You are on page 1of 23

Fatma Zohra Mebtouche Nedjai Universit Mouloud Mammeri, Dpartement de Tizi Ouzou, Algrie, Courriel :nedjaifz@yahoo.



The Insidious Violence: A study of husband-wife power relations in the Algerian Context

Abstract: The Insidious Violence: A study of husband-wife power relations in the Algerian Context

The denial of the Other is one mark of power relation that characterizes gender, in general, and wife and husband relation in particular. It is one of the multifaceted ongoing manifestations of violence that are labelled into direct and indirect forms. If the former practices such as rape, honour crime, sexual abuses, and physical injuries are easily identifiable and widely condemnable, the latter embodied in the husbands interference in his wifes personal decisions and desires remains obliterated because it is done in an insidious way. Such an indirect violence against woman is often based on the denial of the Other, i.e. woman whose dignity is denied as she is considered as a person unable to think and to control her destiny (Simone de Beauvoir). The total subjection of wife by husband was legitimized by both Islamic religion and patriarchal ideologies. To put it in the Islamic theologist, Abdelhamid El Ghazalis terms, the marriage relationship was defined as a relationship of enslavement. The blindly overall obedience required from wife has greatly reinforced mans power to a point that he has allowed himself the right to be her eternal tutor who can think, act and decide on her behalf. The husbands ability to permit/ prohibit everything to his wife is, for us, a kind of euphemistic expression referring to indirect violence. Regardless of level of education, age category and social status a woman might have in the public sphere, she has to accept the status of a minor person in the private sphere in order not to expose herself to the husbands verbal and or physical violence and maltreatment (F.Z. Sai). This type of violence seems to be psychologically more destructive of the moral and mental integrity of individuals to such an extent that they consider it as a constitutive component of the Algerian society, impossible to be subverted, as affirmed by Slimane Mdher (1997). The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, it strives to identify and analyse how the violent males empowerment that consists of usurping the womans right to take freely her own destiny in terms of the right to work, the desire to own wealth, the ability to freely spend her money or even the desire of paying her parents a visit, and the way of

dressing up has been constructed trough ages. Second, it will discuss the strategies and negotiations women should rely on in their permanent struggle to rehabilitate/negotiate their dignity as full citizen, and how they could circumvent the subtle violence they are confronted with on a daily basis. It is within these conflicting views on power inequity between husband and wife that lead to the denial of womans psychic, social and intellectual integrity, as a consequence of collective violent conspiracy that our survey was achieved. This research uses multidisciplinary methodology based on anthropological and sociolinguistic approaches and discourse analysis.We applied discourse analysis with specific focus on Gumperzs interpretative contextual theory. The results of the survey revealed that a relatively important awareness is emerging within our informants. A fact that enables us to affirm that some wives are setting up the premises of their emancipation by claiming their rights to be recognized as fully mature and responsible citizens in order to get control over their lives. However, some of them still show great linguistic insecurity to debate their rights as emancipated wives or claim overtly the importance of the recognition of their mental integrity in faceto-face interaction with their husband. Key Words: Patriarchy,husbands power, denial of wifes dignity, insidious violence, Algerian society.

Paper The Insidious Violence: A study of husband-wife power relations in the Algerian Context

Introduction Domestic violence is practised across the world, appears in various cultures,1and affects people in lot of societies, irrespectively of their economic status and gender. As a matter of fact, modern attention to domestic violence began with the women's movement of the 1970s, particularly within Feminism and women's rights, as concern about wives being beaten by their husbands gained attention. Domestic violence also called domestic abuse,
spousal abuse or intimate partner violence has multifaceted aspects and can be defined in many

ways (Shipway 2004) .According to the definition provided in the Unicef Digest (2000:6), it includes physical, and psychological aggression, sexual abuse and controlling. Marriage relationship represents the frame in which most of domestic violence is recorded, reports the Algerian Study2. The legist doctor, Francois-Purssel, in his book on medical ethics distinguishes conjugal conflict from conjugal violence. The first points out two protagonists who enter into confront with each other on equal bases and each of them attempts to persuade the other from his point of view to win the object of conflict. The second is due to a relational system in which one of the two partners uses physical or psychological violence as a means of controlling the other (AVIFE, 2010:80)3. If it is easy to quantify physical violence trough judicial or medical institutions, especially when denounced, it is more difficult to study covert violence which we call the insidious violence that seems to be constitutive of the Algerian patriarchal society as confirmed by (S. Madher,2010.)4. Among the types of the insidious violence, we retain the husbands controlling wifes freedom5 and his denying her individual identity . The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it will explore how unequal power between husband and wife has been culturally and historically constructed and

legalized by patriarchal ideology, oral tradition and religious orthodoxy, leading, therefore to husbands violence6 against his wife by denying her dignity as a full citizen that aspires at freedom of action and thinking. Second, we will try to discuss the womans attitudes towards violence through discourse analysis. We also intend to study this issue, in depth, from both anthropological and sociolinguistic point of view within the frame of gender studies which negatively point at patriarchy. 1)Gender Relation Construction 1.1 Patriarchy The role of the male as the primary authority figure is of a paramount importance to social organization in patriarchal system.This system is based on fatherhood authority that allows control over women, children, and property. Patriarchy is obviously the corner stone of the male prevalence and female submission. Historically, the principle of patriarchy has
been central to the social, legal, political, and economic organization of Hebrew, Greek, Roman, Indian, Arabian, and Chinese cultures, and has had a deep influence on modern civilization.7 It is the

historically unequal power between man and woman which has led to injustice and violence against woman and which has hindered her development as stated by The UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (1993). Whyte's 1978 comprehensive study examined 52 indicators of patriarchy which refer to the

empowerment of men. It seems important for us to explore how patriarchy is enacted locally in Algeria with a specific focus on two Whyte's dimensions: low value placed on
the labor of women and -lack of women's indirect influence on decision making8, that oral culture

has enforced for centuries. 1.2.Oral Tradition The Algerian culture basically founded on oral tradition has shaped the social imaginary through legends, proverbs that deeply structure the social attitudes. To start with a legend collected by Genevois who states that human copulating used to be performed by woman lying on man. But when man constructed houses with roofs, he decides to reverse the copulating position by standing on the woman. Henceforth, the domination started (Cited in Plantade).9 The Genevoiss tale does not explain the link between the construction of

roofed houses with the change of the male sexual position. But we can infer it from the notion of property and limits. The moment man has constructed a covered space which becomes a private one as opposed to the public one; he becomes more aware of privacy and of the need to create new rules for this new space. He thus, imposes the riding position in the sense that he gives himself the right to subvert the prevailing order. We can also say that in that position he can physically abuse the wife without giving her any chance of moving by blockading her under his weight and forcing her to passivity and total obedience. In the lines within the riding and the ridden position, Tassadit Yacine makes an analogy between womans domination and that of a donkeys riding which is ranked at the lowest value of animal scale for the Kabyles. In Kabylia, donkey is referred to by amerkub, (the ridden). The etymology drives from the Arabic origin RKB the one destined to be ridden and dominated. The metaphor connotes with the sexual intercourse too. This is why the use of the verb rkb is considered as a linguistic taboo in some Algerian regions such as Bouira.10 Being ridden by the man stands for both woman and donkey as a sign of lack of value and domination (Tassadit Yacine, 2004:39). The gendered transmission of oral tradition has been reinforced by dogmatic interpretation of Islamic religion. 1.3 Ulamas and Womans Status. If many economic political changes have occurred in the MENA region (Middle East

and North Africa) where Islam is the overriding religion, the womens status is frozen on behalf of Charia (Islamic law). Blatantly, emphasis is made on woman as a second- class
citizen.[F]amily law and personal status issues such as marriage, divorce, child custody, inheritance, citizenship and social mobility are still based on a religious law(Nayereh OHIDI,2008:327) . Many

Islamic researchers among which (M.Arkoun,1984) and (L. Lakhdar ,2010) denounced the biased and out of context interpretation on gendered base of Koran Thus,Sharia is
frequently used in its codified, unreformed,outdated and patriarchal version that lags far behind the modern realities of changing gender roles.(Nayereh TOHIDI, 2008:327). In addition, male domination

is best institutionalized through the idealization of marriage. 2 Idealization of Marriage


The marriage represents the social institution of womans insertion or marginalization. The place of the woman in the Algerian tradition is only recognized through motherhood that is achieved within this frame. From Islamic point of view, marriage represents half practice of religion. In euphemistic discourse, it is common to hear some persons say: I
want to complete my half religion, (nasf dini). It means that the person wants to get married. Any

single or divorced woman is stigmatized and becomes a prey to daily humiliation and social rejection. As a case in point, we can refer to two insults that evidence this marginalization: bayra, spinster and mtalqa (divorced) 2.1 Bayra (Spinster) The insult bayra12 hides several evocations in Algerian language. It pejoratively

designates a girl who did not find ataker. Bayra is similarly associated with other negative connotations as it is the case for spinster in English. (ROMANCE, S. 2000:109)13. The same holds true for the status of the divorced woman, mtelqa . 2.2 Mtelqa(a divorced woman) The impact of repudiation in the Kabyle society is described as being the obsession of any woman ( OUITIS, A., 1977: 38). 14Plantade reports that the Kabyles say of a repudiated woman that she lost more half of her value ( Plantade, N., 1988:139). She is also assimilated with one who is perverted. This is why she cannot live alone and she is extremely supervised because she represents a constant danger of sexual transgression and social dishonor contents (Lacoste- Du-Jardin, C., 1990: 93).

The divorces

stigmatizing makes woman endure male violence without complaining. The national survey on violence towards women in Algeria, reports that an interviewee who has been enduring 16 year husbands violence could not divorce because of her parents pressure who kept saying to her no divorce in our family (She is now suffering from high blood pressure, diabetes and has made a surgery of fibroma and has to undergo another for the cervix,). It is only recently with the intervention of the police who have urged her parents to permit her to divorce.(Badra Moutassem-Mimouni,2006:109)16.To make the fright of divorce clearer, it seems important to refer to the unsaid discourse that blames woman and obliterates the unilateral husbands power that the Islamic canonical law confers to him. He can decide at any time, and sometimes wrongly, to divorce his

wife who is unable to defend herself. Exceptionally, she can ask for col, e.g. providing payment for what her husband would require to divorce17. In spite of the fact that the divorce concerns the right of the husband, it is the wife who is negatively pointed at: the customs and habits designate her as the person in charge for the rupture. Thus, the act of divorce reverses the responsibility. The husband has the right to divorce, but the responsibility for the divorce often falls on the wifes shoulders who is not able to keep her husband. It is precisely this insinuation which can be at the origin of the fear of divorcing. Thus, the spinster and the divorced woman are both blamed either for being unable to find a taker or to keep a protector. Obviously, if a woman desires to escape the bayra /divorced status she has to be psychologically prepared to accept without any subversion any man who will protect her yeseterha18. As widespread saying goes on ezwaj setra, (marriage is protection). Such a belief is reinforced by the proverb that says: a woman without (male) authority is like a horse without bridle. This statement reveals the social underlying substructure that is based on the idea that woman needs male control to be protected from social depravation. Knowing the negative impact of divorce and celibacy on women, this will lead man to take advantage of socially and religiously institutionalized power. 2.3Husband s Prevalence and Islam According to the orthodox islam, the relationship between husband and wife is prescribed as a relation of enslavement, women is somewhat a slave to her husband as it is mentioned by Abu Hmed Al Ghazali, an acknowledged Muslim Theologist. It is for this reason that the husband occupies a higher place over the fathers wife in Isamic culture. A blinded obedience is imposed to the wife towards her husband. Abu Hmed Al Ghazali reports that a husband had forbidden his wife to pay visit to her family living in the first floor while she was living in the second one of the same house, during his absence. (because in the Islamic tradition, a wife cannot go out if she is not authorized by her husband).It happened that during the absence of her husband, her father fell into a serious disease. She sent a messenger to the Prophet Mohammad to inquire whether she could transgress her husbands order and visit her ill father. She received a negative answer insisting that she had to stick to her husbands instruction. Then, when her father died, she

reiterated her request to the Prophet asking whether she could attend the funeral ceremony, but once more she was refused to go. Later the Prophet sent a messenger, praising her behaviour and informing her that God had rewarded her for respecting her husbands indications, by electing her father to be sent to Paradise. (Our translation of Arabic version). Bennoune reiterated the analogy of slave and woman when

respectively showing disobedience to their master, -in case of a slave in flight and a wifes sexual refusal-,the both of which
BENNOUNE,M., 1999, p. 198)

prayers will not be accepted by God.(

The blinded obedience to husband required from wife incited the prophet to match its importance nearly to that one devoted to God. In this sense, Nawal Essadawi reported that a Muslim feminist woman said on the Egyptian TV. [T]he prophet Mohammed

declared that woman should obey their husband as they obey God and if he (the prophet) allows any body to kneel to any body apart from God he will allow the woman to kneel to her husband.(Nawal Essadawi,2008:11)20. Besides, the religiously backed claim, the husband s obedience is endlessly reiterated through the social discourse sum up by the term sbar (patience) which refers to a highly valued feminine attribute. 3 Obedience or Insidious Violence Not only represents marriage unequal power but it is also marked by violence that the Morrocan feminist Bourqia describes as a one- way domination that subdues woman to reach a total denial of the self. This domination is enacted through the term sbar that means literally patience. But culturally, it connotes with a completely total submission of woman to the authority of man who polices her to silence. Bourqia comments the value of obedience that female spouse is expected to be endowed with or compelled to possess. Obedience one can translate by patience, endurance, abnegation of oneself and fatal passivity, reinforces the bases of the ideology of misogynist violence. The remarks of BOURQIA, R., support this idea when she declares: for example dealing with the authority of the husband several women evoke the concept of patience and endurance (sbar) which falls within the competence of the wives when they are confronted sometimes with an overpowering authority, even with the violence of the husbands. The patience and the endurance which accompany the tender with this authority become attributes of women and consequently remove the wives the possibility of positioning in a

relation of reciprocity with their husband. The patience and the endurance on a (wife side) do not imply the reciprocity on the husband side. On the other hand the patience implies its antipode: severity and anger, sign of masculinity constantly put in awakening in the marital relation. (Our translation)21 The womans endurance is closely related to her ability to show accepting psychological pressure and to perform physical arduous home working. 3.1 Culture of Duty for Woman The culture of duty22 confines woman to the role of mother, wife,or girl,who is expected to perform house tasks as cleaning, cooking and childrens caring all days long without complaining reported Ouitis while describing rural Kabyle society in Stif in Algeria.It is currently known that daughter in- law is over exploited. It is within a hostile environment that marital relationship fed with culture of wifes exploitation evolves. We wish to reconsider the analogy master/ slave and its effect on the wife/husband relation that OUITIS, A explains. At the time of the transaction of the exchange (the marriage contract), the girl changes her master and not status. She becomes the property of her husband alike with the whole members of the family in-law . The good wife according to the proverb kabyle of Stifois is portrayed as follows: yallis n nif dal horma,t-tin ur yatnaffissen
zat nimRaren is didolan is (the girl of the honor and dignity is that who is not allowed to

push a sigh in front of her brothers-in-law and his/her parents-in -law).The womanexploitation goes hand in hand with denying her right to happiness since she a second -class citizen 3.2 Denial of Womans Happiness In her book Dreams Of Trespass Tales Of Harem Girlhood , Mernissi explains that woman are excluded from happiness namely that one which is related to wandering, discovering the world, singing, dancing and expressing ones opinion (1996:83).The prohibition of time-leisure perspective represents another insidious violence that is worth mentioning .For example, some husbands who may admit that their wives can go out for work but not for fun. Going to the work is legitimized but going out for leisure in public places is prohibited or hindered. This attitude reiterates what Mernissi said about the Harems ideology where woman is not brought up with the aspiration to happiness for

the self, on the opposite, all along her life she is learnt how to be good to others and how to please her husband at her detriment. It is only in this way that she could endure all the sufferings, naively believing that is the only way to be . This is the violence of the oppressor who disciplines the Other to be a servant to a point of alienation . The insidious violence in this frame is that the husband has taken and is still taking what interests him from woman and rejects what disturbs him in spite of the socio-economic changes affecting the society. 4. New Female Identity and New Forms of Violence With the advent of Independence, Algeria has opted for democratic and free education that has allowed girls to have access to high education to a rate of 57% of the population according to recent statistics. This involved a basic training and mastery in writing and technology both of which are structurally linked to the development of individuality and therefore to the capacity to understand/master the world. Consequently, more and more woman who become as specialized or less skilled persons, have entered labor world, a fact that has enabled them to be producers of wealth and source of income. This is what has destabilized the mans economic prevalence as used to be the only acknowledged bread-feeder. Henceforth, women are confronted with a contradictory situation, the desire of building individuality and relational identity. Both concepts are well explained by Hernando Gonzalo, who said: On the one hand, they adopt a Subject-position, as Agent through a
quite relational connection with the world which allows them to choose their own destiny and to enjoy a feeling of empowerment. But at the same time, they explicitly acknowledge the need for healthy emotional bonds ,which make them, on the other hand, yield and give precedence to other peoples wishes over their own, thereby adopting









(Hernando independent


. The problematic issue of the


individuality is that it is inscribed in the opposite way of the man who still resists change while she is subverting the established order. 4.1 Denial of Womans Public Status The historical course which has set up the premises of new historical female identity,

has created many conflicts. Women who are employed in education, health institution, university, enterprises, some times as head office, manager, accomplished successfully

their works outside home and are widely valued and acknowledged by their work pairs. However, in spite of the independent identity acquisition, women are still motivated in building emotional identity. It is at this point where social disfunctioning appears. While the woman seems to claim recognition of both individual and relational identity, the man only looks at one facet of the coin, the relational identity in its traditional aspect. Thus, he behaves towards his wife as if she were uneducated, unemployed, powerless, outrageously denying, her individuality. He expects her to serve him and to be subdued to him as used wives to behave for centuries ago, perpetuating, therefore, the conservative prescriptive social norms. Shamelessly, he continues restricting her freedom of taking decision, working, paying visit to her parents, and travelling alone. In deed, husbands in a kind of purposely maintained blindness are unable to recognize that modern woman deserves more respect and needs to lead her life with more dignity. It is not enough for her to be denied as a human, but she is still exploited by the husband who has invented modern exploitation as another expression of violence. 4.2 Womans Modern Exploitation Many women are complaining of being in charge of more duties in comparison to past time when womans role was restricted to house making and children caring. They are required to fulfill all the home working, shopping, childrens caring and school tutoring. Not only has the wife to equally perform her work outside the home but she has also to behave as a perfect housekeeper as well. Obviously, though the time spent at home is reduced, home working is the same. She has to accomplish it in a condensed time or during the weekend. This is done with greater stress and therefore more arduous labor. It goes without saying that wives are rarely if never helped by their husband. If they ask any assistance, they are answered that they have to bear the consequences of their choice.

Implicitly, this means they have to pay the price of their outside transgression. They have to be Woman of substance meaning that to be a well- accepted and successful person ,woman has to excel in private and public spheres, to be at the same time a good wife and a good man. In other words, she has to bear the feminity attributes, such as, beauty, tenderness, cooking, cleaning and children caring on the one hand , and to acquire the masculinity attributes such as studying, working, driving, on the other hand24.(

Marshment,G. 1989:27 ) This is one type of insidious violence that has resulted from

womans emancipation.

This situation has exposed woman to a more intellectual,

physical exploitation and stress for the double employment without any husbands support or recognition. Moreover,this exploitation has been extended to financial control. 4.3 Womans Financial Control In addition to that, another abusive husbands behavior is expanded to the control of the wifes salary. In many cases as brought by evidence of our Doctorate Thesis25 and the Algerian National Survey on domestic violence, the benefits of the working womans salary go back to her husband. Some husbands do not hesitate to show cupidity towards their wives salary by having a total or partial control over it. This represents for us a perpetuation of the patriarchal spirit which was based on the womans exploitation, nevertheless, with another facet. Here two kind of violence could be identified. First, we refer to those who openly force their wife to provide them with their salary. As an illustration, some female university teachers are obliged to confer powers of attorney on husband to withdraw money at will, from their bank account, to spend it for the family or personal needs. Clearly, the hidden idea behind mans controlling his wifes income and his asking for powers of attorney is a way to deprive her from economic autonomy. It also means that she is prevented from taking familys decision of expending her money as she wants. Second, there are those who indirectly get profit from their wives salary. Even if Islamic religion obliges the husband to financially support his wife, with minimal risk of errors, I can assert that I do not know salaried woman whose money is not totally or partially poured in the family budget. In vicious speech some husband claim that they

never ask their wife to give them money, but they do not refuse if she freely decides to contribute in buying the furniture for the house, a car, building the house, buying the children s clothes or other things for her well- being. Whether she is free or constraint to spend her salary to her family is a fact that is widely admitted, but what remains unfair is her totally denied financial contribution in case of widowhood or divorce. We mention the case of a working informant who has largely contributed to the building of their house, was surprised to learn, after she has suddenly lost her husband, that her heritages portion, according to the Algerian family Code, is legally fixed to the eight of the houses value while her two young boys will inherit somewhat 70% of it value . The

inheritance for the womans portion remains the same whether she has actively invested

or not. For the divorced woman, unless she is in possession of all the bills of what she has spent during all that period of common life, no recognition by the legal institution would be possible under the pretext that she was not obliged to spend her money for the family since this falls on the husbands duty. So, she has no right to claim anything, which is, for us, another institutionalized male abuse and violence. What seems abject in this situation is the fact that the working womans financial contribution is minimized or ignored, though it is clear that the standard of living of a working couple is ,by no means, the same of a one-working partner. However, it is fair to mention that a marriage contract has been recently institutionalized in the Algerian legislation, through which the wifes personal property(ies) are registered before marriage, which could be considered as a great progress. Besides wifes the salary the husbands exploitation of the working

,the violence of limiting her personal freedom with regards to

clothing and working is worth discussing. 4.4 Womans Clothing Control The contradiction of womans emancipation and mans resistance to change is daily displayed in womans discourse. Under the raising of Islamism in Algeria in the two last decades, woman are imposed the veiling, or the prohibition of working. One of our informant relates that during the religious wedding ceremony (the fatiha), her fianc sent his sister to have her commitment to wear the veil. Being hastened in front of many guests, she felt obliged to accept his request. There is a need for contextualizing the fiancs attitude to best understand the insidious violence. First, by expressing his desire to veil his wife, during the ritualized religious ceremony, and not before, he has left no room for the young fiance (19 year-old) to refuse it because his request is commonly believed to be religiously legalized. Second, socially speaking, she could not refuse it since this would have led to the parental disapproval, to the social dishonor, on the one hand, and probably to the cancelling of the marriage and the risk of remaining bayra (spinster), on the other hand. Moreover, in conservative society, it is taboo for a woman to impose her conditions, since the power of negotiation obeys to the top-bottom rank. This evidence could be exemplified by another case related to work prohibition. 4.5 Womans Work Prohibition

Another informant said that she was trapped by her husband explaining that they were studying in the same discipline at the university and were fallen in love. Her fianc too imposed his will to her to be veiled during the official wedding ceremony but omitted to mention his intention to prevent her from working. After their marriage, she unexpectedly found herself prevented from working and then, imprisoned in the house .Neither her parents, nor she were able to subvert this decision because once more, it is socially and culturally taboo for a woman to ask for divorce, for instance, for a such reason, backed by the Islamic legitimate discourse that woman needs not to work since it is up to the husband to guaranty the financial support to his wife. The explanation lies in a reminiscence of patriarchal system which devalues womans work. Of course the abusive husbands attitude, who has not explicitly expressed his will of preventing his future wife from working, is violent because he is taking advantage of the conservative norms of the society. This is not an isolated case, on the opposite, the national survey on domestic violence reports that preventing woman from work is still a common practice in Algeria which represents the third place of male violence. (CEDIF,2010:12 ) In short, the above illustrations are meant to argue for womans victimization deduced from daily life facts. It seems fair to us to explore how she reacts to this violence. 5.Womans Attitudes towards violence 5.1 Submission and Violence Banalization It appears to many women that there is no sharp line between conjugal conflict and conjugal violence which is made invisible and futile by different members of the society. The husbands violence is minimized, sustained by the arguments that few women officially complain about it or do not leave their home. The 2006 Algerian national survey on violence above-mentioned, reports that 67% of women believe that it is natural to be punished by their husbands. It is the mans role to discipline woman ( AVIFE,2010:81).This what Bourdieu confirmed in La domination masculine. Thus, the representation of the internalization of the gendered hierarchy is rooted , drained and reproduced by many social instances, such as the family, (Malika MOKKADEM,1996) the religious discourse and the media.Violence is conceived as an unavoidable fatality or misfortune that woman have to live with while men are sorted out to use violence to meet their needs and desires in a total impunity.

Nevertheless, impunity does not exclude female defensive reaction enacted in the culture of hatred. 5.2 Mysogyn /Androgyn Attitudes If the husbands empowerment is accepted in most cases because believed as if it were natural, some wives are betrayed by their discourse that signals the relation of hatred. In this sense, Assia Djebar in her book Vaste est la prison mentioned that in some areas, the husband nickname is referred by ladu, (the enemy). Unequal power entails resistance and enmity between husband and wife.26. Similar enmity is conveyed by a popular Algerian saying , recurrent in women speech which says: no woman has found her brother or father (in the husbands house), but only her enemy makansh elli eddat KuHA wella buha , Rir ellidat duha.The culture of hatred is fed with the feeling of despise and reject from the side of woman and with the feeling of domination from the side of man.The exclusion of the feeling of love and tenderness - which is not retained by the Algerian culture in marital relationship - as contended by (Plantade :148) is perceived as a way of resistance to overcome the violence that is a constitutive attribute of this relation. In other words, man considers mark of love as a weakness :if expressed it will devalues and threatens his virility and manhood.On the other side,hatred and mistrust are culturally instilled in womans mind to enable her to

circumvent the husbands violence and abuse with its various aspects. The marital relation bears contradiction in itself; it is the location of the idealization of marriage,and a location of enmity between the spouses. 5.3Attitudes of subversion In spite of the inherited socio cultural situation,the mans dominance is relatively subverted in the nowhere by woman who are undergoing greatly educational and economic changes and who are, consequently reversing the passive identity to a progressively active one that will be demonstrated through the discourse analysis of our corpus. Lets consider the following corpus27:
1.I ask so that he has to respect me . ilq tameTot ts' U $eToH nlalibert. (It is necessary that the woman has a little freedom.)


2 - Me I refuse that he interferes in my clothing behavior like imposing for example. The Hijab (the veil) 3 - He must accept that I work 4 - I got along with my boy friend that is out of question to marry him before I finished my training course. It is clear that my work passes before engagement. 5- They believe that the woman who wants to work is a question of money only. In my opinion, they are selfish. 6- because they do not even take account of the efforts that the girls agree to make during all these years of studies. 7- I do not understand why knowing that I am an engineer with a stable work, applicants propose to marry me under condition of leaving my work. They have only to seek for a girl without work!

It is important to underline the emerging subversive identity of these informantss discourse which is made visible through the use of the I form. In (1), the first person I operates as a linguistic identifying operator . The voice of I seems to fully endorse the responsibility of the contents of the speech and claims the desire to build a new identity. Nevertheless, it presents the negotiation in a modulated form. It introduces a seldom expressed claim that of personal freedom. The deontic verb in Kabyle ilq, by its impersonal turning, with value of general recommendation wants to be the spokeswoman of the female-intonated voice of everyone. However, let us notice the restrictive expression in kabyle Cettoh nelalibert, (A Little freedom) revealing the maintenance of a certain linguistic insecurity, because the claim of freedom is a new challenge that it has not been considered as a feminine attributes yet. On the opposite, the request for freedom with regards to the clothing behavior, namely, the refusal of the Hijab in (2) is more explicit .This defensive attitude expressed by I refuseis interpreted like a reaction of resistance in a political context characterized by the rise of political Islamism, in the recent decades in Algeria. In the prolongation of the attitudes of resistance to the traditionalist vision, the statements (3, 4, 5,6 and7) are articulated around the question of the work of the woman, according to several points of view. Let us notice the use of the deontic auxialiary must in (3). This is the expression of a defensive categorical attitude which imposes the right to work explicitly, in the same way as the statement (4) places work like an indisputable priority.

Not to become engaged before the end of the training course makes it possible to foresee an attitude of insecurity. First, it is justified by the fact that engagement can lead to a precipitated marriage, from where fear not to complete her formation and to see herself prevented from work. The vigilance of the young informant is certainly the fruit of a maturity which makes it possible to avoid falling into the trap of not working ,for example for reason of incomplete formation. In addition, this attitude translates the objectivation of the primacy of work on the feelings of promised marriage in order to be equipped for safer future. In addition, the statements (5,6and 7) raise the polemic posed by female work, according to two antagonistic optics, that of the men and that of the women, in terms of tradition/ modernity. Amazing is the attitude of the applicants who aspire at marrying university graded woman and forbid them to work. This highlights contradiction, or a form of arrogance and refusal of the Other. In deed this category of man appreciates an educated wife for social prestige,but is not ready to admit that an educated wife has new aspiration of life and status. The statement (6) underlines the fact that female work is not only justified by the moneys quest, expressed by the adverb of restriction only but by the desire of being recognized as an intellectual entity too. The women seek the recognition of the Other, namely, the acknowledgement that they have involved great efforts to achieve their

studies .It is this mans violent denial which is important to grasp through the contents of the statement (6). The discourses(3,4,5,6 and 7) show that the informants are in rupture with the traditional vision and place themselves in a modern position asserting the right to work and thus evacuate the related linguistic insecurity.The rupture between I/THEY is said through the pointing of THEY of a quantifiable plural (of the applicants). It can mean the intense revolt of these informants. In addition, the reiteration of I do not include/understand in (7) is not a descriptive negation, but a rhetoric one which is formulated by I, which negatively points to the ambivalence of THEY whose contradictory behavior reveals their remoteness from reality. These womens discourse shows that they have set the bases for negotiating new place in order to build a new identity that will call into question the power relation and the underlying related violence . 6.Discussion

What conclusions can we draw from this investigation of the insidious violence and gender faces?The problematic issue of the insidious violence is inscribed in mans behavior and subverted by woman leading to conflicting views. For man, dominance and violence is a historically cultural transmitted heritage that he is not ready to requestion or rationalize , perpetuating,thus, the holistic patriarchal and static idea of culture that confers him the right to control and abuse woman in order to preserve his manhood. On the other hand,the woman who has been more deeply influenced by education access , western rationalization with regards to feminist movements and media , becomes more and more aware of the changes that occur in her life as a consequence of her

individuality and of the power of knowledge she is constructing. For this reason it is important to call for the social and political forces to start from reality to legislate on situation and to stop applying out-dated religious laws that do not meet the present needs of working woman as the Algerian family code continues obliterating her financial contribution to her family in case of widowhood or divorce. The feminization of power of knowledge is evidenced in Algeria by girls s higher

grading in different levels of education than boys, which reaches 57% . Nevertheless, the girlss educative success is too significant to escape the critics attention. This may please the feminists, but it is rather an alarming situation because ,according to us,it will deepen the gap between man and woman. If boys show demotivation and regress in acquiring knowledge, this means that they will not be able to develop critical and innovative thinking to rationalize the social changes of their society among which the womans claim of equality. Boys and men s education failure has probably led to the fear of loosing mans power that makes the political Islamism concentrates on the womans identity , in terms of the restriction of womans freedom and clothing/veiling as a social project instead of focusing, for example on economic one. Whether mans violence is due to powerfulness/ powerlessness, this will endlessly lead both woman and men to fall into the vicious circle of violence generates violence as previously referred by Assia Djebbar who pointed at the culture of hatred between husband and wife. The multifaceted insidious violence stemmed from patriarchal spirit based on low value of womans labor encouraged man to patronize and exploit

her without

scruples.Modern times brought modern exploitation

which is enacted through the

husband s controlling his wifes salary is interpreted as a sign of economic abuse which is intended to limit the wifes autonomy and decision making. Mans mentality shaped in enslavement spirit that used to consider wife like a slave ,e.g. as his own property has to be fought and abolished .In stead of looking at his wife as a

slave,husband has to learn how to recognize her individuality as a human being who has the right to take her own decision and to budget her income. The fact she was ruled by her husband in the past under the pretext that she has a small brain that prevents her from thinking is no more valid argument since the neurosciences have proved the opposite. Does this mean that gender equality y is an utopia? The answer is negative because the discourse of the subversive informants demonstrates a more optimistic view of gender negotiation in the daily life. Needless to insist that woman are undergoing a deeply changing process to improve their status in spite of all the resistance they are confronted to. The new historical change will certainly help both man and woman to seek revision of the established order and unequal genderized power and to initiate inscription in a new social order that characterizes modern society and the emergence of feminine agency. The fact that woman have decided to enter the subjectivation process by themselves ,they will find enough force to defeat the culture of insidious violence. It is for this reason that gender studies must be encouraged,in order to highlight the arbitrariness of mans power construction. The need for redefining the social roles and attitudes of both man and woman importance. Conclusion With regards to what has been argued , insidious violence stemmed from a manifestation of historically unequal power relations between men and women, and which has led to men domination over and discrimination against women,has been constructed by on democratic bases is an issue of paramount

patriarchy and culture.The husband s empowerment has led to the exploitation of woman and to her abusive controlling in various ways in past and present times leading thus, to the slowering of her full advancement. If the majority of men and women

minimize domestic violence which is socially, culturally and religiously legalized, we strongly believe that there is an urgent need to remedy this situation by emphasizing the importance of the social and economic changes that are affecting the Algerian society. It is time to get rid of prejudices and to recognize that the woman in general,and , the

educated one ,in particular, has not to be considered as an exploitable source of wealth only, but deserves to be treated with dignity as a human being who is able to act and think freely. Therefore, the emergence of feminine agency has started to mediate the

negotiation between wife and husband in order to set up the rules of equity in power, in law and in freedom as inferred from the informants discourse Analysis. The change of mentality,though slower than the rapid social mutations will certainly favour a better dialog between man and woman for a greater equity and reduce the insidious violence.

References and Notes

Watts C, Zimmerman C (April 2002). "Violence against women: global scope and magnitude". Lancet 359 (9313): 12327.

AVIFE (Aide aux victimes femmes et enfants) Rseau Wassila, Livre noir de la violence conjugale. Hlte limpunit,2010,p.22.

MEDHAR,S. , La violence sociale en Algrie, Alger, Thala, 2me Ed., 2010.

NASR Roula, Les Violences Conjugales: Etude Comparative entre Liban, France et Canada- Thse de doctorat en psychologie,Sous la direction de Annik HOUEL et Raja MAKKI Universit Lyon 2 2009,P.19 5 H. GENEVOIS(1968:56) in PLANTADE, N., La guerre des femmes, Magie, et Amour en Algrie,Paris, La Boite Documents, 1988, p. 47.

MacMillanEncyclopediaofSexandGenderp.1104 Whyte(1978)Thestatusofwomeninpreindustrialsocieties LgendcollectedbyH.GENEVOIS(1968:56)citedinPLANTADE,N.,1988,p.47.

The researcher noted an analogical use with the verb montar in latine languages which is different from subire . (Tassadit Yacine 2004:39).




Nayereh TOHIDI,2008, Gender Equality: The Blind Spot of Islamic Reformation and Democracy in the Middle East and Beyond, in Woman World 2008,Equality is not a Utopia,New Fontiers:Challenges and Changes,Plenary lectures,Universidad Completense, Madrid, Thomson Arzandi p.327) A.Certeux provides its etymological meaning in classical Arabic:bayra: the name of the female camel , which put low five times and had a male for the last born. Its ear is split meaning that, henceforth, it could not be immolated, and becomes free of grazing where good seemed to it ". (A.Certeux ,1884, p. 182).12



ROMANCE, S. , counts at least, ten seven negative collocations such: gossipy, nervy, ineffective, jealous, coil/sex-starved, ..... frustrated. .cold-hearted, despised ", (ROMANE, S.,Langage in Society,an Introduction to Linguistics(2nd ed.), England, Oxford Press, 2000, p.109

OUITIS, A. , Les contradictions sociales et leur expression symbolique dans le Stifois,Alger, SNED.1977p.38.


LACOSTE-DU JARDIN,C.,1991,Le Conte kabyle ,tude ethnologique, Alger, Bouchne.1990p.93

Badra Moutassem-Mimouni, Famille entre protection et bastonnades ou qui aime bien contrle bien,in Violences envers les femme en Algrie, enqute nationale de prvalence analyse des rsultats, Alger, Ministre Dlgu Charge De La Famille Et De La Condition Fminine,2006,p.109.


DOURARI, A, Dialogue entre le Machreq et le Maghreb,le discours idologique arabe

contemporain,TH.Doctorat ,sous la direction de Pr.REIG.D,Universit de la Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris III, 1993,p 414.

AVIFE (Aide aux victimes femmes et enfants) Rseau Wassila,Livre noir de la violence conjugale. Halte a limpunit,2010,p.88 BENNOUNE, M., 1999, Les Algriennes ,Victimes d'une Socit Nopatriarcale, Alger,Marinoor. Nawal Essadawi,Creativity,Dissidence and Women:Post Modern Contradictions in ,Woman World



2008,Equality is not a Utopia,New Fontiers:Challenges and Changes,Plenary lectures,Universidad Completense, Madrid, Thomson Arzandi,2008, p.11.

BOURQIA,R..Etudes fminines ,notes mthodologiques, Universit Mohamed V ,Rabat, Publication de Facult des Lettres et de Sciences Humaines, , srie Colloques et Sminaires N73, 1997, p.18. For fuller information see Bennoun,M (2001) , Ouitis,A., 1997.) (Bourdieu , P.(1958). Sociologie de


lAlgrie, collection Que sais-je, Paris: Presses universitaires France ), Zerdouni ;N ,(1979), Enfants dhier,leducation traditionelle en Algrie .Paris :Maspero ,who have described androcentrism and neo patriarchy in the Algerian society rooted up in Berber and Islamic religion.

Hernando Gonzalo,A. , Independent individuality:Woman in ,Woman World 2008,Equality is not a




Marshment,G ,Substantial Woman, in Garman,L,Marshment,G,The Female Gaze,,Women as Viewers

of popular Culture,Seattle,The Real Comet Press,1989pp27-43.


Mebtouche Nedjai, (F. Z.), Le tabou linguistique : tude sociolinguistique des attitudes des femmes des wilayas de Tizi 0uzou et de Boumerds ; thse de doctorat (Nouveau rgime), en sciences du langage, option : sociolinguistique, Universit dAlger, Facult des lettres et des langues dAlger, Dpartement de Franais de Bouzarah, dirige par A. Dourari. 2008

Assia Djebar, Vaste est la prison,France,.Abin Michel,1995,p.13. Corpusextractedfromourthesis.