Una “patologia della normalità”. La violenza contro le donne nell’ambito relazionale-affettivo

This article looks at the data drawn from two ISTAT reports, of 2007 and 2015, on violence against women, assessing that data against the backdrop of the patriarchal culture, which continues to substantially fuel and legitimate this phenomenon. I point up the friction between this culture and the egalitarian principles that in our society are officially endorsed but scarcely absorbed, arguing that this is giving rise to a twofold dysfunctional reaction in society: on the one hand, the identitarian vagueness produced by this still unreconciled disconnect seems to exacerbate, and sometimes stiffen, the male reaction; on the other hand, as illustrated by examples discussed in the paper, women often themselves hesitate to assert in practice the very equality which they call for as a matter of principle, and to which they give theoretical form.