Women's mental health and gender roles

There is a link between women?s mental health and gender roles. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of women?s gender roles on the deterioration of women's mental health. The research has been conducted through a questionnaire to 145 women who are between 18 and 60 years old, with a child, at least a primary school degree of education and consulted to a mental health professional. The research is focused on the attributed features, multiple roles, roles of being a housewife and working woman, motherhood, the requirement of beauty and aesthetic and violence to measure the effects of the gender roles on deterioration of women's mental health. According to the results obtained by using SPSS software, gender roles have been detected to be effective on the deterioration of women's mental health. In summary, the women?s gender roles which are multiple roles, roles of being a housewife and working woman, motherhood, necessity to be beautiful and violence have negative effects on women's mental health. The most effective gender role on women?s mental health is violence against women. The level of education of women is not effective on women's mental health deterioration. The women who are urban residents feel the effects of gender roles on mental health more than village residents. The effects of requirement of beauty on mental health are less on women who are older than 40 years. The number of the children above 2 doesn?t affect the relationship between gender roles and women?s mental health. The women in middle-income group feel the negative effects of housewife role and beauty necessity on mental health more than the other income groups. The role of being a housewife and mother was found the closest to each other in terms of negative effects of gender roles on the women?s mental health. Key words: Gender, Women Mental Health, Multiple Roles, Gender Inequalities.