Erkeklerin Erkeklikleri Sorgularken Yüz Yüze Kaldıkları Zorluklar: Türkiye’de Feminist Müttefikler Olarak Erkek Örgütlenmelerinin Eleştirisi

2008’den bu yana, Türkiye’de feministlere müttefik olan bir erkek grupları dalgası oluştu. Umut vaadeden bu yeni oluşuma rağmen, bu gruplar pek mesafe kaydedemedi ve devamlılık sağlayamadı. Bu çalışma, bu grupların ürettikleri metinlerin ve grup üyeleri ile yapılan derinlemesine görüşmelerin içerik analizine dayanarak, zayıf etkilerinin ve kısa ömürlerinin ardındaki sebeplerin izini sürmektedir. Yalnızca bireysel düzeyde erkeklikleri sorgulamak üzere örgütlenme ve ayrıcalıklarla yüzleşme ile bağlantılı grup dinamiklerinin sorunlu olduğu tespitini yapmaktadır. Hem yerel hem de küresel bağlamlarda, feministlerle müttefik olan erkeklerin, belirli bir toplumsal cinsiyet eşitliği meselesi etrafında örgütlenerek ve kurumsal düzeyde değişiklik üzerine eğilerek yankısı daha büyük kolektif bir hareket ortaya çıkarabileceğini tartışmaktadır.

Challenges Facing Men in Questioning Masculinities: A Critique of Men’s Organizing as Feminist Allies in Turkey

Since 2008, a wave of men’s groups as feminist allies has emerged in Turkey. Despite this promising stirring, these groups could not gain momentum and did not show continuity. Drawing on a content analysis of their texts and in-depth interviews with their participants, this paper traces the reasons behind their reduced impacts and life cycles. It identifies problematic group dynamics related to mobilizing around questioning masculinities and confronting privileges solely at an individual level. It discusses that men as feminist allies, both in local and global contexts, can create more resonant collective action by organizing around a specific issue of concern to gender equality and addressing institutional-level change.

___

  • Acar, F., & Altunok, G. (2013). The ‘politics of intimate’at the intersection of neo-liberalism and neo-conservatism in contemporary Turkey. Women's Studies International Forum, 41, 14-23.
  • Açık, N. (2013). Re-defining the role of women within the Kurdish national movements in Turkey in the 1990s. In C. Gunes & W. Zeydanlioglu (Eds.), The Kurdish Question in Turkey: New Perspectives on Violence, Representation, and Reconciliation (pp. 114-136). New York: Routledge.
  • Ahmad, J. (1994). Ibn Rushd. Monthly Renaissance, 4(9).
  • Akşit, G., & Varışlı, B. (2014). Studying men and masculinities critically in Turkey as part of feminism: An interview with Jeff Hearn on transnational approaches to men and masculinities. Fe Dergi, 6(2), 87-92.
  • Alcoff, L. (1991). The problem of speaking for others. Cultural Critique, 20, 5-32.
  • Aldıkaçtı Marshall, G. (2005). Ideology, progress, and dialogue: A comparison of feminist and Islamist women’s approaches to the issues of head covering and work in Turkey. Gender & society, 19(1), 104-120.
  • Aldıkaçtı Marshall, G. (2013). Shaping gender policy in Turkey: Grassroots women activists, the European Union, and the Turkish state. Albany: Suny Press.
  • Altınoluk, D. (2017). Cinsiyetlendirilmiş kurum olarak akademi: Erkek akademisyenlerin “öteki” üzerinden erkeklik inşaları. Masculinities: A Journal of Identity and Culture, 8, 37-58.
  • Baba, H. B. (2011). The construction of heteropatriarchal family and dissident sexualities in Turkey. Fe Dergi, 3(1), 56-64.
  • Barutçu, A., & Hıdır, N. (2016). Türkiye’de babalığın değişen rolleri: (Pro)feminist babalar. Fe Dergi: Feminist Eleştiri, 8(2), 27-45.
  • Bereket, T., & Adam, B. D. (2006). The emergence of gay identities in contemporary Turkey. Sexualities, 9(2), 131-151.
  • Berghan, S. (2013). Patrosuz ve pezevenksiz bir dünya! Feminist yaklaşımlar açısından seks işçiliği. In B. Şeker (Ed.), Başkaldıran bedenler: Türkiye'de transgender, aktivizm ve altkültürel pratikler (pp. 90-99). Istanbul: Metis.
  • Beşpınar, F. U. (2015). Between ıdeals and enactments: The experience of “new fatherhood” among middle-class men in Turkey. In G. Ozyegin (Ed.), Gender and Sexuality in Muslim Cultures (pp. 95-114). Farnham, Surrey, England ; Burlington, VT: Ashgate.
  • Binder, C., & Richman, N. (2011). Feminist movements in Turkey. Amargi Istanbul.
  • Biricik, A. (2014). A walk on Istiklal Street: Dissident sexual geographies, politics and citizenship in Istanbul. (PhD diss.), Linköping University, Linköping.
  • Bolak Boratav, H., Okman Fişek, G., & Eslen Ziya, H. (2017). Erkekliğin Türkiye halleri. Istanbul: Istanbul Bilgi Üniversitesi Yayınları.
  • Bourdieu, P. (2001). Masculine domination (R. Nice, Trans.). Stanford: Stanford University Press.
  • Budak, C. (2018). Türkiye'de feminist hareketin dünü ve yarını. Journal of Business in The Digital Age, 1(1), 38-49.
  • Çarkoğlu, A., & Kalaycıoğlu, E. (2009). The rising tide of conservatism in Turkey. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Çetin, Z. (2016). The dynamics of the queer movement in Turkey before and during the conservative AKP government. Working Paper, Research Group EU/Europe. Berlin
  • Christensen, A.-D., & Jensen, S. Q. (2014). Combining hegemonic masculinity and intersectionality. NORMA: International Journal for Masculinity Studies, 9(1), 60-75.
  • Cingöz, Y., & Gürsu, E. (Eds.). (2013). 90’larda lubunya olmak. İzmir: Siyah Pembe Üçgen.
  • Collins, P. H. (1993). Toward a new vision: Race, class, and gender as categories of analysis and connection. Race, Sex & Class, 25-45.
  • Collins, P. H., & Bilge, S. (2016). Intersectionality. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
  • Connell, R. (2003). The role of men and boys in achieving gender equality. Retrieved from
  • Connell, R. (2005a). Change among the gatekeepers: Men, masculinities, and gender equality in the global arena. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 30(3), 1801-1825.
  • Connell, R. (2005b). Masculinities. Berkeley: Univ of California Press.
  • Crenshaw, K. (1991). Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. Stanford law review, 1241-1299.
  • Denzin, N. K. (1970). The research act: A theoretical introduction to sociological methods. Chicago, IL: Aldine.
  • Diner, C., & Toktaş, Ş. (2010). Waves of feminism in Turkey: Kemalist, Islamist and Kurdish women's movements in an era of globalization. Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, 12(1), 41-57.
  • Dutlu, U. P., & Özgüner, Ö. (Directors). (2014). Voltrans (documentary). Istanbul.
  • Evans, M. (2017). The persistence of gender inequality. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
  • Flood, M. (1997). Frequently asked questions about pro-feminist men and pro-feminist men’s politic. Retrieved from http://xyonline.net/content/frequently-asked-questions-about-pro-feminist-men-and-pro-feminist-mens-politics
  • Flood, M. (2005). Men’s collective struggles for gender justice: the case of anti-violence activism. In M. Kimmel, J. Hearn, & R. W. Connell (Eds.), Handbook of studies on men and masculinities (pp. 458-466). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
  • Freedman, E. B. (2003). No turning back: The history of feminism and the future of women. New York: Ballantine Books.
  • Gardiner, J. K. (2002). Masculinity studies and feminist theory. New York: Columbia University Press.
  • Gözcü, B. (2013). Erkekler dile geldi. Istanbul: SOGEP.
  • Gross, A. E., Smith, R., & Wallston, B. S. (1983). The men’s movement: Personal versus political. In J. Freeman (Ed.), Social movements of the sixties and seventies. New York: Longman.
  • Harris, A. P. (1990). Race and essentialism in feminist legal theory. Stanford law review, 581-616.
  • Harris, S. M., & Hughes, L. K. (Eds.). (2013). A feminist reader: feminist thought from Sappho to Satrapi. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Holmgren, L. E., & Hearn, J. (2009). Framing ‘men in feminism’: theoretical locations, local contexts and practical passings in men's gender-conscious positionings on gender equality and feminism. Journal of Gender Studies, 18(4), 403-418.
  • hooks, b. (2000). Feminism is for everybody: Passionate politics. Cambridge, MA: South End Press.
  • hooks, b. (2004). The will to change: Men, masculinity, and love. New York: Simon and Schuster.
  • Hughey, M. (2012). White bound: Nationalists, antiracists, and the shared meanings of race. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
  • Human Rights Watch. (2016). World Report 2016: Events of 2015. Bristol: Policy Press.
  • Inglehart, R., & Norris, P. (2016). Trump, Brexit, and the rise of populism: Economic have-nots and cultural backlash. Paper presented at the HKS Working Paper No. RWP16-026.
  • Kaufman, M. (2003). The AIM framework: Addressing and involving men and boys to promote gender equality and end gender discrimination and violence. Retrieved from
  • Kaufman, M., Barker, G., Peacock, D., Vess, J., Robles, O., & Sharafi, L. (2014). Engaging men, changing gender norms: directions for gender-transformative action. Retrieved from
  • Kepekçi, E. (2012). (Hegemonik) Erkeklik eleştirisi ve feminizm birlikteliği mümkün mü? Kadın Araştırmaları Dergisi, 2(11), 59-86.
  • Laperrière, M., & Lépinard, E. (2016). Intersectionality as a tool for social movements: Strategies of inclusion and representation in the Québécois women’s movement. Politics, 36(4), 374-382.
  • Lorber, J. (2011). Gender inequality: Feminist theories and politics (5 ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Macomber, K. (2015). ‘I’m sure as hell not putting any man on a pedestal’: Male privilege and accountability in domestic and sexual violence work. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 33(9), 1491–1518.
  • Marshall, C., & Rossman, G. B. (2011). Designing qualitative research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
  • Meer, S. (2011). Struggles for Gender Equality: Reflections on the place of men and men’s organisations. In Open Debate, Johannesburg: Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa. Johannesburg: OSISA.
  • Mermertaş, B. (2018). Siyasal alanda erkekliğin inşası: Kürt siyasi hareketinde cinsiyetin yeniden konumlanması. Masculinities: A Journal of Identity and Culture, 9-10, 226-259.
  • Messner, M. A. (1997). Politics of masculinities: Men in movements. Lanham, MD: Altamira Press.
  • Messner, M. A., Greenberg, M. A., & Peretz, T. (2015). Some men: Feminist allies and the movement to end violence against women. Oxford: Oxford Univ Press.
  • Murphy, P. F. (2004). Introduction. In P. F. Murphy (Ed.), Feminism and masculinities (pp. 1-21). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Naples, N. A. (2003). Feminism and method: Ethnography, discourse analysis, and activist research. New York: Routledge.
  • Nas, A. (2016). Familialization of women: Gender ideology in Turkey’s public service advertisements. Fe Dergi, 8(1), 168-182.
  • Negrón-Gonzales, M. (2016). The feminist movement during the AKP era in Turkey: challenges and opportunities. Middle Eastern Studies, 52(2), 198-214.
  • Özakın, A. Ü. (2012). Accomodating diversity within feminism in Turkey: The Amargi Women's Cooperative, 2001-2011. (Master's thesis), Middle East Techical University, Ankara.
  • Ozyegin, G. (2015). New desires, new selves : sex, love, and piety among Turkish youth. New York: New York University Press.
  • Pamuk, H. (2014, May 17). Turkish mine disaster town under lockdown as death toll rises to 301. Reuters. Retrieved from http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/18/us-turkey-mine-idUSBREA4C0KO20140518
  • Peacock, D., Khumalob, B., & McNabd, E. (2006). Men and gender activism in South Africa: Observations, critique and recommendations for the future. Agenda: Empowering Women for Gender Equity, 20(69), 71-81.
  • Peretz, T. (2018). Seeing the invisible knapsack: Feminist men’s strategic responses to the continuation of male privilege in feminist spaces. Men and Masculinities, 1097184X18784990.
  • Ricardo, C., Barker, G., Sand, J. v. d., Lauro, G., Peacock, D., Banerjee, L., . . . Verma, R. (2014). Men, masculinities, and changing power: A discussion paper on engaging men in gender equality from Beijing 1995 to 2015. Washington, DC: MenEngage Alliance and UN Women.
  • Ridgeway, C. L. (2011). Framed by gender: How gender inequality persists in the modern world. New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Sancar, S. (2009). Erkeklik: İmkansız iktidar: Ailede, piyasada ve sokakta erkekler. Istanbul: Metis.
  • Şeker, B. (Ed.) (2013). Başkaldıran bedenler: Türkiye'de transgender, aktivizm ve altkültürel pratikler. Istanbul: Metis.
  • Shaikh, S. d. (2009). In search of al-Insān: Sufism, Islamic law, and gender. Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 77(4), 781-822.
  • SPoD. (2014). Yerel siyasette LGBTİ hakları. Istanbul: SPoD.
  • Sullivan, S. (2014). Good white people: The problem with middle-class white anti-racism. Albany: Suny Press.
  • Tuksal, H. Ş. (2001). Kadın karşıtı söylemin İslam geleneğindeki izdüşümleri. Ankara: kitâbiyat.
  • Unal, D. (2019). The abortion debate and profeminist coalition politics in contemporary Turkey. Politics & Gender, 15(4), 801-825.
  • UNFPA. (2013). Engaging men and boys: A brief summary of UNFPA experience and lessons learned. Integrating work with men and boys into core areas of the UNFPA mandate at country regional and global levels. New York: UNFPA.
  • White, A. M. (2008). Ain't I a feminist?: African american men speak out on fatherhood, friendship, forgiveness, and freedom. Albany: SUNY Press.
  • Whitehead, S. M., & Barrett, F. J. (Eds.). (2001). The masculinities reader. Cambridge, UK: Polity.
  • Yılmaz, V. (2013). The new constitution of Turkey: A blessing or a curse for LGBT citizens? Turkish Policy Quarterly, 11(4), 131-140.
  • Yılmaz, V., & Göçmen, İ. (2016). Denied citizens of Turkey: Experiences of discrimination among LGBT individuals in employment, housing and health care. Gender, Work & Organization, 23(5), 470-488.
  • Yılmaz, Z. (2015). The AKP and its family policy in the re-establishment process of authoritativeness in Turkey. In J. Karakoç (Ed.), Authoritarianism in the Middle East: Before and after the Arab uprisings (pp. 150-171). Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.