MASCULINITY IN THE FACE OF DEATH AND THE QUEST FOR SYMBOLIC IMMORTALITY: AN EVALUATION FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF TERROR MANAGEMENT THEORY

Abstract

Death is a reality that is internalized with sometimes fear and sometimes obligatory and healthy acceptance, as a part of human life that is gained awareness from an early age. Terror Management Theory (TMT) is an approach that suggests that the inevitability and unpredictability of death creates psychological conflict in humans and that they try to reach immortality, even if symbolic, in order to cope with the fear caused by this conflict. The researches show that there are some gender differences when mortality salience is triggered. This situation arouses curiosity about the attitudes of masculinities towards death and the mechanisms they resort to in their symbolic immortality quest. In this study, the attitudes of masculinities towards death within the framework of TMT are evaluated in the light of current national and international literature on the subject and analyzed based on the author's views developed in her past studies on gender and critical masculinity studies. In addition, in the study, death is analyzed in two senses within the framework of TMT components. The first one is the complete cessation of vital functions in the real sense that we know, and the second one is the state of metaphorical death caused by the ‘loss of masculinity’ experienced in social life after the inability or ‘insufficient’ fulfilment of masculinity roles based on gender inequality constructed by the masculine social structure. The aim is to present a general framework on how men behave in the face of biological death, and more specifically to reveal the confusion between the man's desire to survive symbolically in the face of death and the necessity of his masculinity to survive in social reality.

Keywords

• Death
• Mortality
• Fear of Death
• Masculinity
• Terror Management Theory

ÖLÜM KARŞISINDA VE SEMBOLİK ÖLÜMSÜZLÜK ARAYIŞINDA ERKEKLİK: DEHŞET YÖNETİM KURAMI AÇISINDAN BİR DEĞERLENDİRME

Abstract

Ölüm, insan yaşamının bir parçası olarak küçük yaşlardan itibaren farkındalığı kazanılan kimi zaman korku kimi zaman zorunlu ve sağlıklı bir kabul edişle içselleştirilen bir gerçektir. Dehşet Yönetim Kuramı (DYK), ölümün kaçınılmaz ve öngörülemez olmasının insanlarda psikolojik çatışma yarattığını ve bu çatışmanın sebep olduğu korku ile baş edebilmek adına sembolik de olsa ölümsüzlüğe ulaşılmaya çalışıldığını öne süren bir yaklaşımdır. Araştırmalar, ölümlülüğün belirginliği uyarıldığında cinsiyetler arası kimi farklılıkların olduğunu göstermektedir. Bu durum, erkekliklerin ölüm karşısındaki tutumlarını ve sembolik ölümsüzlük arayışında başvurdukları mekanizmaların neler olduğu konusunda bir merak uyandırmaktadır. Özellikle hegemonik erkeklik tanımlaması dahilinde sıklıkla vurgulanan özellikler dolayısıyla erkekliğin ispatlanması ya da kazanılan erkekliğin kaybedilmemesi adına riskli eylemlerde bulunulabilmektedir. Bu, bir yönüyle erkekliğin ispatı veya kaybedilme korkusunu içinde barındırırken bir yönüyle de erkeklerin (özellikle hegemonik ve bir yönüyle suç ortağı) üstesinden gelmeye çalıştıkları korkularıdır. Bu çalışmada DYK çerçevesinde erkekliklerin ölüm karşısındaki tutumları, konuyla bağlantılı ulusal ve uluslararası güncel literatür bilgileri ışığında değerlendirilmiş ve yazarın toplumsal cinsiyet ve eleştirel erkeklik çalışmaları odağındaki geçmiş çalışmalarında geliştirdiği görüşlerine dayalı analizlerle ele alınmıştır. Ayrıca çalışmada ölüm, DYK bileşenleri çerçevesinde iki anlamda ele alınmaktadır. İlki bildiğimiz gerçek anlamda yaşamsal fonksiyonların bütünüyle son bulması, ikincisi ise eril toplumsal yapı tarafından kurgulanan toplumsal cinsiyet eşitsizliğine dayalı erkeklik rollerinin yerine getirilememesi ya da “yeterince” yerine getirilmemesi sonrası toplumsal hayatta yaşanan “erkeklik kaybı”nın neden olduğu metaforik ölüm halidir. Amaç, biyolojik ölüm karşısında erkeklerin nasıl bir tutum izlediğine dair genel bir çerçeve sunabilmek ve daha özelde ölüm karşısında erkeğin sembolik olarak hayatta kalma isteği ile toplumsal gerçeklik içinde erkekliğinin de hayatta kalma zorunluluğu arasında yaşadığı karmaşayı gözler önüne sermektir.

Keywords

• Ölüm
• Ölümlülük
• Ölüm korkusu
• Erkeklik
• Dehşet Yönetim Kuramı

Ethical Statement

Bu çalışma, etik kurul onayı gerektirmemektedir.

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