Street Women Vendors and their Empowerment in the Public and Private Sphere: a Study on the Street Women Vendors in Gilan Province- Iran
(2015) RÄSM02 20151Department of Sociology of Law
- Abstract
- The factors behind the struggle for women’s empowerment in Iran are a combination of social, religio-cultural and traditional constraints. These have been institutionalized through the legal and legislative system, as well as the informal traditional practices in the public and private spheres. The Iranian legislative apparatus which directly and indirectly poses constraints on women’s presence in the public has led to gender inequality and a certain arrangement of public and private dichotomy in the country. Hence, despite such constraints, official statistics indicate that the participation of women in certain sectors of society is constantly increasing. The growth of Iranian women’s activities in the public is changing the stereotype... (More)
- The factors behind the struggle for women’s empowerment in Iran are a combination of social, religio-cultural and traditional constraints. These have been institutionalized through the legal and legislative system, as well as the informal traditional practices in the public and private spheres. The Iranian legislative apparatus which directly and indirectly poses constraints on women’s presence in the public has led to gender inequality and a certain arrangement of public and private dichotomy in the country. Hence, despite such constraints, official statistics indicate that the participation of women in certain sectors of society is constantly increasing. The growth of Iranian women’s activities in the public is changing the stereotype that placed women as individuals who belong only to the private sphere. This study examines the empowerment among women street vendors as a working class group of society in the Gilan province and investigates their status in both the public and private spheres. At the theoretical level, the current study relies on notions of empowerment and the public/private dichotomy. By applying qualitative methods and semi-structured interviews, the main outcome indicates that economic independence positively promotes women empowerment in both public and private realms. Women street vendors were interviewed in two cities of Gilan, one of the northern provinces of Iran. Despite all constraints for vendors such as having no clear legal status and the interference of legal authorities; women vendors have a great tendency to be present in the labour market. By emphasizing on “sameness”, street women vendors perceive themselves equal to their men colleagues in the vendor community within the public sphere. Along with emphasizing their important role in the private sphere, empowered women vendors have entitled themselves with decision-making power in their private life. Empowerment has increased their self-respect and shifted their role in the household from the periphery to the center stage. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/7695471
- author
- Adabimohazab, Zeynab LU
- supervisor
-
- Reza Banakar LU
- organization
- course
- RÄSM02 20151
- year
- 2015
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Gilan province, Iran, street vendors, women, economic independency, public/private dichotomy, empowerment
- language
- English
- id
- 7695471
- date added to LUP
- 2015-11-24 12:52:48
- date last changed
- 2015-11-24 12:52:48
@misc{7695471,
abstract = {{The factors behind the struggle for women’s empowerment in Iran are a combination of social, religio-cultural and traditional constraints. These have been institutionalized through the legal and legislative system, as well as the informal traditional practices in the public and private spheres. The Iranian legislative apparatus which directly and indirectly poses constraints on women’s presence in the public has led to gender inequality and a certain arrangement of public and private dichotomy in the country. Hence, despite such constraints, official statistics indicate that the participation of women in certain sectors of society is constantly increasing. The growth of Iranian women’s activities in the public is changing the stereotype that placed women as individuals who belong only to the private sphere. This study examines the empowerment among women street vendors as a working class group of society in the Gilan province and investigates their status in both the public and private spheres. At the theoretical level, the current study relies on notions of empowerment and the public/private dichotomy. By applying qualitative methods and semi-structured interviews, the main outcome indicates that economic independence positively promotes women empowerment in both public and private realms. Women street vendors were interviewed in two cities of Gilan, one of the northern provinces of Iran. Despite all constraints for vendors such as having no clear legal status and the interference of legal authorities; women vendors have a great tendency to be present in the labour market. By emphasizing on “sameness”, street women vendors perceive themselves equal to their men colleagues in the vendor community within the public sphere. Along with emphasizing their important role in the private sphere, empowered women vendors have entitled themselves with decision-making power in their private life. Empowerment has increased their self-respect and shifted their role in the household from the periphery to the center stage.}},
author = {{Adabimohazab, Zeynab}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Street Women Vendors and their Empowerment in the Public and Private Sphere: a Study on the Street Women Vendors in Gilan Province- Iran}},
year = {{2015}},
}