WHY HAVE THERE BEEN NO MEN ARTISTS? ANALYZING AWARENESS OF MASCULINITIES THROUGH THE ARTWORKS OF "MEN" ARTISTS POST 1990 IN TURKEY by ÇAĞLAR ÇETİN Submitted to the Graduate School of Arts and Social Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Art Sabancı University Spring 2013 © Çağlar Çetin 2013 All Rights Reserved iii << For Gezi Park protestors >> iv ABSTRACT WHY HAVE THERE BEEN NO MEN ARTISTS? ANALYZING AWARENESS OF MASCULINITIES THROUGH THE ARTWORKS OF "MEN" ARTISTS POST 1990 IN TURKEY Çağlar Çetin Visual Arts and Visual Communication Design, M.A. Thesis, 2013 Thesis Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Lanfranco Aceti Keywords: Gender, Masculinities, Feminism, Contemporary Art, Turkey. In parallel with feminist, LGBT and queer discussions, this research examines critical awareness of masculinities in the works of men artists in Turkish contemporary art after 1990. The research discusses criteria for critical masculinities that men artists can develop against the gender order, as well as the necessity and possibility of such an opposition. The main criteria of choosing the works of men artists, which present or do not present critical awareness of masculinities, are that these works have to have been produced and exhibited after 1990, and they discuss gender regimes through masculinities. Artworks are questioned if and how the gender order and artists' own masculinities are problematized and/or cooperation of the artists with masculine domination through their artistic visualization and conceptualization. Criticisms about the works and the statements of the artists are also referred in the examination. The thesis concerns embracing criticaly that 'men identities' are only temporarily necessary for 'men artists,' who are usually referred to as only 'artists,' unlike 'women artists.' It suggests that men should start seeking subversive strategies to transform the gender order by making their beneficiary gender visible and their agencies questionable. v ÖZET NEDEN HİÇ ERKEK SANATÇI YOK? 1990 SONRASI TÜRKİYE GÜNCEL SANATINDA "ERKEK" SANATÇILARIN İŞLERİ ÜZERİNDEN ERKEKLİKLER FARKINDALIĞI ANALİZİ Çağlar Çetin Görsel Sanatlar ve Görsel İletişim Tasarımı, Yüksek Lisans Tezi, 2013 Tez Danışmanı: Doç. Dr. Lanfranco Aceti Anahtar Sözcükler: Toplumsal Cinsiyet, Erkeklikler, Feminizm, Güncel Sanat, Türkiye. Bu araştırmada, 1990 sonrası Türkiye güncel sanatında, erkek sanatçıların işlerindeki eleştirel erkeklikler farkındalığını irdelenmektedir. Feminist, LGBT ve queer tartışmaların paralelinde, erkek sanatçıların cinsiyet düzenine karşı geliştirebilecekleri eleştirel erkekliklerin kriterleri, böyle bir karşıt duruşun gerekliliği ve imkanları tartışılmaktadır. Eleştirel erkeklikler farkındalığı ortaya koyan ya da koyamayan örneklerin seçiminde, Türkiyeli erkek sanatçılara ait işlerin, 1990 sonrasında üretilip sergilenmiş olmaları ve cinsiyet rejimlerini erkeklikler üzerinden tartışmaları kıstas alınmıştır. Sanatçıların görselleştirme ve kavramsallaştırmalarında eril tahakkümle işbirliği içinde olup olmadıkları ve/ya cinsiyet düzenini ve kendi erkekliklerini nasıl sorunsallaştırdıkları incelenirken, çalışmalar hakkında yapılan yorumlara ve sanatçıların kendi beyanlarına da başvurulmuştur. Araştırmada, kadın sanatçılardan farklı olarak, sadece 'sanatçı' olarak anılan 'erkek sanatçıların' eleştirel 'erkek kimliklerini' geçici olarak üstlenmelerini önerilmektedir. Mevcut cinsiyet düzenini yıkıma uğratıcı stratejiler geliştirebilmeleri için, erkeklerin bu düzende imtiyaz sahibi olan cinsiyetlerini görünür ve kendi failliklerini sorgulanır kılmaları bir başlangıç noktası olabilir. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First of all, I owe my thesis advisor, Lanfranco Aceti a debt of gratitute for his contribution to this thesis with his support and keen criticism. I am also grateful to the members of my thesis jury, to Burcu Yasemin Şeyben and Ayşe Gül Altınay, who spared their precious time making comments on every single sentence of my thesis. Maybe the most impotant factor in the preparation of this thesis is the Men Talk Initiative. A handful of men who came together to question their masculinities changed my life. I have always been troubled with masculinities; however, it was after engaging Men Talk that I was able to developed a clear stance against the gender order, and started questioning my own masculinity. I am grateful to Men Talk. I should also cite the name of Bilhan Gözcü from Men Talk. His relentlessly questioning both his own and our masculinities always inspires me. Some of the ideas in this thesis took shape and developed during our discussions. I also thank to my family and my friends who have supported me not only in the writing process of this theis but throughout my life. Another thanks to Pınar Uysal who linguistically supported and lended a hand to me in the last days of the thesis. And finally, I am grateful to my supportive and inspiring partner Leyla Güneş to whom I continously told the progression process of the thesis, at whom talking about my worries, I kept nagging, but who always listened to me very patiently. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1: Introduction......................................................................................................1 1.1. Key Terms.................................................................................................................2 1.2. Awareness of Masculinities.............................................................................................9 1.3. Aim and Scope.........................................................................................................11 1.4. Research Questions.................................................................................................12 1.5. Methodology.............................................................................................................13 1.6. Outline.....................................................................................................................14 Chapter 2: Understanding the Gender Order....................................................................16 2.1. A Brief Insight into Feminism, and LGBTTI and Queer Movements....................17 2.1.1. A Brief Overview of Feminism...........................................................................17 2.1.2. A Brief Overview of LGBT--TI and Queer Movements....................................22 2.1.3. Notes on Practices of Gender Discrimination and Turkey.................................27 2.1.3.1. Gender-based violence and its many facades................................................29 2.1.3.2. Maintaining the gender order: cooperation between individuals and institutions.....................................................................................................34 2.2. A Brief Insight into Critical Studies on Men and Masculinities and Critical Men's Movements..............................................................................................................39 2.2.1. Basics: Why Do Men Problematize the Gender Order? : Critical Debates on 'Emancipation,' and 'Responsibility / Shame'..........................................................40 2.2.1.1. Harms of manhood........................................................................................41 2.2.1.1.1. Masculinities in (no) crisis.......................................................................43 2.2.1.2. Responsibility and shame..............................................................................44 2.2.2. Appearance of Critical Masculinities.................................................................45 2.2.2.1. Examples from the world and Turkey...........................................................48 2.3. Conclusion..............................................................................................................50 viii Chapter 3: Why Have There Been No Men Artists?........................................................52 3.1. The Construction of the Question...........................................................................53 3.1.1. Google Research for 'Men Artists'.....................................................................54 3.1.2. The Usage of 'Man Artist' as a Political Choice.................................................56 3.1.2.1. Gendered lingual roots in the comparison of the words, woman and man...56 3.1.2.2. Questioning the neutral position of man.......................................................58 3.2. Debates on Masculinities in Turkish Contemporary Art Scene...............................61 3.3. Conclusion: Understanding the Meaning of 'Man Artist'........................................67 Chapter 4: Men Artists' Lack of Critical Awareness of Masculinities.............................69 4.1. On Artworks that Are Excluded from the Criteria of Critical Awareness of Masculinities............................................................................................................70 4.1.1. Unclear Connections to Masculinities...............................................................71 4.1.1.1. Ahmet Öğüt and Şener Özmen: Coloring Book............................................71 4.1.1.2. Erkan Özgen: Adult Games...........................................................................74 4.1.1.3. Bülent Şangar: Untitled (Father's Advice)....................................................76 4.1.1.4. Lack of correlation between institutional crititicism and gender regimes....79 4.1.1.4.1. Selim Birsel...............................................................................................81