Does Happiness have a Gendered Face?

Abstract

This article examines whether gendered identities have an impact on men s and women s perceptions regarding the concepts happiness and unhappiness In other words whether happiness or unhappiness carry different meaning for the people of different gender categories In investigating this question the paper draws on narratives of 63 male and female participants alongside ethnographic observations The study was conducted in Sylhet Bangladesh and evaluates these accounts in the context of existing social science literature This study reveals that the participants happiness is inextricably linked with their gendered identities Women in most cases appear to define happiness in terms of their children s and family s wellbeing However this of course cannot be said about the male participants Happiness for the male participants were more closely associated with their material pursuits and the ability to uphold their image as a real man This study argues that the processes of gendering cultural values of Bangladeshi society and social expectations lead men and women to define their happiness in gender - specific ways