<p>The aim of this study was to investigate how mothers in families with strong patriarchal traditions</p><p>see their role as a mother and as a woman. The study is built upon two main questions: What are</p><p>the expectations of your family and your immediate environment on you as a mother and as a</p><p>woman? And what does “honour” mean for you as a mother and as a woman? In our paper we</p><p>had as a starting point a gender perspective that was further on applied in defining our research</p><p>question. We are also giving an account of the phenomenological perspective that we also had as</p><p>a basis of our work. We interviewed six mothers living in families with strong patriarchal</p><p>traditions. There were half-structured interviews according to an interview guide, with half open</p><p>questions. We followed the qualitative method. The results show that “honour” is a basic norm</p><p>for the mothers, that they have difficulties to even imagine living a life without honour. For all of</p><p>our informants, honour means not to have sexual relationships with several men, and to keep a</p><p>woman’s virginity until she gets married. Avoiding bad rumours that may lead to shame is an</p><p>important part of the mothers’ lives. As women, the mothers are forced to take into consideration</p><p>their husbands’ and older family members’ opinions. It is the mothers’ duty to educate their</p><p>children to behave in “the right” way. According to our informants, a mother should be caring</p><p>and in charge of the household work.</p>

The aim of this study was to investigate how mothers in families with strong patriarchal traditions see their role as a mother and as a woman. The study is built upon two main questions: What are the expectations of your family and your immediate environment on you as a mother and as a woman? And what does “honour” mean for you as a mother and as a woman? In our paper we had as a starting point a gender perspective that was further on applied in defining our research question. We are also giving an account of the phenomenological perspective that we also had as a basis of our work. We interviewed six mothers living in families with strong patriarchal traditions. There were half-structured interviews according to an interview guide, with half open questions. We followed the qualitative method. The results show that “honour” is a basic norm for the mothers, that they have difficulties to even imagine living a life without honour. For all of our informants, honour means not to have sexual relationships with several men, and to keep a woman’s virginity until she gets married. Avoiding bad rumours that may lead to shame is an important part of the mothers’ lives. As women, the mothers are forced to take into consideration their husbands’ and older family members’ opinions. It is the mothers’ duty to educate their children to behave in “the right” way. According to our informants, a mother should be caring and in charge of the household work.