They fear, with reason, that extending freedoms and developing individual autonomy within the family\u2014and so weakening patriarchal authority\u2014could lead to a questioning in the public arena of the ideological basis of state power.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Governments invoke religious norms and tradition in order to legitimize the continuation of patriarchal rule and their political power that rests on it. But Arab political authorities, and the Arab people themselves, are having to confront the contradictions between the traditional authoritarian patriarchal model and the ongoing transformation occurring in the everyday lives of women.<\/p>\n

Martin-Mu\u00f1oz says that the Western view of Arab societies promotes,<\/p>\n