Prof. Serpil Sancar and Dr. Murat Göç Bilgin analyze the parameters of the masculinity crisis in Turkey, opportunities for change and policy recommendations for men to advocate for gender equality.
*The texts contained in this article are taken from the report titled “Study of Mapping and Monitoring Men, Masculinity and Gender Equality” which was prepared within Improving Participatory Democracy: Association for Monitoring Gender Equality.
Prof. Serpil Sancar and Murat Göç Bilgin
It is clear that the claims of male superiority in the age we live in cannot be sustained by biological and blood-based superiorities, as in the early modern times. It is clear that the gendered division of labor that leads to the supremacy of men today, that is, the distinction between jobs that women can do and jobs that men can do and regimes of gender differences, which are maintained by attributing different rights, powers and entitlements to the sexes, and basing mostly on biological differences, are gradually losing their legitimacy (MacInnes, 1998).
Values of modernity renders the regime of gender differences increasingly unfounded. The idea of man’s natural superiority, an archaic idea from the pre-modern patriarchal period, has always clashed with the principle of human equality in modern times. Feminism’s struggle for equality has defined and exposed this tension. In today’s world, where male supremacy cannot be defended on any objective/biological basis, power strategies are developing that will “reinvent” male supremacy in every field.
This development means a growing prevalence of highly unstable and fragile gender positions and variable gender identities. Today, it can be said that a strategy that will automatically prioritize and make man superior is not lasting. This situation can be defined as the slipping of the ground under the feet of male supremacy, and this is the reason for the disappearance of masculine privileges that were to be handed down from one generation to the next, and the feelings of regret, fear and anxiety become visible in the face of it. Many studies base the masculinity crisis on economic reasons.
All of the basic qualities such as being responsible, resilient, loyal, honest, proud, rational, diligent, having authority and making sure that one’s authority is accepted by others, having the power of knowledge and using knowledge to clinch one’s authority, being physically strong and sexually active, being a father, a decision maker and a practitioner are directly affected by economic changes.
For this reason, periods of economic and social crisis inevitably lead to masculinity crises. Situations that give rise to violence can be considered as situations where masculinity undergoes a crisis. We can define the reasons that lead men to violence as the“fear of loss of masculinity” or the “perception of threat to masculinity.” Situations that cause men to feel inferior to women, for example when women under their control refuse to obey, in case of physical and sexual inadequacy, when his mentality or lack of success is mocked by others, their decisions are questioned, his words are not listened in the family, women in the family behave in a way that undermines his own masculinity (Castells, 1997), threaten masculinity and make men question it in the eyes of others.
Breaking the cycle of violence in Turkey is possible only by believing that men and the social dynamics of violence can change. As a gender practice which is performed according to time and social dynamics, not over physically/biologically given characteristics, masculinity also enables masculinity practices not based on male supremacy.
Policy Recommendations for Men’s Advocacy for Gender Equality
Below, we have outlined possible policy development areas and options for ensuring the participation of men and boys in gender equality.
Education sector
- Clearing the curriculum of gender stereotypes.
- Clearing the school and its surroundings from physical and sexual assault and harassment.
- Anticipating the needs of boys and the difficulties they may encounter, establishing the awareness for peer bullying, sexual orientation and gender identity correctly, and raising the awareness of boys for gender equality.
Public safety
- Encouraging more women to serve in law enforcement and armed forces.
- Training of law enforcement and armed forces on gender policies and human rights
- Ensuring that the security forces and armed forces comply with the existing legal regulations regarding the prevention of gender-based violence.
Health sector
- Training health care providers to be sensitive to and meet the special needs of women, men, and LGBTI+ individuals.
- Encouraging men to receive health assistance when they have physical and mental health complaints, and preparing programs for men, especially in the areas of preventive health services and sexual health.
- Reducing men’s alcohol, drug and smoking habits, and developing special precautions against alcohol and drug-related accidents and violence.
Human rights
- Making necessary arrangements to prevent the dissemination of discriminatory and degrading gender representations through the media.
- Making necessary legal arrangements so that same-sex couples have equal rights before the law.
Sexual and reproductive health
- Ensuring that testing and treatment policies for sexually transmitted diseases, particularly HIV, are accessible to all on the basis of gender equality.
- Adjusting national reproductive policies to emphasize the roles and responsibilities of men as well as women.
- Carrying out the necessary work to prevent child and forced marriages, ensuring that men support these efforts.
- Making education on sexual health a part of the curriculum.
Role and responsibilities of local governments in preventing violence against women and alleviating harm
- Making the necessary legal and institutional arrangements to prevent violence against women at the level of local governments, ensuring that men take an active role in these arrangements and their implementation.
- Developing the capacity of local governments and expanding gender equality units to include men, women and all gender identities and sexual orientations.
- Increasing awareness of gender equality in local governments through media and promotional tools, organizing training programs for men, including training on violence, sexual health and fatherhood.
Economic Support and Gender at Work
- Expanding anti-poverty policies to comprise immigrant and single fathers especially.
- Raising the awareness of employers on gender discrimination, gender-based violence and patriarchy, informing them about legal regulations and responsibilities, and making gender equality an institutional policy.
- Ensuring gender equality in the workplace by increasing the participation of women and LGBTI+ individuals in the workforce and decision-making mechanisms, reducing the economic and social expectations and pressures faced by men.
- Making the prevention of sexual harassment and sexual violence in the workplace an institutional policy and establishing commissions for this.
Fathers assuming parenting and care responsibilities
- Making legal and institutional arrangements for fathers to take parental leave and assume care responsibilities.
- To encourage legal regulations and practices that will expand the father’s joint custody and responsibility in divorce cases.
- Educating, encouraging and guiding men to support women in prenatal and postnatal care.
- Making necessary arrangements for fathers to take active responsibility in the in-school and out-of-school education of children, promoting positive practices and disseminating them.