تجربه زیسته زنان از نقش‌های خانواده محور در محلات جنوب شهر تهران

Recent governmental approaches have been focused on recognizing the role of women in families. However, most studies have primarily addressed the challenges of women's employment rather than assessing the needs of Housewives, despite a significant portion of women being Housewives. On the other hand, policymaking concerning women without a direct understanding of their issues will not yield the necessary effectiveness.
This research employs a phenomenological approach and semi-structured interviews to explore the lived experience of 20 women residing in the southern districts of Tehran, aiming to present a feminine narrative of the traditional family to directly understand the experiences, needs, and concerns of Housewives. Interviews were analysed using Van Manen's method, revealing three main themes: shifts in power dynamics, ambivalence toward femininity, negative coping strategies, and eight subthemes including children's disobedience, increased agency of women within the family, increased agency of women in external relationships, love for the family, feelings of being disregarded, suffocation, fear of the future, and a sense of helplessness.
The results indicate that the traditional family neither provides an ideal model for meeting women's needs nor is it an ineffective pattern that should be abandoned. Improving the situation of Housewives is contingent upon informed policymaking, as culture can independently shape women's actions, adapt itself to new circumstances, and circumvent legal constraints. However, legislation in favour of women without cultural groundwork and without changing customary attitudes will be ineffective.
 
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Keywords




Housewives, Cultural Policy Making, Family, Feminine Roles, Acquired Liberties‌
 
‌Introduction
Policymakers have consistently viewed women's employment as a threat to the stability of the family structure, framing family issues in terms of the decline of traditional roles and the inclination toward new feminine roles. However, over the past forty years, women's economic participation has grown by less than one percent, and a significant portion of women are Housewives. Yet, there has been no concerted and explicit policy-making to value homemaking.
Some perceive the traditional family structure as inefficient and unfair, while others believe that women's multifaceted role-playing harms the family nucleus and jeopardizes its foundation. Therefore, there is a quest to revitalize and empower traditional family structures. This research seeks to answer whether this lifestyle can be considered an ideal family model or lacks the necessary effectiveness for family members, especially women, through studying the lived experiences of Housewives in families residing in the southern districts of Tehran. What are the shortcomings and strengths of such family structures?
 
Methodology
The present research was conducted using a phenomenological approach, and samples were selected purposefully. The target population consisted of women residing in the southern districts of Tehran. Data collection utilized observation tools and semi-structured interviews. The interviews lasted an average of 45 minutes each and were conducted over a period of 6 months. In total, 20 interviews were conducted. Following each interview, the conversations were transcribed and analysed using the Van Manen method.
In phenomenological research, greater reliability relies on the richness of the collected information and the researcher's ability to analyse and interpret it. The researcher's capability is enhanced through the triangulation of data collection methods (observation, interviews, and study).
 
Findings
The expected pattern in traditional families, as per functionalist theories, involves the father's presence at the head of power and the existence of hierarchy within families. However, the breakdown of fathers' roles in the economic structure has undermined this foundation. Parent-child relationships are faced with challenges that neither side is willing to openly address, opting instead for a more diplomatic approach.
Women have been able to achieve a degree of freedom through continuing their education, enabling them to redefine their relationships with their husbands and their husbands' families. While these freedoms still require formal approval from the husband, they signify an increase in women's role-making within the new arena.
Housewives experience a dual sense regarding their feminine roles, wherein they perceive marriage and childbearing as desirable yet have also had bitter personal experiences. Emphasis on the roles of wife and mother while neglecting other existential dimensions leads to a feeling of being disregarded by family members.
Negative adaptation results from a mindset wherein women in subordinate positions strive to maintain family relationships. Housewives, in various ways, endure violence, humiliation, slander, and insult under the guise of vulnerability, helplessness, and fear of the future.
 
Result
Analysis of the lived experience of Housewives indicates that we are faced with a diverse concept of the traditional family, where the conventional alignment between tradition and religion no longer exists, and the father is not the shadow of the state or the executor of its established norms. It appears that the extracted themes may also be experienced by other women. However, Housewives in this regard require greater support.
The acquisition freedoms of Housewives demonstrate that in the event of ineffective laws, culture as an independent domain has the ability to reclaim and imbue actions with meaning. On the other hand, awareness-raising and cultural groundwork are necessary prerequisites for the operationalization of effective policies. Therefore, culture and policymaking should be simultaneously addressed and prioritized.
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