Journal of Iranian Social Studies

Abstract Background and aim: Marital intimacy is a fundamental component of the quality of marital relationships and family well-being. However, the social and relational mechanisms contributing to its erosion have received comparatively limited attention. This study aimed to explain the process of reproducing gender domination and how it is linked to the erosion of marital intimacy.
Data and method: This qualitative study employed Charmaz’s constructivist grounded theory approach. Participants were 29 married women and men from Yazd, Iran, selected through purposive maximum-variation sampling. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using initial, focused, and theoretical coding, constant comparison, and theoretical memo-writing.
Findings: The findings showed that gender domination does not directly reduce marital intimacy; rather, it operates through a gradual and cumulative process. The reproduction of gender norms and unequal power relations constrains couples’ capacity to recognize each other’s needs and provide responsive care. This disruption weakens mutual recognition and perceptions of relational justice, ultimately leading to the erosion of emotional capital and a decline in marital intimacy. Based on these findings, a processual model of the Care-Bonding Cycle of Erosion was conceptualized.
Conclusion: The model demonstrates that marital intimacy develops through a dynamic cycle of need recognition, caring responsiveness, mutual recognition, and relational justice. Disruption of this cycle shifts the relationship from a pathway of care-based bonding toward a pathway of erosion. The primary contribution of this study is its processual explanation of how unequal power relations are transformed into the gradual erosion of emotional bonds within marital life.

Abstract The corona virus epidemic in Iran, like other countries, led to the closure of schools and implementation of virtual education. Elementary school students needed their parents’ help to use virtual education, especially the first graders who had no experience with school and curriculum. This responsibility was mostly undertaken by mothers, who were supposed to take on the roles of both a teacher and a mother. The narratives of this group of mothers in Kerman City were examined using a qualitative approach and narrative-research method. Data was collected using narrative interviews and analyses were done through a thematic analysis method in MAXQDA. Five main themes were found, which represented the narratives of mothers about the lockdown. These themes were incomplete support of those around you, the burden of the role, the exhaustion of mothers, the problematic nature of children in virtual education, and extra-educational merits.