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Social Problems of Iran 2026, 17(1): 79-126 |
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Rahbar Z, Alirezanejad S, Karimian H. (2026). Types of Femininity and the Issue of Singlehood among Employed and Educated Never-Married Women. Social Problems of Iran. 17(1), 79-126. doi:10.61882/jspi.17.1.79
URL: http://jspi.khu.ac.ir/article-1-3931-en.html
URL: http://jspi.khu.ac.ir/article-1-3931-en.html
1- PhD Student in Sociology, Department of Sociology, Garmsar Branch, Islamic Azad University, Garmsar, Iran
2- Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology, Garmsar Branch, Islamic Azad University, Garmsar, Iran ,soal802001@gmail.com
3- Assistant Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology, Garmsar Branch, Islamic Azad University, Garmsar, Iran
2- Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology, Garmsar Branch, Islamic Azad University, Garmsar, Iran ,
3- Assistant Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology, Garmsar Branch, Islamic Azad University, Garmsar, Iran
Abstract: (529 Views)
The emergence of single women in contemporary Iranian society is a social issue worthy of examination. This study asks how employed and educated never-married women in the cities of Semnan and Shahroud understand singlehood and how this understanding relates to their remaining unmarried. To answer this question, the study employed grounded theory. The participants were employed and educated never-married women aged 25 to 45, selected through purposive and theoretical sampling. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using open, axial, and selective coding.
The findings yielded ten main categories, including family characteristics, orientation toward education, occupational characteristics, understanding of gender, orientation toward marriage, attitudes toward sexual needs and sexual relations, interaction with men, understanding and experience of love, and orientation toward singlehood. Among these, understanding of femininity was identified as the core category. Three paradigmatic patterns emerged from the data: quasi-emphasized femininity, rebellious femininity, and bewildered femininity.
The findings show that differences in the understanding of femininity among employed and educated never-married women lead to different orientations toward marriage and different meanings of singlehood. In quasi-emphasized femininity, singlehood is understood negatively, mainly as loneliness, and marriage remains desirable. In rebellious femininity, singlehood is understood positively as freedom, peace, and independence, and marriage is avoided. In bewildered femininity, singlehood is understood ambivalently, both as loneliness and as freedom, peace, and independence, and this pattern is accompanied by a form of denial regarding marriage. None of these patterns was dominant in Semnan or Shahroud.
The findings yielded ten main categories, including family characteristics, orientation toward education, occupational characteristics, understanding of gender, orientation toward marriage, attitudes toward sexual needs and sexual relations, interaction with men, understanding and experience of love, and orientation toward singlehood. Among these, understanding of femininity was identified as the core category. Three paradigmatic patterns emerged from the data: quasi-emphasized femininity, rebellious femininity, and bewildered femininity.
The findings show that differences in the understanding of femininity among employed and educated never-married women lead to different orientations toward marriage and different meanings of singlehood. In quasi-emphasized femininity, singlehood is understood negatively, mainly as loneliness, and marriage remains desirable. In rebellious femininity, singlehood is understood positively as freedom, peace, and independence, and marriage is avoided. In bewildered femininity, singlehood is understood ambivalently, both as loneliness and as freedom, peace, and independence, and this pattern is accompanied by a form of denial regarding marriage. None of these patterns was dominant in Semnan or Shahroud.
Extended Abstract
1. Introduction
In recent decades, despite the universal character of marriage as a social phenomenon, researchers have found that the number of countries experiencing a decline in marriage rates has been increasing. Although kinship systems remain prominent in East and Southeast Asian countries, declining marriage rates, increasing rates of delayed marriage, higher divorce rates, the rise of singlehood, and a decreasing tendency to form a shared marital life are also observable in these societies. The decline in the marriage rate in Iran in recent years is an issue that cannot be easily overlooked. According to a 2023 report by the Ministry of Sports and Youth, between 2013 and 2021, the marriage rate declined in all provinces of the country except Sistan and Baluchestan Province. Official national statistics also indicate a significant increase over the past decade in the number of single women, that is, women who have never married. According to the national population and housing censuses from 1966 to 2021, the percentage of permanent singlehood among women has followed an upward trend since 1976, reaching 3.37 percent in 2016 and 5 percent in 2021.
Employment and education have been two modern factors accessible to Iranian women and have provided the grounds for their entry into society. Despite the still limited level of female employment, Iranian women, through access to university education, employment, income, and the experience of multiple identities, have challenged their existing social position. In Iran, the total number of women who were graduates of, or enrolled in, higher education in 2023 was 6,959,732. Among all provinces, the highest percentage of young never-married women with higher education, at 50.3 percent, lives in Semnan Province. In addition, census data from 2016 and statistical estimates for 2021 show that in Semnan Province, the rate of employed women increased from 15.55 percent to 34.4 percent. According to the results of the latest national population estimate in 2021, Semnan Province is among the seven provinces with a high rate of female singlehood. The counties of Semnan and Shahroud are the largest cities in Semnan Province in terms of population and area. Moreover, the downward trend in marriage rates in these two cities is noteworthy. In a province with a traditional social fabric, the consequences arising from the increase in the number of never-married women have led to the rise of single women being regarded today as a social issue in this province.
This study seeks to explore the gender identity of employed and educated single women and the relationship between their feminine identity and their remaining unmarried. Accordingly, the main research question is as follows: in the cities of Semnan and Shahroud, how do employed and educated never-married women understand themselves as women, and what role does this understanding play in their singlehood? In light of the main research question, concepts and theories related to femininity, globalization, modernization and its resulting transformations, identity, and new identity-making elements such as employment and education were reviewed, and these theories were examined with theoretical sensitivity.
2. Methodology
Given the nature of the initial research question and in order to arrive at an answer, it was necessary to enter the deeper layers of the actors’ subjective world; therefore, grounded theory was used as the research method. To collect the data, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 employed and educated never-married women aged 25 to 45 residing in the counties of Semnan and Shahroud. In the first stage, purposive sampling was carried out. After the emergence of the initial categories, theoretical sampling was conducted. Immediately after each interview, open, axial, and selective coding was carried out. During the coding process, movement back and forth between theory and reality was taken into account. After the completion of coding, the extracted concepts and categories were presented to specialists, and their complementary views were incorporated.
In this study, to achieve credibility, the concepts obtained from the interviews were shared with 15 of the participants and 5 individuals with similar characteristics who had not participated in the study, in order to examine the extent to which these concepts corresponded to their personal experiences. To achieve dependability, the findings were continuously and systematically compared and reviewed on a daily basis, and the reports resulting from the analysis of each individual interview were discussed in several sessions with specialists to ensure the accuracy of the information obtained.
3. Findings
According to the findings of the study, the employed and educated single women aged 25 to 45 residing in the counties of Semnan and Shahroud differed from one another in terms of age, level of education, type of occupation, and level of income. Through open, axial, and selective coding, as well as a detailed line-by-line analysis of the participants’ interviews, a comprehensive classification yielded 10 main categories:
1. family characteristics,
2. orientation toward education,
3. occupational characteristics,
4. understanding of gender,
5. orientation toward marriage,
6. understanding of sexual need and ways of dealing with it,
7. type of attitude toward sexual relations,
8. interaction with men,
9. understanding and experience of love, and
10. orientation toward singlehood.
After identifying the categories, relationships between categories and subcategories were established. Attention was paid to the conditions that led to the emergence or expansion of the categories, the contexts that gave rise to them, the conditions that helped reinforce them, the strategies and interactions employed by single women, and the consequences associated with them. On this basis, the categories were configured. It appears that family conditions, the experience of puberty, the understanding of motherhood, orientation toward gender roles, and the understanding of virginity influence women’s understanding of themselves as women. In this study, the understanding of femininity constituted the core category, encompassing all other categories as far as possible. On this basis, three paradigms were identified: quasi-emphasized femininity, rebellious femininity, and bewildered femininity. These paradigms indicate different configurations of the understanding of femininity among employed and educated single women.
4. Conclusion
This study shows that single women, on the basis of differences in family characteristics, the way they experienced puberty, their understanding of motherhood, their orientation toward gender roles, their understanding of virginity, occupational characteristics, and orientation toward education, have understood womanhood in different ways. With regard to the core category, namely the understanding of femininity, it can be said that there are different types of understanding of femininity. These different understandings of femininity affect the social actions of single women, including their marriage and singlehood.
In quasi-emphasized femininity, the employed and educated single woman understands womanhood as embodied in a delicate and emotional being and as a self-sacrificing mother. Despite her desire to marry, she fails to marry, yet she continues to remain hopeful about marriage. She is not satisfied with life as a single woman, and her orientation toward singlehood is negative.
In rebellious femininity, the employed and educated single woman defines womanhood as embodied in a combative and rebellious being who, through protest, audacity, and rebellion, can move beyond limitations, refuse domination, struggle to achieve her desires, and change her conditions. She fears marriage and regards singlehood as independence and freedom. This woman’s orientation toward singlehood is positive.
In bewildered femininity, there is a dual understanding of femininity. Woman is understood as a delicate and weak yet capable being. She experiences a form of gendered bewilderment. From her perspective, marriage is regarded as a point at which personal progress and individual success come to a halt. Her orientation toward singlehood is dual: singlehood is understood both as freedom, independence, and peace, and as loneliness. Given the current state of marriage in Semnan Province, as well as in Iran more broadly, greater attention should be paid to the modern phenomenon of single women, and policymakers should take this important issue into consideration.
Type of Article: Original Research |
Subject:
Women
Received: 2025/09/17 | Accepted: 2025/11/16 | Published: 2026/05/18
Received: 2025/09/17 | Accepted: 2025/11/16 | Published: 2026/05/18
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