A Gay Man in A Hypermasculine Kitchen: An Autoethnographic Account

Year 2019, Issue: 11, 98 - 120, 15.05.2019

Jacob Woods

Abstract

This brief auto-ethnographic account explores the way hegemonic masculinity is confronted when a queer male inhabits a hyper-masculine space. Themes from the literature review such as gay aesthetics, masculinity insurance, and working class masculinity are intermingled with a symbolic interactionist perspective rooted in Goffman to describe key moments from a year spent in the back of a kitchen as a gay male. Where sociological work on kitchens leaves out a conversation of masculinity this research confronts this gap head on by approaching it with current research on masculinity especially as it mingles with a classed and queer identity. As an auto-ethnographic account this study is able to bring the subjects internal experiences into the academic field speaking with and back to the discourse on hegemonic masculinity directly as a research subject.

Keywords

Hegemonic masculinity, working-class masculinity, auto-ethnography,, Goffman, stigma, gay, queer

Hiper-Maskülen Bir Mutfakta Bir Gey: Oto-Etnografik Bir Anlatı

Abstract

Bu kısa oto-etnografik anlatı, kuir bir erkek hiper-maskülen bir mekanda bulunduğunda, hegemonik erkekliğin üstüne nasıl gidildiğini, onunla nasıl yüzleşildiğini ortaya çıkarmaktadır. Gey bir erkeğin bir restoran mutfağında çalıştığı bir yılın en önemli anlarını betimleyebilmek için, makalenin literatür taramasında ele alınan gey estetik, erkeklik sigortası ve işçi sınıfı erkekliği gibi temalar, Goffman’ın teorisine dayanan bir sembolik etkileşimci perspektif ile bir arada kullanılmıştır. Bu araştırma, mutfak üzerine yürütülen sosyolojik çalışmaların eksik bıraktığı erkeklik boyutunu ele almakta; bunu da konusuna erkeklik üzerine yapılan, sınıfsal ve kuir kimlik perspektifini içeren güncel çalışmalar üzerinden yaklaşarak yapmaktadır. Oto-etnografik bir anlatı olan bu çalışma, araştırma öznelerinin içsel deneyimlerini, hegemonik erkeklikle yürüttüğü diyalogu doğrudan bir araştırma konusu olarak ele alarak, akademik alana taşımaktadır.

Keywords

Hegemonik erkeklik, işçi sınıfı erkekliği, oto-etnoloji, Goffman, damga, gey, kuir

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