Men are legally obliged to maintain their wife and family - in fact, even when a wife is working, she usually keeps her earnings for herself.

Accordingly, the man is considered to be the "head of the family", even though his powers are, compared to other Arab countries, in Tunisia smaller. He can, for example, not prohibit his wife from working and the wife can divorce him.

In reality, however, the man dominates the family and can impose restrictions to their leisure and lifestyle, especially to that of the female family members.

Men like, although higher education shifts increasingly the thinking, to spend their time  together with other men in street cafes and are, thus, the largest part of the day not at home.

It is very rare that one can see a man alone (without his wife or another female family member) with his small children in the public - the raising of and care for children of the family is an exclusive domain of the women.

Men usually get married in the mid Twenties, but other than with women, there are marriages in which older men marry young women, often in terms of a "Providing marriage". Even age differences of 30 and more years are not frequent, but absolutely normal and socially accepted.
Conversely, marriages of older women with young men with more than just 1-2 years age difference are socially not accepted, not desireable and thus extremely rare.

"Cheating" of men in marriage is not only desirable, but even widely socially accepted, even by the wives, as long as this does not happen in a public way. This does not mean it happens all the time, but it is nowhere near an exception.
 


Women are exclusively responsible for the interior of a family and clean the house, cook meals and raise the children. Although higher education changes the way of thinking, and in poorer families, the women must work to make ends meet, it is widely desireably, even for the women, to not work and spend their life as an homemaker - housewife and mother.

The virginity of a woman is a very high value and must be maintained until to the marriage. In some regions of Tunisia, the virginity will still be checked publicly after the wedding night ("bloody sheets").

Even though, in reality, many women have, before their marriage, already sexual experiences with men, this is not socially accepted. A medical "restoration of virginity" before the marriage is common in Tunisia.

Illegitimate children are extremely rare, in case of pregnancies of unmarried women, usually abortions take place, even multiple times.

Women generally marry between 18-25 years of age, when they have an high education  sometimes even up to about 30. Thereafter, however, the chances of marriage are significantly reduced, primarily because it is desirable that a woman has many children at an early age. Women over 30 are often left only with the options to stay single or marry a much older men (Provider marriage: she cares for the house and the needs of the man and receives the social status of a married woman and is being provided for).

The consent of the father in the marriage of his adult daughter is, unlike in some other Arab countries, not required in Tunisia.

"Cheating" of women in a marriage happens, in reality, not much less than that of men, but it is not socially accepted at all and takes therefore place only secretly.

 


Children are not, as it happens in many western countries, extremely pampered, but are treated as a "normal" family, according to their age.

Although higher education changes the ways of thinking, for the time being, children are rather maintained than actively developed in their family.
There is not much that parents and their children do together (apart from the daily life), they are usually not encouraged artistically or intellectually and live widely through the day as it is structured by their natural needs (they eg. sit at night together with their parents until they fall asleep and are then brought into bed). The television is, in Tunisia, running continously and everywhere and often assumes the role of a babysitter.

Every Tunisian adult attends to children, takes them on the arm for a moment and speaks with them.
However, tourists usually get by this the false impression that Tunisian love children very dearly - which is not the case.
Children of all ages roam almost all houses in Tunisia at any given time and are therefore considered a "natural part of the environment", but they are not exactly treated with the level of protection, support and attention, as it happens in most western countries.