Iranian Women’s Leisure Time Dilemmas: from the Experts’ Perspective(مقاله علمی وزارت علوم)
Leisure is an opportunity for self-development, self-definition and community rejuvenation, acquisition of experience and development of social interactions. However, it is "relatively" free and constrained by factors such as gender, cultural and social policies governing societies. The current study is aimed at examining married women's leisure problems in Tehran from the viewpoint of experts. The research method is qualitative while the Thematic Analysis is used for data analysis and the illustrated problems. 23 semi-structured interviews conducted with three groups of experts (policymakers, executives and university professors). Two global themes of "Intra-governmental" and "Extra-governmental" problems are taken through the experts on the leisure problems of the target group. "Marginalization", "inequality and discrimination", "scattered policy making and implementation", "demonstrative policies" and "apathy" are "Intra-governmental problems" whereas "restriction", "excess and negligence in leisure activities" and "body as project" are forming "Extra-governmental problems". The results of this study illustrate that leisure problems for married women in Tehran have a cultural root and are caused by "cultural neglect and misunderstanding". Thus, cultural solutions can provide a framework for other solutions to function.