Türk Kültüründe Silah ve Hegemonik Erkeklik Sembolü Olarak Silahın Kullanımı
Weapons in Turkish Culture and the Use of the Weapon as a Symbol of Hegemonic Masculinity

Summary/Abstract: Weapons have been a part of life with different dimensions since the earliest periods of Turkish cultural history. Depending on the living conditions of the Turks, the weapon, which is a means of survival, has also turned into a cultural element and gained symbolic meanings. Especially in the traditional life style of the horse-nomadic period, the weapon has been the main element of the realization of heroism, power and domination. In this context, it is one of the results of various studies that there is a close relationship between masculinity and -as the popular expression of gender studies- hegemonic masculinity and weapons. The power provided by weapons in the construction of the role of masculinity may vary in different societies. The subject of this study is the relationship of the weapon with masculinity and power in Turkish culture. In this study, it is aimed to comparatively evaluate the functions of the weapon from past to present in the context of hegemonic masculinity, one of the gendered approaches. First of all, based on written sources, Turkish weapon culture and the factors affecting this culture were determined in the old Turkish communities. The effects of the superiority and security functions of the weapon in the struggle for survival in the past, on the masculinity building processes of people who have grown up with the patriarchal society today, and the relationship between the weapon and the crime phenomenon are discussed in the light of statistical data. In terms of the results obtained in the study, it was seen that the weapon was one of the basic elements that ensured the survival of man in his struggle with the elements of nature and other people in the past. When it comes to today, it is among the results obtained that the weapon, with its various dimensions, gains symbolic meanings depending on the patriarchal culture codes and gains the identity of power and power indicator.

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