From the perspectives of the Sociology of Literature and Political Science, this article’s theoretical contribution lies in presenting a core—and persistent—constituent of femininity, comprised of six components. It proposes that all of these constituent elements, in dynamic articulation, contribute to explaining violence against women; violence perpetrated by men against women, certainly, but which is simultaneously social violence. This core of “the feminine” is the cultural and historical expression of prejudices, dogmas, deeply rooted social customs, and institutions that reproduce widely legitimized power relations and subordination between people of different sexes. For the purposes of this research, the analysis of socially violent practices relied on artistic discourse, and specifically, on literary narratives. These sources were used to highlight the patterns of hierarchical relationships between men and women. The hypothesis is that artistic expressions, based on aesthetic criteria, embody ethical positions, in the sense of endorsing what is considered valuable, or not, for each society. These representations and discourses help to discern the background of gender violence, by exposing the gendered beliefs and institutions that inevitably permeate and condition our actions.