Women: Autonomous Bodies, Are They? Understanding Autonomy and Well-being

Abstract

Autonomy for women and their well-being are significant issues to understand because the development of society depends heavily on women’s participation. Autonomy for women is conceptualized as one of the essential components of well-being. The research aimed to explore the meaning of autonomy for women, the changes in their lives through autonomy, and its impact on their well-being. Thirty-eight married women (18 working women and 20 non-working women), whose ages ranged from 28 to 40 years, were selected through purposive sampling. Participants were selected from Allahabad City and belonged to middle-class socio-economic status. Thematic analysis was done to analyze the data. The dialogue between the researcher and the respondents evolved around the themes that emerged from the data extraction. Three main themes, namely the sense of autonomy, the changes in the lives of women through autonomy, and psychological well-being, developed from examining the meaning of autonomy, its impact, and its consequences. A sense of autonomy was found to be understood by women as a sense of liberty and uninterrupted personal and professional life. Changes in life through autonomy were found to include inner satisfaction or gratification and self-identity. At the same time, psychosocial well-being was found to include self-efficacy, self-concept or self-esteem, and social well-being. The themes and subthemes were further discussed in the article.