This study aimed at identifying meanings that compose complex concept female identity. Fourteen women 44-74 years old attending an adult literacy program took part on discussions group about the theme being a woman in which oral, written and image (picture) data were collected. Data were tape-recorded during 13 one and a half hour weekly sessions. Data were thoroughly transcribed and submitted to a thematic dialogical analysis. In this paper the theme women's social role is prioritized. Each role was analyzed considering three thematic groups - the role's activities, its modes of execution and its consequences. Results indicated that women had multiple identifications- mother/grandmother, daughter, wife, housewife, working woman 1 (rewarded) and working woman 2 (housewife). The pair of roles mother-wife standed out as it defined other aspects of being a woman.
identifications; narrative; social role
