A Narrative Study of the Women heads of households’ lives under the sponsorship of the Imam Khomeini Relief Committee

Abstract

In today's society, the phenomenon of "female-headed households" is increasing for a variety of reasons. This group of women is one of the marginalized groups in society that face many social, cultural and economic hardships. In this research, we tried to narrate the perceptions, feelings, pains, sufferings and finally the story of their lives by providing the possibility of recording the life experiences of these women. The most important question of this research was what concepts can be narrated in the experience of these women? And how do they understand, interpret, and narrate these experiences? This research was conducted in the form of qualitative methodology with the help of narrative analysis. For this purpose, we conducted in-depth and in-depth interviews with fifteen women heads of households under the auspices of the Imam Khomeini Relief Committee in Mashhad. The experiences of these women include the following major narratives: childbearing, early motherhood, low level of economic and social capital, low level of cultural capital, temporary and insecure work, unsuccessful marriage and separation. It can be narrated from the spouse, insecurities and social pressures, burnout, loneliness, and endless worry and anxiety.

Keywords

• women heads of households
• narrative analysis
• lived experience