ABSTRACT
An everyday observation of Algerian society reveals the impact of the Islamist movement on behaviors, attitudes, and opinions of individuals and groups. The pattern of the Muslim woman is in breach with the official discourse which existed before the coming of the Islamist Movement. This chapter investigates the social representations women draw upon themselves in an environment characterized by the rivalry between and inadequacy of the proposed models. The Muslim woman is established in nature and culture. The corpus shows that the discourse on women as developed in El Mounquid is a propaganda discourse that aims to promote the female ideal type that is called the Muslim woman pattern. Two patterns are outlined: Both the Muslim woman and the converted Westerner share the same symbolic environment, The Western woman — evil object — who delivered a turncoat offspring, the Westernized Algerian woman.
