The aim of the present study is to discuss different social judgments about the growing use of sex hormones, a practice that is increasingly common in Brazil and worldwide. There has been a rapid expansion of clinical indications for the use of sex hormones in different circumstances, such as aging, beauty purposes and improvement of physical and sexual performance. These technological innovations are disseminated by the media enthusiastically. Paradoxically, there is some reserve regarding the use of emergency contraception by young women. Despite the popularization of scientific knowledge of sex hormones as a tool to improve some physical human aspects, the diffusion and use of emergency contraception, which was approved twenty years ago with precise clinical indications, remain marginal and restricted, in a country where abortion is still unavailable to women. The study hypothesis considers a gender perspective that subjugates the exercise of women’s sexuality to specific prevailing standards.
Keywords : Gonadal steroid hormones; Contraception; Sexuality; Gender; Contraception methods.
