“If I don’t do it, who will?” : a qualitative exploration of women’s everyday experiences of rest : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand
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Date
2025
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Massey University
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Abstract
Rest is fundamental to health, overall wellbeing, and longevity. Yet in contemporary western society, moments of replenishing rest are increasingly rare. For women – whose lives are shaped by colonized, gendered power relations within late-capitalist, patriarchal systems and accelerating social worlds – rest is especially constrained. Despite its importance for our health and wellbeing, apart from ‘burnout’ research, there is very little published literature on how these dynamic social systems impact women’s everyday experiences of rest and the availability of >me. Through feminist standpoint theory, relational-process ontology and critical narrative analysis, this project aims to explore the systemic oppression that continues to shape women’s lives, and how it impacts our ability to experience feeling rested. This foundation encouraged emergent sense-making and co-theorizing of what rest means for women today. Using snowball sampling through trusted intermediaries, I spoke with six self-identifying women over the age of 30 living in Te Matau-a-Māui, Aotearoa. Through open, organically unfolding conversations, we explored what rest means to them today, the barriers to meaningful rest, and what becoming rested could mean in today’s world. The findings suggest that deeply embedded societal demands, expectations, and gendered norms and power dynamics continue to replicate and reinforce a dominant narrative that positions women as limitless caregivers – responsible for holding everything together while also being crucial contributors to the household through paid employment. Throughout our conversations, the women shared stories of their exhaustion and (un)rest, suggesting that the impacts of a late-capitalist society and systemically embedded gender norms are increasingly putting pressure on and exhausting women, greatly impacting our ability to have >me for ourselves and experience feeling rested. Understanding dominant narratives of women’s rest enables us to generate narratives of resistance and reimagine rest as an embodied experience that is vital for us all to live well.