On the basis of a survey of middle-class adolescent girls from Ribeirão Preto, the present study analyzes the constitution of gender identity of these girls, their relations with family and with peer group and the affective ties with occasional or steady boy friends. Analysis of the data suggests that, despite the change in cultural patterns and of the new positions of women, the constitution of gender identity of girls is marked by ambiguities about female roles, a fact that causes these girls to incorporate these same ambiguities into their behavior.
adolescent; family; gender identity; peer group; affective relations