CONSTRUCTING LOCAL MASCULINITIES: A CASE STUDY FROM TRABZON, TURKEY A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY MEHMET BOZOK IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY JANUARY 2013 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Meliha Altunışık Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Prof. Dr. Ayşe Saktanber Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Asst. Prof. Dr. Fatma Umut Beşpınar Supervisor Examining Committee Members Prof. Dr. Simten Coşar (Hacettepe, İLEF) Asst. Prof. Dr. F. Umut Beşpınar (METU, SOC) Prof. Dr. Ayşe Gündüz Hoşgör (METU, SOC) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Aksu Bora (Hacettepe, İLEF) Asst. Prof. Dr. Çağatay Topal (METU, SOC) PLAGIARISM I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name : Mehmet Bozok Signature : iii ABSTRACT CONSTRUCTING LOCAL MASCULINITIES: A CASE STUDY FROM TRABZON, TURKEY Bozok, Mehmet Ph.D., Department of Sociology Supervisor: Asst. Prof. Dr. Fatma Umut Beşpınar January, 2013, 310 pages This thesis investigates the social construction of masculinities in Trabzon, with a (pro)feminist approach. This study is based on the assumption that masculinities are socially and contextually constructed grounding on the local dynamics. In order to examine that, I identified and focused on three trajectories in Trabzon that have largely affected the social construction of masculinities in the last two decades. Those are the men’s emotional and sexual lives, men’s families and the domestic lives and rightist politics and football fanaticism of Trabzonspor. In order to investigate the social construction of masculinities in the city, a qualitative field research, based on feminist methodology was conducted. The field research was conducted between August 2010 and October 2011 by making interviews with men from different social milieu, in Trabzon city centre. This study presents that the men’s experiences of three trajectories noted above contributed the construction of conservative and patriarchal masculinities in Trabzon. Keywords: Masculinities, Patriarchy, Feminism, Trabzon, Turkey iv ÖZ ERKEKLİKLERİN YERELDEKİ İNŞASI: TRABZON, TÜRKİYE ÖRNEĞİ Bozok, Mehmet Ph.D., Sosyoloji Bölümü Danışman: Yrd. Doç. Dr. Fatma Umut Beşpınar Ocak, 2013, 310 sayfa Bu tez Trabzon’da erkekliklerin toplumsal inşasını (pro)feminist bir yaklaşımla incelemektedir. Çalışmanın temel varsayımı, erkekliklerin yerel dinamiklere dayanarak toplumsal yollardan kuruluyor oluşudur. Bunu incelemek için, Trabzon’da erkekliklerin inşasını son dönemde en çok etkileyen üç izlek ortaya konulmuştur. Bunlar, erkeklerin duyguları ve cinsel yaşamları, erkeklerin aileleri ve ev içi yaşamları, ve sağ siyasetler ve Trabzonspor fanatizmidir. Kentte erkekliklerin toplumsal inşasını incelemek için, feminist metodolojiyi temel alan nitel bir alan araştırması gerçekleştirilmiştir. Alan araştırması, Ağustos 2010 ile Ekim 2011 arasında Trabzon şehir merkezinde farklı toplumsal çevrelerden erkeklerle görüşülerek gerçekleştirilmiştir. Bu çalışma erkeklerin yukarıda anılan üç izleğe dair deneyimlerinin muhafazakar ve ataerkil erkekliklerin inşasına katkıda bulunduğunu ortaya koymaktadır. Anahtar sözcükler: Erkeklikler, Ataerkillik, Feminizm, Trabzon, Türkiye v DEDICATION to Nihan… vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS “all along this path I tread my heart betrays my weary head with nothing but my love to save from the cradle to the grave”1 This thesis is an outcome of my ongoing personal struggle and studies on patriarchal men and masculinities for quite a long time. This has been a challenging, tough, labouring, yet instructive path. Many people have left their mark throughout my journey. I am grateful for all of them. Nevertheless, I feel obliged to express my appreciation for a number of people in my doctoral studies, who all have precious places in my life and my academic journey. First of all, I have to state my indebtedness and gratitude for my supervisor Asst. Prof. Dr. F. Umut Beşpınar Akgüner. She accepted to become my supervisor; and supported me in the rest of this challenging process, with her invaluable suggestions and comments. I am sincerely grateful for her for believing and supporting me from the beginning of my thesis process. I am also grateful for the members of my thesis examining committee. They showed and taught that thesis monitoring and thesis examination juries were an enjoyable and integral part of the endless learning process than a painful struggle. They have always been guiding and supporting during the preparation and writing of my thesis process. 1 Eric Clapton, from the album From the Cradle (released in 1994 by Reprise Records). vii Prof. Dr. Ayşe Gündüz Hoşgör is one of the most invaluable people I met during my entire doctoral studies. I feel indebtedness for her comments and suggestions for my thesis process. I learned a lot from her warm, loving, wise and guiding presence and support throughout my entire doctoral studies. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Aksu Bora has been conscious expanding with her comments and suggestions. In this process, she has been one of my greatest sources of inspiration with her studies, her ideas and her friendly attitude. Since the beginning of this process, her intelligence, knowledge and comments have broadened the scope of this thesis. I am grateful to the chairperson of my jury Prof. Dr. Simten Coşar for her invaluable comments, meticulous corrections and warm hearted approach. I am indebted for her contributions to this thesis. Meeting her in this process was an invaluable chance. I also wish to present my appreciation to Asst. Prof. Dr. Çağatay Topal for his careful approach, attentive corrections and valuable comments. I owe much for his contributions to this thesis. I am also indebted to my former supervisor Prof. Dr. Mehmet C. Ecevit. Although our ways got separated at a certain point, I have learned a lot from him. I will always be grateful for him and I will never forget his contribution to my development as a scholar and a sociologist. I am also thankful for the academic environment of the research and discussion group Ekin-Besin Araştırmaları (Agro-Food Researches) monitored by Prof. Ecevit, that I attended between 2006 and 2010. The times I spent with the colleagues and friends there have contributed me a lot. viii I am grateful for Prof. Dr. Yıldız Ecevit. I have learned many things on feminism, and becoming a proper scholar. She has been one of my greatest sources of motivation. I am indebted to Tanıl Bora who shared one of his unpublished articles during the preparation of this thesis. His studies and ideas have been a true source of inspiration for me. I am thankful for the contribution of Halil İbrahim Dinçdağ and the anonymous respondents of this research. I hope this study will be a contribution for the struggle for non-patriarchal masculinities. Particularly I am most grateful for a person: Nihan Bozok, my beloved, my dearest wife, my best friend, and my invaluable colleague. Since the very beginning of this study, she always supported me with her loving attitude. She read every bit of this thesis and presented invaluable comments. I have learned a lot from her on being a human and being a social scientist. I am truly indebted for her endless patience, tolerance and love in this challenging process. Without her, this thesis could not be possible. I am grateful for the presence of my friends. I am lucky to have met all those invaluable people. Ersin Aybars has been one of my greatest sources of inspiration for almost two decades. In all those challenging years, he has always been alongside me with his friendship. I shall never forget his contribution to my entire life. Ece Deniz Öner has been a great support with her great friendship and cheerfulness. I am indebted for her. Meral Akbaş has always been with me with her warm, clever and calming attitude as a friend and a colleague. I am truly grateful for her sincere friendship. I am appreciative for Ersin Mortaş who has always showed his support and his endless friendship. I am appreciative for Burak Kartal and Serap Kurt who have been with me in my hard times and good times with their true ix friendship. I hope our relation goes forever. I am thankful for Ozan Küsmen who has always been a reliable friend and who never deprived his friendship, encouragement and support. I am appreciative for Aykut Çakırlar, who has always been like a true brother in our relation spanning for more than two decades. I also wish to present my thankfulness for my parents Nilüfer and Bülban Bozok, and my parents-in-law Naciye and Şinasi Mortaş. Without their endless support, encouragement and love, this thesis could hardly be possible. My deceased aunt Prof. Dr. Candan Bozok Johansson, whom we lost in the beginning of the preparation of this thesis, has been a great source of inspiration since my childhood. I owe much to her in my way. Lastly, my endless gratitude goes to the dark, crazy waves of Black Sea… x TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM .............................................................................................