Title: Negotiating Gender Roles in Dual-Income Marriages in Lebanon: A Study of Couples Seeking Counseling in Beirut

Abstract

Lebanon is a small country located on the eastern coastline of the Mediterranean Sea. This geographical position makes it a crossroads of the East and the West, and this is reflected in Lebanese society, which is considered a mosaic of cultures and religious beliefs. This unique context enables Western progressive ideologies to coexist with and compete against Arabic/Middle Eastern conservative beliefs.

In this environment, the institution of marriage is particularly significant as it remains the exclusive legitimate pathway to family formation. This makes it not only a key space for romantic and intimate commitment, but also a social and ideological commitment in which individuals are expected to maintain and pass on their cultural systems.

The life of a married couple within this melange of external influences and internalized social norms is highly challenging, as everyday activities might expose partners to numerous cracks where tension might rise over conflicting beliefs and views.

However, since 2005 until the date of writing this proposal, Lebanon has been undergoing a series of political, social, and financial turmoil, in addition to numerous large-scale wars and armed clashes. Under the weight of these crises, and given Lebanon's capitalist liberal economic system, the one-breadwinner family model has become unsustainable, making it necessary for both partners in a marriage to enter the labor market to sustain the needs of a household.

As women became increasingly financially independent, the gendered hierarchy between married partners became increasingly difficult to sustain. At the same time, while women became co-contributors to their households' financial survival, men did not reciprocate by becoming co-contributors to domestic labor and care work within their households. This asymmetry in the transformation of gender roles and expectations within marriages makes gender inequality more pronounced in the Lebanese context, as men remain attached to patriarchal privileges and women are left to juggle their careers, care work, and social expectations on their own.

While gender inequality in Lebanon is examined thoroughly, less attention has been given to how gendered power dynamics are renegotiated between partners and how this tension is managed within the context of marriage. This study addresses this gap as it examines how marital problems unfold in the context of couples seeking counseling. The therapeutic space holds distinct significance, as it may be able to articulate structural inequalities and rigid social norms by repackaging them in a language of emotional well-being and relational growth. 

The study targets married couples aged 30 to 50 living in the Greater Beirut Area who are currently undergoing or have recently undergone counseling. It also targets therapists and counselors who will be interviewed as experts on this subject, providing professional insights into recurring patterns and dynamics observed in practice.

Data will be gathered through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with all participants. The recruitment process will systematically target participants from different districts across the Greater Beirut Area to couples and experts with diverse backgrounds.