A Thematic analysis of body behaviors of women and girls in Tehran

The main question of the article is how people attach meanings to their body behaviors? By using a qualitative approach in the study of body behaviours, the article challenges the previous quantitative studies on the subject which neglect different meanings attached to the management of body by social actors and therefore concentrate on the explanation of the behaviours in terms of social factors. Drawing upon 27 interviews with women and girls (aged 20 to 34) in Tehran, and thematic analysis of the meanings of body management, three style have been identifies: 1: Identity-based management of body, in which body behaviours carry identitification codes, 2: Value-based management of body in which actors see their body as a field for investing and profit and values seeking, 3: order-based management of body in which people try to show their orderedness.