PRIVACY, GENDER, AND SPACE: DOMESTIC SPACE AND WOMEN?S PRIVACY IN YAZD

Abstract

This qualitative study was designed to explore and describe factors that relate to the privacy of women in the context of present-day houses in Yazd, considering its Islamic culture. Fifteen female participants were interviewed in-depth on the topics of privacy and gender in their houses. The interviews were analyzed using a grounded theory approach and supplemented with observations, sketches, and photographic analysis. Findings of this study revealed that privacy, being of great importance for women in Yazd, is very complex in its essence, functions, durability, and boundaries. However, any invasion on privacy can raise different negative consequences including nervousness, incapability, learned helplessness, social withdrawal, and distraction. Findings also support current theories of privacy in many ways. However, considering the importance of religion and gender for the subjects, this study proposes incorporating the concepts of “religious privacy” and “gendered privacy” in the theories in order to build a more comprehensive theory of privacy for Islamic countries.