از خیال تا زیست: تحلیل بسترهای تغییر معنای مادری در مادران تک‌فرزند لاهیجان
محورهای موضوعی : پژوهش مسائل اجتماعی ایرانیاسمن رمضانی سادات محله 1 , محمود مشفق 2 , مهشید طالبی صومعه سرایی 3
1 - دانشجوی دکتری گروه جامعه‌شناسی، واحد علوم و تحقیقات، دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی، تهران، ایران
2 - دانشیار گروه جمعیت‌شناسی، دانشکده علوم اجتماعی، دانشگاه علامه طباطبایی، تهران، ایران
3 - استادیار گروه علوم اجتماعی و جامعه¬شناسی، واحد علوم و تحقیقات، دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی، تهران، ایران
کلید واژه: تغییر معنای مادری, زیست مادری, نقشهای جنسیتی, مادران تک فرزند و لاهیجان.,
چکیده مقاله :
معنای مادری در جهان امروز، تجربه‌ای پویا، ناهمگون و گاه متناقض است و به همین دلیل، بسیاری از زنان جوان به بازاندیشی در مفهوم مادری پرداخته‌اند. هدف این پژوهش، تحلیل بسترهای تغییر معنای مادری در میان مادران تک‌فرزند 20 تا 35 ساله است. این مطالعه با رویکرد کیفی و بهره‌گیری از روش نظریۀ داده‌بنیاد در نمونه‌ای 24 نفره از مادران تک‌فرزند 20 تا 35 ساله شهر لاهیجان انجام شد. این مادران با روش نمونه‌گیری نظری و گلوله برفی انتخاب شدند و تکنیک جمع‌آوری اطلاعات، مصاحبه نیمه‌ساختاریافته بود. پدیدۀ محوری این پژوهش، «بی‌کرانگی مادری: تجربه‌ای چندوجهی، برگشت‌ناپذیر و سیال میان رنج‌ها و لذت‌ها» شناسایی شد. شرایط علّی شامل احساس کامل‌بودگی زنان، وابستگی افراطی مادر- کودک، مادری به‌مثابۀ مسئول تمام‌عیار فرزند و ایجاد فاصله از همسر است. یافته‌ها نشان می‌دهد که معنای مادری، ترکیبی پیچیده از احساسات، نقش‌ها و انتظارات است؛ تجربه‌ای که در بستر تعاملات اجتماعی شکل می‌گیرد و سیال است. نهادهای دولتی باید به بهبود کیفیت تجربه مادری، توجه لازم داشته باشند، زیرا در غیر این صورت اجرای هرگونه سیاست‌های جمعیتی در نهایت با مقاومت‌های معنادار مادران مواجه خواهد شد.
From Imagination to Lived Experience: Analyzing the Contexts of Changing Meanings of Motherhood among Mothers of Only Child in Lahijan
Yasaman Ramezani Sadat Mahalla*
Mahmoud Moshfegh**
Mahshid Talebi Soumeh Sarai***
The meaning of motherhood in the contemporary world is a dynamic, heterogeneous, and sometimes contradictory experience, leading many young women to reconsider its concept. This study aimed to analyze the contexts of changing meanings of motherhood among 24 mothers of only child aged 20 to 35 years in Lahijan city, employing a qualitative approach and grounded theory methodology. Participants were selected through theoretical and snowball sampling, with semi-structured interviews as the data collection technique. The core phenomenon identified was “The Infinity of Motherhood: A Multifaceted, Irreversible, and Fluid Experience between Suffering and Joy.” Causal conditions included women’s sense of completeness, excessive mother-child dependency, motherhood as full responsibility for the child, and creating distance from the spouse. The findings reveal that the meaning of motherhood is a complex blend of emotions, roles, and expectations, shaped by social interactions and characterized by fluidity. Governmental institutions must prioritize improving the quality of maternal experiences, as failure to do so will encounter meaningful resistance from mothers in implementing population policies.
Keywords: Changing meanings of motherhood, lived motherhood, gender roles, mothers of only child, Lahijan.
Introduction
The experience of motherhood, particularly in the context of single-child parenting and redefining maternal roles, has undergone significant changes, profoundly impacting women’s identity and national population policies (Danaeefard et al., 2022: 317). In recent years, Iran has faced a declining trend in fertility and population growth, with the World Bank reporting a 1.05% rate in 2024, down from over 2% in previous decades. Research shows that many women, prior to motherhood, harbor an idealized, romanticized view of it as a transcendent, natural, and identity-completing experience (Rich, 1976: 22), reinforced by media, family, and cultural beliefs (Hays, 1996: 54). For example, Gillespie (2003: 122) demonstrates that women often recognize a gap between pre-maternal ideals and motherhood’s realities, reducing their desire for more children. Lived experience frequently diverges from this idealized image. Lahijan County (Shahrestan) ranks fourth in Gilan Province for economic and welfare indicators (Civil Registry of Gilan, 2024), yet its total fertility rate in 2024 was 0.7 children per woman, below the replacement level of 2.1 and indicating ongoing decline (Civil Registry of Gilan, 2024). Given referenced studies, motherhood experiences may significantly differ from initial expectations, with the dissonance between imagination and reality potentially diminishing women’s willingness for additional children. Thus, Lahijan’s declining birth rate may arise not only from economic factors but also from women’s realistic understanding of motherhood. Persistent low fertility poses major demographic risks. Studying motherhood’s meaning among single-child mothers reveals how social, economic, cultural, and familial conditions shape perceptions and experiences, aiding policymakers and counselors in providing better support and understanding motherhood’s challenges and opportunities. The central questions are: What factors and conditions transform mothers’ mental constructs of motherhood after their first child’s birth? What meanings do they attribute to motherhood thereafter? What implications does this new meaning have for mothers?
Methodology
This study employed a qualitative design using Strauss and
Corbin’s grounded theory approach, with semi-structured interviews for data collection among mothers with one child. Theoretical sampling was used for participant selection, supplemented by snowball sampling due to initial access difficulties; sampling continued until theoretical saturation was achieved, with eligibility criteria including age 20–35 years, having one young child, Living with spouse in first marriage, and no intention for a second child at interview time. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 mothers of only children aged 20–35 in Lahijan County (Shahrestan), reaching saturation after 21 interviews, with three additional ones for validation. Data were analyzed using Strauss and Corbin’s three-stage coding process.
Findings
The core phenomenon was “The Infinity of Motherhood: A Multifaceted, Irreversible, and Fluid Experience between Suffering and Joy.” Contextual conditions included feelings of injustice and hidden dissatisfaction, financial frugality as a mother, social and cultural pressures, and unique pleasure of motherhood. Causal conditions encompassed women’s sense of completeness, excessive mother-child dependency, motherhood as full child responsibility, and spousal distance. Intervening conditions involved spousal/relative support or lack thereof, mismatch between imagined motherhood expectations and exhausting realities, and post-childbirth physical/psychological state. Strategies included involving others and emphasizing counseling, child prioritization, and occupational/educational adjustments. Outcomes ranged from empowerment and personal identity development, constant child devotion, motherhood satisfaction, failure feelings, family completion, to pregnancy/postpartum depression.
Discussion and Conclusion
The core category “The Infinity of Motherhood” captures participant mothers’ shared view of motherhood as a multifaceted, ongoing, transformative experience without fixed start or end, continuously reshaping women’s lives. This emerges from interacting causal, intervening, and contextual conditions with varying influences. Causal factors directly shaping motherhood’s meaning partly stem from women’s personal beliefs/experiences and partly from social support by spouses, relatives, society, and the child. Aligned with this study, Hays’s (1996) “intensive mothering” highlights motherhood’s entwinement with dualities like love/fatigue, sacrifice/self-abnegation, and satisfaction/confusion. Overall, motherhood is no longer a one-dimensional, fixed, taken-for-granted experience but a fluid, redefinable phenomenon amid tensions between traditional meanings and modern lifestyles. Findings show mothers experience motherhood as both joy and suffering source—an irreversible “infinity” suspending them between sacrifice/depletion, meaning/crisis, pleasure/frustration.
References
Civil Registry of Gilan. (2024) [Statistical report of Gilan province]. Rasht: Civil Registry of Gilan. [In Persian].
Danaeefard, H., et al. (2022) Population policy change in Iran: Application of the advocacy coalition framework. Population Studies, 8(1), 317–347. [In Persian]
Gillespie, R. (2003) Childfree and feminine: Understanding the gender identity of voluntarily childless women. Gender & Society, 17(1), 122–136.
Hays, S. (1996) The Cultural Contradictions of Motherhood. Yale University Press.
Rich, A. (1976) Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution.W.W.Norton.
* PhD Student, Department of Social Sciences and Sociology, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
Yasaman.ramezani2108@iau.ir
** Corresponding Author: Associate Professor, Department of Demography, Faculty of Social Sciences, Allameh Tabatabaei University, Tehran, Iran.
moshfegh@atu.ac.ir
*** Assistant Professor, Department of Social Sciences and Sociology, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
mahshid.talebi@srbiau.ac.ir