De-costruire il genere. Discriminazioni e violenza tra asimmetrie e rappresentazioni sociali

It is recognized that the social construction of the feminine and the masculine has a paradigmatic significance for the understanding and interpretation of social phenomenologies. Consequently, it is important to look at the mechanisms through which models of interpretation of gender roles are transmitted. This paper aims to reflect on the processes of definition and structuring of gender, related stereotypes and asymmetries, as well as on the social image of violence. At the same time, it focuses on the decisive role of the media both in defining gender, with related stereotypes, and on the important and delicate issue of male violence against women, which in recent years has taken on a much greater space than in the past. Closely linked to the social construction of gender identities and relations, violence is to all intents and purposes a strategy of masculinity aimed at establishing or maintaining dominance within a highly hierarchical relationship. The way in which it is narrated in the media represents a non-negligible aspect of the problem and prompts us to question how much the media attention has contributed to a greater awareness of gender roots. Finally, the essay highlights the importance of promoting forms of life and organization of family and social contexts based on real gender equality, together with a decisive educational action that from childhood helps to constantly problematize the relationships between male and female: urgent and fundamental issues in the face of the need to undo and/or subvert gender in consideration of the different strategies of domination or discipline towards women that still persist within contemporary society.