.i//es 5rom ma)a/ines 5or teena)ers. Ado;tin) t!e 0riti0al dis0o.rse analysis
a;;roa0!, t!e a.t!ors demonstrate t!at -.i//es in teena)e )irls+ ma)a/ines =>are? neit!er
!armless nor l.di0 as t!e ma)a/ines <o.ld !ave .s to believe@ ";.332&, b.t tools to
assess ;eo;le+s be!avior, ;ointo5vie< and ;ersonality.
A!e 0on0erned arti0le <as ;.blis!ed in a ;eriodi0al entitled Dis0o.rse and So0iety in
#$$%, and it is divided into seven se0tions, Introduction, Background, am!le,
Anal"tical a!!roach, #e$t structure: the !roblem%solution !attern, &iscussion, and
'onclusion and ea0! one o5 t!em !as a main ;.r;ose. A!e Introduction 5o0.s on t!e
=system >t!at? nat.rali/es !eteroseB.ality@";.34C& by ;res0ri;tion o5 ty;es o5 be!avior
5rom a !eteroseBist ;ers;e0tive. A!e Background is devoted to t!e ;resentation o5 t!e
)enre -.i/, <!i0! is not merely a so.r0e o5 in5ormation; =rat!er t!ey 0lassi5y t!e
res;ondent+s be!avior@ ";.343& and ind.0e readers to be!ave ;ro;erly in so0iety <!en
t!e Eval.ation is not s.itable. A!e Anal"tical a!!roach ;resents t!e Criti0al Dis0o.rse
Analysis "CDA&, t!e notion in <!i0! Ostermann and KellerCo!en 5rame t!eir
investi)ation. #e$t structure: the !roblem%solution !attern is t!e ;art t!at 0overs t!e
str.0t.re o5 t!e DroblemSol.tion ;attern o55ered by Eoey "#$%4&. It aims at remedy
)irls+ ina;;ro;riate be!avior, ;resentin) t!em a 7ey. A!e &iscuss 0overs some iss.es
re)ardin) -.i//es in )irls+ ma)a/ines. A!ey are t!e strate)ies .sed to )ive 0redibility to
t!e ;rovided in5ormation, t!e eval.ation and t!e ;ossible 0lassi5i0ation )iven to )irls,
t!e 0ontradi0tions t!at may arise <!en analysis -.i//es and t!e dis0i;linary 5.n0tion
t!ey dis;lay. A!e 'onclusion is t!e se0tion in <!i0! t!e a.t!ors rati5y t!eir 0riti0al
;osition 0on0ernin) teena)e )irls+ ma)a/ines. As t!ey s!o< it, t!ese sort o5 ma)a/ines
are ideolo)i0al devi0es s.0! as =t!e 0!.r0!, t!e s0!ool, and t!e 5amily@ ";.334&.
A!e data .sed by Ostermann and KellerCo!en is 0om;osed o5 5i5teen -.i//es in 5o.r
teena)e )irls+ ma)a/ines, #een, eventeen, ass" "Ameri0an&, and 'a!richo "1ra/ilian&,
over t!e ;eriod #$$23. F.rt!ermore, t!e t!ree o5 t!em sell 0onsiderably <ell. A!e
stren)t! o5 t!is ind.stry, a00ordin) t!e <riters, is 5a0ilitated by some as;e0ts, as t!e
0onversational and liberal tone and t!e .se o5 a00redited so.r0es. And I s!are Van Di67+s
idea "#$$4,C%:& on =t!at '0riti0al dis0o.rse analysis may not ma7e m.0! di55eren0e@,
.nless <e stim.late a 0riti0al ;ers;e0tive amon) o.r st.dents and 0ollea).es, ";.333&
be0a.se I 0an reali/e t!at des;ite not 7no<in) m.0! abo.t t!e Criti0al Dis0o.rse
Analysis 0on0e;t, t!e arti0les and t!e 0riti0al a;;roa0!es d.rin) my 6o.rney at
.niversity s.rely 0ontrib.te to my a0ademi0 ed.0ation and ;ersonal li5e.
I 0on0l.de t!is revie< mentionin) t!at Ostermann and KellerCo!en+s vital 0ontrib.tion
to t!e st.dies and lan).a)e and so0ial ;ra0ti0es. A!e arti0le+s a;;roa0! is a00essible and
t!e str.0t.re is very <ell b.ilt. One as;e0t t!at attra0ted me is t!e detailin) o5 t!e )enre
quiz be0a.se its arran)ement is essential to .nderstand <!y t!ey are t!e ;re5erred by
teena)e )irls+ ma)a/ines+ editors. A!is material is o5 )reat si)ni5i0an0e not only 5or
;eo;le 5rom t!e A0ademia b.t also 5or ;arents, 5or t!em to 7no< !o< to deal <it! t!ese
times in <!i0! teena)ers .s.ally 5eel t!e .r)e to be a00e;ted by so0iety and to s!o<
t!em t!at t!ere are ot!er val.es more im;ortant t!an bea.ty and so0ial be!avior.
(e)erence:
Ostermann, A. C.; KellerCo!en, D. "#$$%& '(ood )irls )o to !eaven; bad )irls*+ learn to be
)ood, -.i//es in Ameri0an and 1ra/ilian teena)e )irls+ ma)a/ines. Dis0o.rse and So0iety $ "2&,
34#33%