The Dual Experience of Women’s Bread-Making a Study on the Lives of Female Heads of Households in Behshahr City

The purpose of this research is to know and understand the experience of female heads of the household from the role of breadwinner and how to implement it as the head of the household. In this study, to achieve the goals of the research, the foundational data theory was used, and data collection was done through semi-structured interviews with 33 female heads of households in Behshahr city. Open coding led to the emergence of four main categories:1-household headship; 2- The poverty of female guardians; 3- Loneliness of women in managing the household; 4- Making money and earning bread. After accepting the role of guardian and breadwinner, these women perform their economic activities in two ways:1-economic activities from inside the home; 2- Economic activities outside the home. They are placed in two paradigm models:1-self as an agent of change, 2-self as needing support. In the first paradigm, women's understanding of femininity is the ability to change in life and succeed in goals. However, women in the second paradigm do not have the necessary self-confidence to be independent in life, and their understanding of femininity prevents them from trying to change their lives without the support of others. The findings show that in how women play the role of head of the household; Family, social, cultural factors, gender, and the support of government institutions are influential; But the core category shows the importance of women's understanding of their femininity, so government interventions and support should be done according to this feature.