Phenomenology of Female-Headed Household’s Perception of Self-Concept in BothPrivate and Public Spheres

The identity of a woman, including female-headed households in any society, is defined in terms of gender, economic and parenting roles in both the pri-vate and public spheres by the symbolic order that governs society. The purpose of this study is to analyze and represent the lived experience of these women in their private and public spheres.

This research was conducted using a qualitative approach and descriptive phenomenological method. The research area was Mashhad and the par-ticipants were female-headed households in the summer of 2021 who were selected by a purposeful method of criterion type with maximum distribution. Data were collected by semi-structured interview method and the interview ended with theoretical saturation at the end of the 21st case. At the end of the interview, the data were implemented and read, and then the analysis of the participants’ narrative was performed through the Co-laizzi method and MAXQDA version 12 qualitative content analysis software.

Consecutive reviews of interviews and continuous comparison of data revealed the four main themes of family, social maps, feminine characteristics and self-concept promo-tion. The results show that in the perception of women heads of households, the private sphere is their special domain and is tied to the concept of care and empowerment. In this area, responsibilities such as housekeeping, childcare and housework are promi-nent. In the public and social spheres, such women are engaged in economic activities. However, financial, cognitive, physical and functional disabilities in this area are the most well-known influencing factors in their lesser presence in public activities. Con-clusion: There are perceptual dualities in this type of women that can be the subject of thinking and research in the field of gender, femininity and head of household.