Young Women and Their Redefinition of Motherhood Role

According to the traditional definition, motherhood is the most important role of a woman. It also says that rearing a child makes women perfect. But a growing consciousness among women as well as the gap between traditional definitions and real experiences of motherhood have made people pay more attention to motherhood experiences and redefine this role. In this article, we compared women’s prior conceptions of motherhood with their present experiences using the qualitative method. The study group was selected from the young unemployed mothers in Dowlat Abad neighborhood. Since our sampling method was conceptual, we put aside the two factors of education and tendency towards religion. Moreover, to gather the data, we used in-depth and semi-structured interview techniques. Findings showed that tendency towards to be a mother and learning the motherhood role was common to the study group. Furthermore, educated mothers, regardless of their religious attitude, were openly critical of the current meaning of motherhood; and they also were active in following their personal interests. The religiously educated mothers felt a smaller gap between their conceptions and their motherhood experiences, compared to the educated mothers with a low tendency towards religion. In addition, the majority of mothers believed that the motherhood role is a tough, rewardless and complicated role which includes the least privileges and the most responsibilities. And they also maintained that the society, government, and fathers should help them do their duties.