Gender transformations in Algerian culture: A socio-anthropological analysis of social discourse on masculinity and femininity between a changing social reality and a persistent symbolic heritage

Abstract

In recent decades, Algerian society has undergone tangible social transformations driven by globalization and technological advancement, suggesting a shift in mentalities and a relative openness toward the idea of gender equality. Women's access to education and their participation in the public sphere alongside men have emerged as indicators of a reconfiguration of traditional gender roles. However, these transformations do not necessarily imply a rupture with the deep-rooted symbolic structures that perpetuate gender differentiation. Through a socio-anthropological analysis of everyday social discourse, it becomes evident that representations of masculinity and femininity remain governed by patriarchal logic, wherein women are confined and reduced to their bodies and emotions, while men are granted intellectual authority. This perception—and the tension between apparent change and the persistence of symbolic structures—continues to reproduce a cultural system that compels individuals to conform to rigid gender norms. Any transgression of these norms is perceived as a breach of social boundaries, leading to forms of symbolic exclusion. On this basis, the article poses a central question: What image of women and men is constructed in Algerian culture, between a changing social reality and a cultural heritage that constrains the evolution of mentalities, from a critical gender perspective?