Social Problems of Iran

Types of Femininity and the Issue of Singlehood among Employed and Educated Never-Married Women

Authors

Zeinab Rahbar 1
Soheila Alirezanejad 2
Habibollah Karimian 3

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

3 Assistant Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology, Garmsar Branch, Islamic Azad University, Garmsar, Iran

https://doi.org/10.61882/jspi.17.1.79
Abstract
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.



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.

Keywords

Perception of Femininity
Feminine Identity
Rebellious Femininity
Ambivalent Femininity
Araneda-Guirriman, C., Sepúlveda-Páez, G., Pedraja-Rejas, L., & San Martín. J. (2023) Women in academia: an analysis through a scoping review. Front. Educ. 8:1137866.
اشتراوس، آنسلم و کوربین، جولیت (1393). اصول روش تحقیق کیفی: نظریه مبنایی، رویهها و شیوهها (چاپ سوم). (بیوک محمدی، مترجم). تهران: پژوهشگاه علوم انسانی و مطالعات فرهنگی.
Becker, G. S., Hubbard, W. H., & Murphy, K. M. (2010). Explaining the worldwide boom in higher education of women. Journal of Human Capital, 4(3), 203-241.
امیدوارطهرانی، آسیه، نوحه سرا، شبنم، پناغی، لیلی و ملک زاده مغانی، مونا (1400). ادراک از زنانگی در کشورهای مختلف: یک فراترکیب کیفی. ماهنامه علوم روانشناختی، (103): 1038-1015.
Çelik, K. (2018). Unmarried women with closed “windows of opportunity”: Professional women’s reasons for not getting married. In Women’s Studies International Forum, 66: 48-55.
بگی، میلاد (1401). تعیینکنندههای تغییرات نسلی و دورهای ازدواج در ایران. فصلنامه مطالعات میانرشتهای در علوم انسانی، 14(4): 62-35.
Chang, S. (2020). Chinese Women, Marriage and Gender: exploring the idea of women and marriage over time in the context of China. Major Papers. 109.
ترابی فارسانی، سهیلا (1398). زن ایرانی در گذار از سنت به مدرن. تهران: نیلوفر.
Chantelois-Kashal, H., Dagadu, N. A., & Gardsbane, D. (2020). Contested femininity: Strategies of resistance and reproduction across adolescence in northern Uganda. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 22(1), 80–95.
جرمی، آدام اسمیت (1391). زنان شاغل، مردان خانهدار جابجایی نقشهای خانوادگی در آمریکا. (محمدمهدی لبیبی، مترجم). تهران: علم.
Delwar, H., & Islam R. (2024). A سامانمند literature review on the relationship between education and gender ideology. Discover Global Society, 2(39).
جعفرینمینی، پوراندخت (1390). تناقض در هویت جنسیتی دختران مجرد؛ مطالعه بر دختران مجرد شهری شاغل و تحصیلکرده بالای 35سال (پایاننامه کارشناسی ارشد منتشرنشده). دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی واحد گرمسار، گرمسار.
Faisal Bin Shabib Mosleet Alsubaie (2022). A Study on the Role of Universities in Saudi Arabia in Empowering Women Educationally Journal for Educators, Teachers and Trainers, 13(6), 620-629.
جنکینز، ریچارد (1394). هویت اجتماعی (تورج یاراحمدی، مترجم). تهران: شیرازه.
Gunindi Ersoz, A. (2012). The Role of university education in the determination of gender perception: The case of the Gazi University. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 47: 401 – 408.
چینی، نفیسه، هاشمیان‌فر، سیدعلی و محمدی کنگرانی، حنانه (1397). برساختهای اجتماعی زنان از زنانگی ریزوماتیک در بستر مراکز ورزشی، آرایشی و زیبایی. فصلنامه علمی- پژوهشی زن و جامعه، 9(3): 115- 85.
Hamplova, D. (2020). Marriage Squeeze Among Highly Educated: Living Arrangements of Young Highly Educated Women in Europe. Sociológia, 52(6), 599-623.
خسروی، جمال؛ خضرنژاد، عمر و دارنی، حمیرا (1400). بازسازی معنایی تجربه تجرد از منظر دختران 30سال به بالای شهر بوکان. مطالعات راهبردی زنان، 23(92): 151-133.
Helios, Joanna, & Jedlecka, Wioletta (2024). In Search of Women’s Identity? Białostockie Studia Prawnicze, 29(3), 221-234.
خلیلی، مهدی (1400). تحلیل نسلی-مقطعی تغییرات ازدواج زنان ایران با استفاده از جداول عمر زناشویی. نامه انجمن جمعیتشناسی ایران، 16(31): 31-7.
Hermannsdóttir, Marta B. (2011). Self-Identity in Modernity. Final Thesis for 180 Credits B.A. Degree in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Giorgio Baruchello.
درودگر، نرجس (1399). فمینیسم؛ تاریخچه، نظریات، گرایشها، نقد (چاپ دوم). تهران: مرکز تحقیقات زن و خانواده.
Herouach, Sofian,. (2018). A study on Spinsterhood in Morocco: Students’ Attitudes towards Spinsterhood, FLDM, Fez. Preprints (www.preprints.org).
دری نجفآبادی، زهرا، مهرآرا، محسن، غفاری، فرهاد و هژبرکیانی، کامبیز (1400). بررسی تأثیر اشتغال زنان بر ازدواج و طلاق. فصلنامه علمی-پژوهشی اقتصاد و الگوسازی دانشگاه شهید بهشتی، 12(2): 195- 167.
Hien Thi Nguyenl, & Lan Anh Hoang (2019). Gender Ideology on Marriage in Contemporary Vietnam. Jurnal Riset Sosiologi Progresif Aktual, 1(1), 74-93.
ذکایی، محمدسعید، امنپور، مریم و اکبری، اندیشه (1398). دیرینهشناسی برساخت زنانگی در ایران از عصر مشروطه تا پایان پهلوی اول. مجله جامعهشناسی ایران، 20(4): 115-87.
Hoffman, R. M., Hattie, J. A., & Borders, L. D. (2005). Personal definitions of masculinity and femininity as an aspect of gender self‐concept. The Journal of Humanistic Counseling, Education and Development, 44(1), 66-83.
رحمتیان، فاطمه، شهیدی، شهریار، نجومیان، امیرعلی، باقریان، فاطمه و پناغی، لیلی (1404). مطالعه ظرفیت زن بودن بر اساس تجربه زیسته زنان ایرانی و با تأکید بر ابعاد اجتماعی- فرهنگی. فصلنامه روانشناسی کاربردی، 19(1):32-9.
Jones, Anthony. T. (2016). Modernization and Education in the U.S.S.R. Journal Social Forces, 57(2), 522-546.
ساروخانی، باقر(1392).مقدمهای بر جامعهشناسی خانواده (چاپ هجدهم). تهران: سروش.
Lese, Kathryn M. (2016). Padded assumptions: A critical discourse analysis of patriarchal menstruation discourse. Master Theses. James Madison University.
سازمان ثبتاحوال استان سمنان.
Magnusson. E & Marecek. Jeanne (2012). Gender And Culture In Psychology: Theories And Practices.
سعداوی، نوال (1359). چهره عریان زن عرب (مجید فروتن و رحیم مرادی، مترجمین). تهران: روزبهان.
Mokhtari N, Salavati A, Azmoude E. (2020). “The relationship between gender role and attitude toward menstruation with female sexual function: A cross-sectional study,” Int J Reprod BioMed, 18(10), 847–854.
طالبپور، اکبر و بیرانوند، معصومه (1401). بررسی تجربه زیسته تجرد قطعی از منظر دختران مجرد. فصلنامه علمی-پژوهشی زن و جامعه،13(51): 114-95.
Nolte, P. (2001). Modernization and Modernity in History. International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 26, 9954-9961.
عباسیشوازی، محمدجلال و رشوند، مرجان (1396). سهم ارزش ازدواج بر وضعیت ازدواج زنان 34-20 ساله شهر تهران. دو فصلنامه علمی-پژوهشی نامه انجمن جمعیتشناسی ایران، 12(24): 169-135.
Ntoimo, L. F. C., & Isiugo-Abanihe, U. (2014). Determinants of Singlehood: a retrospective account by older single women in Lagos, Nigeria. African Population Studies, 27(2), 386-397.
علیرضانژاد، سهیلا (1396). جزوه کلاسی درس جامعهشناسی زنان. دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی، واحد گرمسار.
Nuruzzaman Khan et al. (2024). Exploring the impact of perceived early marriage on women’s education and employment in Bangladesh through a mixed-methods study. Scientific Reports. 14(1), 21683.
علیرضانژاد، سهیلا، سوادیان، پروین و جعفرینمینی، پوراندخت (1392). هویت حرفهای یا جنسیتی: مطالعهای بر دختران تحصیلکرده شاغل بالاتر از 35سال در شهر تهران. فصلنامه علوم اجتماعی،20(60): 311-276.
Sheffield, J. (2013). Globalization: Yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Emergent Publications.
فلاحمین باشی، فاطمه، کاظمی وریج، عباس و ترکمان، فرح (1402). از تنها زیستی تا تنها ماندن: مقایسۀ دو گروه از زنان مجرد تنها در تهران. فصلنامۀ مطالعات فرهنگی و ارتباطات، 19(72)، 117-87.
Snow, D.A., Corrigall-Brown, C., (2015). Collective Identity. International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 2(4), 174–180.
قاسمپور، فاطمه و گودرزی، نجمه (1400). درک و تصور دختران جوان از جنسیت؛ مطالعهای پدیدارشناسانه. فصلنامۀ انجمن ایرانی مطالعات فرهنگی و ارتباطات، 17(64)، 210-185.
Sudarshan, Ratna M. (2005). Reconstructing women’s identity: influences of globalization. Paper Presented at International Conference On Globalisation: Social and Political Dimensions. Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
کلاتهساداتی، احمد، صادقیه، سارا، جعفری نعیمی، فاطمه و صادقیان مقدم، زهرا (1402). برهمکنش فرهنگ و تجرد: واکاوی ابعاد فردی و اجتماعی-فرهنگی طولانیشدن دوران تجرد دختران در شهر یزد. دوفصلنامهٔ نامهٔ انجمن جمعیتشناسی ایران، 18(36)، 91- 51.
Torr, B. M. (2011). The Changing Relationship between Education and Marriage in the United States, 1940–2000. Department of Sociology. California State University, 36(4), 483–503.
گلبهاری، ندا (1401). تقابل هویت جنسیتی فردی و اجتماعی در تکزیستی دختران. فصلنامۀ مسائل اجتماعی ایران، 13(2)، 306-281.
Windsor, Elroi. J. (2015). Femininities. International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences. 2(4), 893-897.
مداحی، جواد، زارع، بیژن، سراج زاده، سید حسین وحبیب پورگتابی، کرم (1400). مسئله تجرد: سوژه و زیستجهان نوپدید دختران شهر تهران. فصلنامهٔ بررسی مسائل اجتماعی ایران، 12(1)، 43- 7.
Abbasi-Shavazi, Mohammad Jalal, & Rashvand, Marjan. (2017). The contribution of the value of marriage to the marital status of women aged 20–34 in Tehran. Journal of the Population Association of Iran, 12(24), 135–169. [in Persian]
معاونت امور جوانان، وزارت ورزش و جوانان (1401). گزارش روند تحولات ازدواج و طلاق کشور با نگاه ویژه به استان سمنان از سال­های 1392 تا 1400.
Alireza Nezhad, Soheila, Savadian, Parvin, & Jafari Namini, Pourandokht. (2013). Professional or gender identity: A study of educated employed girls over 35 years old in Tehran. Social Sciences Quarterly, 20(60), 276–311. [in Persian]
نهاد ریاست جمهوری در امور زنان و خانواده (1403). سالنامه آماری زنان و خانواده (استانداری سمنان).
Alireza Nezhad, Soheila. (2017). Class notes for the course Sociology of Women. Islamic Azad University, Garmsar Branch. [in Persian]
والرشتاین، امانوئل (1377). سیاست و فرهنگ در نظام متحول جهانی (ژئوپلتیک و ژئوکالچر)، (پیروز ایزدی، مترجم). تهران.
Begi, Milad. (2022). Determinants of generational and period changes in marriage in Iran. Quarterly Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities, 14(4), 35–62. [in Persian]
وزارت ورزش و جوانان (1395). گزارش تحلیلی ازدواج و طلاق به تفکیک استانها.
Chini, Nafiseh, Hashemianfar, Seyed Ali, & Mohammadi Kangarani, Hannaneh. (2018). Women’s social constructions of rhizomatic femininity in the context of sports, beauty, and cosmetic centers. Woman and Society, 9(3), 85–115. [in Persian]
هلد، دیوید و مکگرو، آنتونی (1382). جهانیشدن و مخالفان آن. (عرفان ثابتی، مترجم). تهران: ققنوس.
Civil Registration Organization of Semnan Province. (n.d.). Civil registration data of Semnan Province. [in Persian]
هولمز، ماری (1391). جنسیت و زندگی روزمره (محمدمهدی لبیبی، مترجم). تهران: نقد افکار.
Deputy for Youth Affairs, Ministry of Sport and Youth. (2022). Report on the trend of marriage and divorce developments in the country with special attention to Semnan Province from 2013 to 2021. [in Persian]
یعقوبی، علی (1393). نظریههای مردانگی با تأکید بر رویکردهای جامعهشناختی. تهران: پژواک.
Doroudgar, Narjes. (2020). Feminism: History, theories, tendencies, and critique (2nd ed.). Women and Family Research Center. [in Persian]
طیبی­نیا، مهری و رحمانی، جبار (1395). انگیزش­های نویافته تحولات هویتی زنان در آموزش ­عالی. تحقیقات فرهنگی ایران، 9(2) پیاپی(34): 129101.
Dorri Najafabadi, Zahra, Mehrara, Mohsen, Ghaffari, Farhad, & Hejbar Kiani, Kambiz. (2021). Examining the impact of women’s employment on marriage and divorce. Journal of Economics and Modeling, 12(2), 167–195. [in Persian]
گلابی، فاطمه (1393). بررسی تأثیر تحصیلات زنان بر هویت آنان (مطالعه موردی در شهر تبریز). فصلنامۀ فرهنگی-تربیتی زنان و خانواده، 9(27): 112-83.
Fallah Minbashi, Fatemeh, Kazemi Varij, Abbas, & Torkaman, Farah. (2023). From living alone to remaining alone: A comparison of two groups of single women living alone in Tehran. Cultural Studies and Communication Quarterly, 19(72), 87–117. [in Persian]
گیدنز، آنتونی (1392). جامعهشناسی (منوچهر صبوری، مترجم). تهران: نی.
Ghasempour, Fatemeh, & Goodarzi, Najmeh. (2021). Young girls’ understanding and perception of gender: A phenomenological study. Journal of the Iranian Association for Cultural Studies and Communication, 17(64), 185–210. [in Persian]
مرکز آمار ایران. (۱۴۰۱). سالنامه آماری کشور ۱۴۰۱. تهران: مرکز آمار ایران.
Giddens, Anthony. (2013). Sociology (Manouchehr Sabouri, Trans.). Ney Publications. [in Persian]
Araneda-Guirriman, C., Sepúlveda-Páez, G., Pedraja-Rejas, L., & San Martín. J. (2023) Women in academia: an analysis through a scoping review. Front. Educ. 8:1137866.
Golabi, Fatemeh. (2014). An examination of the effect of women’s education on their identity: A case study in Tabriz. Women and Family Cultural-Educational Quarterly, 9(27), 83–112. [in Persian]
Becker, G. S., Hubbard, W. H., & Murphy, K. M. (2010). Explaining the worldwide boom in higher education of women. Journal of Human Capital, 4(3), 203-241.
Golbahari, Neda. (2022). The confrontation between individual and social gender identity in girls’ solitary living. Social Issues of Iran, 13(2), 281–306. [in Persian]
Çelik, K. (2018). Unmarried women with closed “windows of opportunity”: Professional women’s reasons for not getting married. In Women’s Studies International Forum, 66: 48-55.
Held, David, & McGrew, Anthony. (2003). Globalization and its opponents (Erfan Sabeti, Trans.). Phoenix Publications. [in Persian]
Chang, S. (2020). Chinese Women, Marriage and Gender: exploring the idea of women and marriage over time in the context of China. Major Papers. 109.
Holmes, Mary. (2012). Gender and everyday life (Mohammad Mehdi Labibi, Trans.). Naqd-e Afkar Publishing Company. [in Persian]
Chantelois-Kashal, H., Dagadu, N. A., & Gardsbane, D. (2020). Contested femininity: Strategies of resistance and reproduction across adolescence in northern Uganda. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 22(1), 80–95.
Jafari Namini, Pourandokht. (2011). Contradiction in the gender identity of single girls: A study of urban, employed, and educated single girls over 35 years old [Unpublished master’s thesis]. Islamic Azad University, Garmsar Branch. [in Persian]
Delwar, H., & Islam R. (2024). A سامانمند literature review on the relationship between education and gender ideology. Discover Global Society, 2(39).
Jenkins, Richard. (2015). Social identity (Touraj Yarahmadi, Trans.). Shirazeh Publications. [in Persian]
Faisal Bin Shabib Mosleet Alsubaie (2022). A Study on the Role of Universities in Saudi Arabia in Empowering Women Educationally Journal for Educators, Teachers and Trainers, 13(6), 620-629.
Jeremy, Adam Smith. (2012). Working women, stay-at-home men: The reshaping of family roles in America (Mohammad Mehdi Labibi, Trans.). Elm Publications. [in Persian]
Gunindi Ersoz, A. (2012). The Role of university education in the determination of gender perception: The case of the Gazi University. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 47: 401 – 408.
Kalateh Sadati, Ahmad, Sadeghieh, Sara, Jafari Naeimi, Fatemeh, & Sadeghian Moghaddam, Zahra. (2023). The interaction of culture and singlehood: An analysis of the individual and socio cultural dimensions of prolonged singlehood among young women in Yazd. Iranian Population Studies Association Letter, 18(36), 51–91. [in Persian]
Hamplova, D. (2020). Marriage Squeeze Among Highly Educated: Living Arrangements of Young Highly Educated Women in Europe. Sociológia, 52(6), 599-623.
Khalili, Mehdi. (2021). A generational-sectional analysis of changes in women’s marriage in Iran using marital life tables. Journal of the Population Association of Iran, 16(31), 7–31. [in Persian]
Helios, Joanna, & Jedlecka, Wioletta (2024). In Search of Women’s Identity? Białostockie Studia Prawnicze, 29(3), 221-234.
Khosravi, Jamal, Khezrnejad, Omar, & Darni, Homeira. (2021). Semantic reconstruction of the experience of singlehood from the perspective of girls aged 30 and above in the city of Bukan. Women’s Strategic Studies, 23(92), 133–151. [in Persian]
Hermannsdóttir, Marta B. (2011). Self-Identity in Modernity. Final Thesis for 180 Credits B.A. Degree in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Giorgio Baruchello.
Madahi, Javad, Zare, Bijan, Serajzadeh, Seyed Hossein, & Habibpour Gatabi, Karam. (2021). The issue of singlehood: Subjectivity and the emerging lifeworld of young women in the city of Tehran. Iranian Journal of Social Issues, 12(1), 7–43. [in Persian]
Herouach, Sofian,. (2018). A study on Spinsterhood in Morocco: Students’ Attitudes towards Spinsterhood, FLDM, Fez. Preprints (www.preprints.org).
Ministry of Sport and Youth. (2016). Analytical report on marriage and divorce by province. [in Persian]
Hien Thi Nguyenl, & Lan Anh Hoang (2019). Gender Ideology on Marriage in Contemporary Vietnam. Jurnal Riset Sosiologi Progresif Aktual, 1(1), 74-93.
Omidvar Tehrani, Asieh, Noohesara, Shabnam, Panaghi, Leili, & Malekzadeh Maghani, Mona. (2021). Perceptions of femininity across different countries: A qualitative meta synthesis. Monthly Journal of Psychological Sciences, (103), 1015–1038. [in Persian]
Hoffman, R. M., Hattie, J. A., & Borders, L. D. (2005). Personal definitions of masculinity and femininity as an aspect of gender self‐concept. The Journal of Humanistic Counseling, Education and Development, 44(1), 66-83.
Rahmatian, Fatemeh, Shahidi, Shahryar, Nojumian, Amirali, Bagherian, Fatemeh, & Panaghi, Leili. (2025). Studying the capacity of being a woman based on the lived experiences of Iranian women with emphasis on socio cultural dimensions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 19(1), 9–32. [in Persian]
Jones, Anthony. T. (2016). Modernization and Education in the U.S.S.R. Journal Social Forces, 57(2), 522-546.
Saadawi, Nawal. (1980). The naked face of Arab women (Majid Foroutan & Rahim Moradi, Trans.). Roozbehan Publications. [in Persian]
Lese, Kathryn M. (2016). Padded assumptions: A critical discourse analysis of patriarchal menstruation discourse. Master Theses. James Madison University.
Sarookhani, Bagher. (2013). An introduction to the sociology of the family (18th ed.). Soroush Publications. [in Persian]
Magnusson. E & Marecek. Jeanne (2012). Gender And Culture In Psychology: Theories And Practices.
Statistical Center of Iran. (2022). Statistical Yearbook of the Country 2022. Tehran: Statistical Center of Iran. [in Persian]
Mokhtari N, Salavati A, Azmoude E. (2020). “The relationship between gender role and attitude toward menstruation with female sexual function: A cross-sectional study,” Int J Reprod BioMed, 18(10), 847–854.
Strauss, Anselm, & Corbin, Juliet. (2014). Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques (3rd ed.; Biyouk Mohammadi, Trans.). Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies. [in Persian]
Nolte, P. (2001). Modernization and Modernity in History. International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 26, 9954-9961.
Talebpour, Akbar, & Beyranvand, Masoumeh. (2022). An examination of the lived experience of definitive singlehood from the perspective of single girls. Woman and Society, 13(51), 95–114. [in Persian]
Ntoimo, L. F. C., & Isiugo-Abanihe, U. (2014). Determinants of Singlehood: a retrospective account by older single women in Lagos, Nigeria. African Population Studies, 27(2), 386-397.
Tayyebinia, Mehri, & Rahmani, Jabbar. (2016). Newly emerging motivations in women’s identity transformations in higher education. Iranian Cultural Research, 9(2), 101–129. [in Persian]
Nuruzzaman Khan et al. (2024). Exploring the impact of perceived early marriage on women’s education and employment in Bangladesh through a mixed-methods study. Scientific Reports. 14(1), 21683.
Torabi Farsani, Soheila. (2019). Iranian women in transition from tradition to modernity. Niloufar Publications. [in Persian]
Sheffield, J. (2013). Globalization: Yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Emergent Publications.
Vice Presidency for Women and Family Affairs. (2024). Statistical yearbook of women and family: Semnan Governorate. [in Persian]
Snow, D.A., Corrigall-Brown, C., (2015). Collective Identity. International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 2(4), 174–180.
Wallerstein, Immanuel. (1998). Politics and culture in the changing world-system: Geopolitics and geoculture (Pirouz Izadi, Trans.). [in Persian]
Sudarshan, Ratna M. (2005). Reconstructing women’s identity: influences of globalization. Paper Presented at International Conference On Globalisation: Social and Political Dimensions. Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
Yaghoubi, Ali. (2014). Theories of masculinity with an emphasis on sociological approaches. Pejvak Publications. [in Persian]
Torr, B. M. (2011). The Changing Relationship between Education and Marriage in the United States, 1940–2000. Department of Sociology. California State University, 36(4), 483–503.
Zokaei, Mohammad Saeed, Amanpour, Maryam, & Akbari, Andisheh. (2019). An archaeology of the construction of femininity in Iran from the Constitutional Era to the end of the First Pahlavi period. Iranian Journal of Sociology, 20(4), 87–115. [in Persian]
Windsor, Elroi. J. (2015). Femininities. International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences. 2(4), 893-897.

  • Receive Date 08 June 2026
  • Publish Date 08 June 2026