Masculine domination, as a social and cultural system, consolidates the authority and privileges of men to the detriment of women and is manifested in various aspects of life and social institutions. Despite the social transformations of many societies, manifestations of Masculine dominance continue to permeate literary and artistic discourses, indicating the persistence of these dominant structures in collective and individual consciousness. This research examines the concept of structural domination in the social and cultural context based on Bourdieu's theory of " Masculine domination." Baytar's novels are a rich example for examining this phenomenon, as she delve deeply into women's issues, power relations, and the psychological and social conflicts resulting from this dominance. The research question is how this dominance manifests in Baytar's narrative works and what mechanisms the narratives use to depict or challenge these structures. This research offers new insights into how female experiences and female characters are shaped by Masculine dominance in the novel. It also helps to understand social reality more deeply. This research is conducted in an analytical-descriptive manner with the aim of: analyzing the mechanisms of embodying Masculine dominance in Hayfa Baytar's novels, revealing the impact of social and cultural structures on the formation of women's identity and personality, and examining the forms of submission to this dominance, which strengthens a critical understanding of literature and its relationship with society. By addressing women's gendered social positions, Baytar points out that their gendered and dependent identity stems from the entire female social system and from the patriarchal perspective that governs all relationships. He also believes that the absorption of patriarchal teachings into all institutions governing the socialization process is a major factor in legitimizing the relationship of Masculine dominance. He also points out that the gendered socialization of men and their forced participation in the practices imposed by this process leads to the emergence of various forms of symbolic violence.
 
Keywords: Bourdieu, Masculine dominance, the latent nature of dominance in the body, Violence, Haifa Baitar.
 
Introduction
Many theorists have addressed, in their theoretical and empirical research, the topics of sex and gender, education and socialization, religion and culture, the state, and their relationship to different forms of domination from multiple perspectives. Among these, the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu stands out, who presented the theory of the “gender system” and its connection to masculine commands and prohibitions, and its undeniable relationship in all social, economic, political, educational and cultural positions, where he worked to explain male dominance. This gender system refers to the patriarchal system presented in society as natural, by likening it to the natural order and representing it through sexual acts in which superiority and dominance are attributed to men, while subordination and submission are imposed on women. This model is reproduced throughout the lives of both sexes, forcing them to coexist with it as an imposed social fate.
 
Bourdieu lists the factors that produce and reproduce masculine dominance, the methods of its construction, and the ways in which it is passed from one generation to the next, which are practiced within the framework of calling on the individual to adhere to the gender system. This system is initially embodied within the family through gender education models, and is instilled in bodies so that it becomes the norm for each individual, often practiced automatically, through mechanisms of self-censorship, self-denial, and internal control, despite repeated reminders of it by institutions, culture, laws, and societal orders and prohibitions. Through this path, masculine dominance, aided by all social factors, is imposed on bodies through subtle and imperceptible violence, to naturally infiltrate social relationships, laden with all the obligations they entail, until this dominance relationship appears, strangely, to be normal and acceptable.
 
Hayfa Baytar is a prominent writer of social novels, whose works highlight the subjugation and dependence of women on men in various fields, through depictions of individual and social life and women's work. She sheds light on the dominance imposed upon them and their inferior position within the patriarchal structure.
 
This study aims to analyze and interpret how masculine dominance, acquired predispositions, and sexualized socialization are formed, through a study of three novels by Hayfa Baytar: “A Woman of Two Floors,” “A Woman in Her Fifties,” and “S.M.S.”, where these forms of dominance are manifested as imposed and institutionalized through the structures that constitute society.
 
Materials & methods
In this study, first, three fictional works (A Woman in the Same Age, A Woman in the Fifty, and S.M.S.) by Hayfa Baytar were studied and examined in full detail. Then, using the theoretical tools of Bourdieu's theory of masculine dominance, the semantic layers and hidden structures in these works were analyzed and examined.
Hayfa Baytar holds a very high position in the field of feminist literature in Syria. She has numerous works of fiction that directly relate to concepts of gender, power, the female body, and social structures. Since his works are of great importance in addressing social and cultural issues related to Syrian society, in particular, gender inequalities between women and men and challenging these inequalities, he has a special place to be examined based on Bourdieu's theoretical framework of masculine dominance.
For this reason, in this research, based on content analysis using a descriptive-analytical method, an attempt is made to use the content of Bourdieu's concepts and categories of theory to objectively and qualitatively describe and analyze the issues and problems existing in the fictional space of the three novels above in order to explain the reasons, dimensions, and how and why the problems and issues surrounding the topics under study arise.
 
Discussion & Result
Due to the prevalence of Bourdieu's theory of male dominance in the social sciences, its application to the analysis of literary texts, especially in the field of Arabic literature and the works of prominent female writers such as Haifa Bitar, has not yet been sufficiently explored. This study seeks to fill this theoretical gap by applying Bourdieu's conceptual framework to a deeper analysis of Bitar's works.
Dominant feminist and sociological theories in the analysis of Arab literature may not have addressed all the complex aspects of male dominance from Bourdieu's perspective, such as the categories found in the theory of male dominance, and this study fully assesses these concepts in the context of Bitar's works.
Haifa Bitar's works, as a reflection of the social and cultural realities of Syrian society in particular and Eastern society in general, provide an opportunity to understand how structures of male dominance are produced, reproduced, and perpetuated. Examining these works from a Bourdieu perspective highlights the necessity of understanding how these structures are internalized and reproduced by the characters and society depicted.
The data show that the process of gender socialization begins in childhood and leads women to accept male dominance through cultural and social coercion. This dominance, from the perspective of women, is seen as natural and inevitable, ultimately facilitating male authority.
 
Conclusion
By excluding women from public spheres and limiting them to traditional roles such as motherhood, family loyalty, and sacrifice, the patriarchal system deprives them of the opportunity for social activism and imposes passivity and frustration on their lives. Meanwhile, men, under the pressure of masculine norms, are forced to suppress their emotions and tend to act violently in order to maintain their established sexual identity. This shows that gender structures affect not only women but also men, forcing them to reproduce certain behavioral stereotypes. Therefore, patriarchy as a hegemonic system places everyone in reproductive situations, the escape from which requires a critical rethinking of gender identities and the power relations that govern society.