The Study of Capacity to be "Feminine" From Lived-Experience of Iranian Women with Emphasis on Social and Cultural Dimensions

Document Type : Scientific-research

Authors

1 Ph.D. candidate of psychology, Department of psychology and education. Shahid Beheshti University. Tehran.Iran.

2 Professor, Department of Psychology and education.Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.

3 Associate Professor, Department of letters and human science, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

4 Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.

5 Associate Professor, Family Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.

10.48308/apsy.2022.225356.1240

Abstract

Aim: The feminine and masculine templates change repeatedly across cultures and over time. What we know as femininity or masculinity is related to Western culture, so it is necessary to enrich the sexuality literature with Eastern culture. Accordingly, the aim of this study is the recognition of feminine dimensions in Iranian culture based on Iranian women's lived experiences.
 
Method: The research method is qualitative in terms of interpretive phenomenology. For the investigation of the concept of femininity in this study, the population includes all women who live in Tehran and whose ages are between 30–45 years and who have not had any psychotherapy experience. The sampling method was purposive sampling and semi-structured interviews were used. All interviews were recorded, transcribed manually, and finally analyzed using the interpretive analysis method.
 
Results: Eighteen semi-structured interviews with participants were conducted, and the analysis of the interview data led to the identification and classification of 146 open codes, 14 concepts, and 2 main themes related to the lived experiences of Iranian women. In this study, we focused only on the cultural aspects in the concept of femininity in Iranian women's lived experiences.
 
Conclusion: Finally, according to the results of this investigation, we revisit the concept of sexuality instead of talking about the dualism of men and women. Thus, we can speak about the multiplicity and multi-being of femininities and masculinities, from which everyone benefits according to their desire

Keywords

References

Auspurg, K., Iacovou, M., & Nicoletti, C. (2017). Housework  share  between  partners: experimental evidence on gender-specific preferences. Social Science Research, 66, 118-139. [link]
Bem, S. L. (1993). The lenses of gender: Transforming the debate on sexual equality. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. [link]
Bian, L., Leslie, S. J., & Cimpian, A. (2017). Gender stereotypes about intellectual ability emerge early and influence children’s  interests. Science, 355(6323), 389-391. [link]
Bieri Buschor, C., Kappler, C., Keck Frei, A., & Berweger, S. (2014). I want to be a scientist/a teacher: students'  perceptions of career decision-making in gender-typed, non-traditional areas of work. Gender and Education, 26(7), 743-758. [link]
Butler J. (1989). The Body politics of Julia Kristeva. Blackwell Publishing on behalf of Hypatia, Inc. 3(3), 104-118.URL:[Link]
Cejka, M. A., & Eagly, A. H. (1999). Gender-stereotypic images of occupations correspond to the sex segregati on of employment. Personality and  Social  Psychology Bulletin, 25(4), 413-423. [link]                                            
Chodorow, N. (1989). Feminism and psychoanalytic theory. Yale University Press ]link[
Colaizzi, P. (1978). Psychological research as a phenomenologist view it. In: Valle, R. S. & King, M. Existential Phenomenological Alternatives for Psychology. Open University Press: New York. [link]
Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method approaches. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage Publications. [link]
Ebrahimi, Ezat Mola, Taroudi Mamaghani, Yashar, & Honardoust, Atieh. (2013). Iran Place Among Meca Countries On 2015 Based On Gender Inequity (3rd Goal Of Mdg). Woman In Culture And Art (Women's Research), 5(3), 345-372. [link]
Einarsdottir, J. (2007).  Research with children: methodological and ethical challenges. European early childhood education research journal, 15(2): 198-211. [link]
Freud, S. (1924a). The dissolution of the Oedipus complex. In Standard Edition of Sigmund Freud’s Articles. London: Hogarth Press; 19,173-182. [link]
Freud, S. (1924b).  The economic problem of masochism.  In  Standard Edition of Sigmund Freud’s Articles. London: Hogarth Press; 19,185-190. [link]
Freud, S. (1927).  Some psychical consequences of the anatomical distinctions between the sexes. In Standard Edition of Sigmund Freud’s Articles. London: Hogarth Press; 20, 75-103. [link]
Freud, S. (1933). New introductory lectures on psycho-analysis (Lecture XXXIII Femininity: 112-135). Standard Edition. London: Hogarth Press; 22, 3-184. [link]
Fulcher, M. (2011).  Individual differences in children’s occupational aspirations as a function of parental traditionality. Sex Roles, 64(1-2), 117-131[link]
Harkness, S. (2003). The household division of labour: Changes in families’ allocation of paid and  unpaid work,  1992–2002. In The Labour Market Under New Labour (pp. 150-169). Palgrave Macmillan, London. [link]
Hook, J. L. (2010). Gender inequality in the welfare state: Sex segregation in housework, 1965–2003. American journal of sociology, 115(5), 1480-1523. [link]
Horne, R. M., Johnson, M. D., Galambos, N. L., & Krahn, H. J. ( 2018). Time, money, or gender? Predictors of the division of household labour across life stages.  Sex Roles, 78(11-12), 731-743. [link]
Jung, A. K., & Heppner, M. J. (2015). Work of full‐time mothers:  putting voice to the relational theory of working. The Career Development Quarterly, 63(3), 253-267. [link]
Jung, A. K., & O’Brien, K. M. (2017). The profound influence of unpaid work on women’s lives:  an overview and future directions. Journal of Career Development, [link]
Kristeva, J.  (1893). the portable kristeva. Oliver, K. (editor). Colombia University Press.New York. [link]
Lachance-Grzela, M., & Bouchard, G. (2010). Why do women do the lion’s share of housework? a decade of research. Sex Roles, 63(11-12), 767-780. [link]
Moreno-Colom, S. (2017). The gendered division of housework time: Analysis of time use by type and daily frequency of household tasks. Time & Society, 26(1), 3-27. [link]
Perales, F., Baxter, J., & Tai, T. O. (2015). Gender, justice and work: A distributive approach to perceptions of housework fairness.  Social Science Research, 51, 51-63. [link]
Petersen, J. & Hyde, J. (2010a). Gender differences in sexuality. J.C. Chrisler, D.R. McCreary (eds.), Handbook of Gender Research in Psychology, 471-491 [link]
Petersen, J. & Hyde, J. (2010b). A Meta-Analytic Review of Research on Gender Differences in Sexuality, 1993–2007. Psychological Bulletin. 136(1), 21–38. [link]
Ryle, R. (2012). Questioning Gender: A Sociological Exploration. by Pine Forge Press an imprint of publications, Inc. [link]
Scott, J. W. (2011). The Fantasy of Feminist History, Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 200pp. [link]
Simon, R. M., Wagner, A., & Killion, B. (2017). Gender and choosing a STEM major in college: Femininity, masculinity, chilly climate, and occupational values.  Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 54(3), 299-323. [link]
Spinner, L., Cameron, L., & Calogero, R. (2017). Peer toy play as a gateway to children’s gender flexibility: The effect of (counter) stereotypic portrayals of peers in children’s magazines. Sex Roles, 1-15. [link]
Stubbe, M. (1994). What’s the score? Qualitative analysis in gender research. International Journal of Language and Applied Linguistics, 4(1), 3-18.[link]
Tai, T. O., & Treas, J. (2012). Housework task hierarchies in 32 countries. European Sociological Review, 29(4), 780-791. [link]                                     
Van Manen, m. 1990, “researching lived experience: human science for an actionsensitive pedagogy” London, Ontario, Canada: the university of western Ontario. [link]
Zosuls, K., Miller, C., Ruble, D., Martin, C., & Fabes, R. (2011). Gender development research in Sex Roles: historical trends and future directions. Sex Roles. 64, 826–842. [link]         

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics