On this article, the effects of gendering conception and gender roles practices on violence (physical, psychological and sexual) against spouses are explored. Four women that had registered declaration of suffering physical abuse from their partners and that still live with them were interview based on a script with search for personal data and information about marital relationship, men and women conceptions. Interviews were submitted to Alceste software, that was the Content Analysis used as a complementary method analysis. Data show that gendering traditional conceptions and insubordination acts share places (such as paid work, friendships, and judgments about sexual life). These aspects, signal of women empowerment, are related to partners' aggressiveness, which were excluded of feminist debates and are trying to protect their masculinity by using violence to suppress feminine manifestations of power.
marital violence; spouses; feminine empowerment
