A Struggle on—and Beyond— the Plate: Habitus and Symbolic Violence in Vegan-Vegetarian Masculinities in Turkey
Abstract
This study investigates how self-identified vegan and vegetarian men in Turkey negotiate, contest, and—at times—reproduce patriarchal gender relations in a culture where meat connotes virility, strength, and national belonging. Grounded in Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus, male domination, and symbolic violence, it addresses three guiding questions: (1) Do vegan-vegetarian men represent a departure from the male habitus conceptualised by Bourdieu, or do these new practices constitute an alternative form of masculinity negotiated within the boundaries of the existing order?(2) Does this way of life—woven with ethical sensitivities and bodily transformation—possess transformative potential for the symbolic and structural reconstruction of gender? (3) To what extent can analysing vegan-vegetarian men’s experiences through “symbolic violence” and “habitus” illuminate both the alternative forms of masculinity and their capacity to reshape the current social order from within? By posing these questions, the article treats vegan-vegetarian masculinity not merely as “another masculinity” but as a dynamic field in which the naturalised boundaries of the gender regime are interrogated and renegotiated.
Empirical material derives from twenty-two semi-structured, in-depth interviews with men aged 24–60, conducted in İstanbul, İzmir, and Antalya between March and July 2023. A purposive sampling strategy secured variation in occupation and educational attainment, foregrounding class- and generation-specific inflections of (un)doing masculinity. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed abductively in MAXQDA through a three-step protocol: open coding, axial regrouping, and selective integration (i.e., theory-building synthesis). Data saturation was reached after the twentieth interview; two additional cases were retained to test thematic stability. Coder debriefings and member checks with four respondents reinforced triangulation and interpretive credibility.
Five interlocking themes emerged. (1) Habitus rupture. Relinquishing meat initially provokes visceral feelings of bodily and social dislocation; over time, men recalibrate routines—and sometimes friendship networks—to stabilise a vegan-vegetarian masculine identity. (2) Symbolic violence through ridicule. Jokes about “protein deficiency” or “testosterone collapse” operate as low-intensity disciplinary devices that naturalise hegemonic power by policing departures from normative masculinity. (3) Intra-family negotiations. Paternal silence or disdain contrasts with occasional maternal solidarity; spousal reactions range from reluctant tolerance to overt hostility when veganism is construed as moral critique, exposing the elasticity and limits of gendered food roles at home. (4) Potency anxieties and biomedical counter-narratives. Allegations that plant-based diets erode virility prompt men to marshal blood-test results, athletic metrics, and peer-reviewed studies; science thus serves simultaneously as a defensive shield and an argumentative weapon in quests for masculine legitimacy. (5) Quiet resistance and alternative masculinities. Some participants cultivate an “ethical-caring” habitus by integrating non-traditional grooming practices, emotional openness, animal-ethics commitments, and environmental activism. These practices loosen the grip of aggression and competitiveness, realigning masculinity with empathy, care, and ecological responsibility, and articulating a muted yet potentially transformative challenge to patriarchal norms.
Mobilising Bourdieu’s toolkit, the article adds nuanced sociological depth to Turkish masculinity studies and foregrounds the visibility and limits of non-normative masculinities. It demonstrates that vegan-vegetarian lifestyles disrupt meat-centred gender norms even as they may reinscribe hierarchies through everyday ridicule, silence, and biomedical legitimation. By revealing embodied food practices as sites where gendered power is simultaneously contested and reproduced, the study opens new analytical terrain for scholars of men and masculinities.
The research underscores the indispensability of qualitative methods—especially abductive coding and member checks—for capturing the subtle, often contradictory processes through which men remake their bodies and identities. Future work might compare regional trajectories, incorporate digital ethnography, and track whether today’s micro-level fissures coalesce into broader structural change within Turkey’s evolving landscape of masculinities and vegan activism.
Keywords
Tabağın Üzerinde Bir Mücadele: Türkiye’de Vegan-Vejetaryen Erkeklikte Habitus ve Sembolik Şiddet
Abstract
Bu çalışma, Türkiye’de vegan veya vejetaryen erkeklerin toplumsal cinsiyet normlarıyla kurdukları gerilimli ilişkiyi nitel bir yaklaşımla ele almaktadır. Katılımcıların deneyimleri; aile içi ilişkilerden arkadaş çevrelerine, cinsellikten mizaha uzanan geniş bir yelpazede hegemonik erkeklik yapılarıyla nasıl mücadele ettiklerini ortaya koymaktadır. Pierre Bourdieu’nun habitus, eril tahakküm ve sembolik şiddet kavramları ile yapılandırılan kuramsal çerçeve, bu mücadeleyi sosyolojik olarak anlamlandırmak için zemin sunmaktadır. Katılımcıların yaşadıkları deneyimler hem içsel dönüşüm süreçlerini hem de mikro düzeyde geliştirilen stratejilerini ve çeşitli adaptasyon biçimlerini yansıtmaktadır. Araştırma bulguları, alternatif erkeklik biçimlerinin nasıl inşa edildiğini ve bu süreçlerin toplumsal cinsiyet eşitsizliklerinin yeniden üretimini nasıl kırılganlaştırdığını tartışmaktadır. Veganlık-vejetaryenlik, sadece bir beslenme biçimi değil; aynı zamanda ataerkil normlara karşı geliştirilen hayvan etiğine dayalı, empati odaklı ve politik bir yaşam biçimi olarak değerlendirilmiştir. Bu çalışma, Türkiye’de erkeklik çalışmaları literatüründe var olan tartışmalara yeni bir alan açarak, norm dışı erkekliklerin görünürlüğünü ve dönüştürücü potansiyelini vurgulamaktadır.
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