the male domination is a test of Pierre Bourdieu, published in France with the editions Points in 2002. It develops a thesis to with it on the permanence of the domination of the men, through, inter alia, the analysis of the Berber company of Kabylie.

The male domination is understood by a Habitus giving the women and the men a predetermined role. For example, the female activities “traditionally”, as the kitchen, obtain “by magic” a noble statute when the men harness themselves there (for example the case of the “ chief cooks”, or that of not-industrialized agriculture where the women deal all the year with the growth, and where the specific intervention of the men, when they sows, gives place to various rejoicings). The Statistique S showing that the women tend more to move towards certain professions or studies which men are also a demonstration owing to the fact that a differentiating culture between the sexes is imposed by the company, in particular via the family (the girls are encouraged to follow the scientific studies than the boys, for example). It results a dissymmetry in higher education from it, between the literary and linguistic studies, where the population coed is strongly feminized, and technical studies and scientists (schools of engineer, surgery…) very little feminized.

At the time of debates or discussions, one observes thus that the women are more often made cut the word than the men; if they react in an aggressive way, the group will state that it is not desirable (for example, by treating the woman of “Harpie”, by showing it “to lose its nerves”, by qualifying its reaction of “Hystérique”), while such a behavior at a man will be accepted much more.

The process of deshistoricisation

The male domination in particular tries to remain by a process of dehistoricisation: for example, the female preferences, activities and attitudes would be “naturally” reserved for the women (clothing, pieces of housework, education of the children, social assistance, task of” reception” in the companies, “tastes” out of cultural matter and of leisures, etc), although it is about a cultural process trying by its deshistorisation to give the aspects of an objective and natural process. This process tries to be justified by an approach pseudo-scientist basing himself on the physical differences (setting in the world, in particular). The very woman having gestural one as a man (to put the feet on a table, to balance themselves on a chair…) for example will be qualified “not very female” or “vulgar”. Bourdieu also notes that the female clothing is used as support with this social pressure, the skirt allowing for example a less important range of movements than the pants.

For Bourdieu, this process makes not only the women captive of the image which is imposed to them, but also the men.

In this work, Bourdieu made of the Love one in the ways possible to pass in addition to these roles imposed by the company.

On the subject

• Mr. Godelier, production of the great men , Paris, Payot, 1982

• Y. Verdier, Ways of saying, ways of doing. The washerwoman, the dressmaker, the cooker , Paris, Gallimard, 1979
• F. Heir, Male, Female. The thought of the difference , Paris, O. Jacob, 1996
• P. Bonnemère, the red pandanus. Body, difference of the sexes and relationship at Ankave-Anga , Paris, CNRS/Éditions of the house of the social sciences, 1996
• J. - P. Albert, blood and sky. Holy mystics in the Christian world , Paris, Sapwood, 1997.
• N.C. Mathieu, “Bourdieu or car-hypnotic capacity of the male domination”, Modern times , n° 604, May-July 1999, p. 310 and following
• D. Pasquier, culture of the feelings. Teenagers and television , Paris, House of the social sciences, 1999
• “To speak, sing, read, write”, file directed by D. Fabre, Clio number 11
• Daniel Fabre, “To read with female”, Clio 11, pp. 179-212
• Monique Wittig
• Christine Delphy

See too

Related articles

• Sexism

• History of the women

External bonds

• Notes of reading on line: Agnes Fine, “the kind of the nation”, Clio , number 12/2000

• a faithful summary of the book '' male domination ''