The Bull, Entertainment and Prestige: Bullfighting and masculinity in the Muğla countryside

Yıl 2025, Sayı: 50, 1 - 12, 30.06.2025

Barış İşçi Pembeci

https://doi.org/10.33613/antropolojidergisi.1534818

Öz

Bullfights, which start in spring and end in autumn in rural Muğla, stand out as an important event where people get away from the monotony and workload of daily provincial life and get together with their relatives and friends from the surrounding villages and have a pleasant time with the participation of a large audience. In this study, it is emphasized that bullfights, which are spatially and temporally temporary events for most of the participants, have special meanings and functions for rural men. This study emphasizes that, although bullfighting is a temporary event in terms of space and time for most participants, it holds special meanings and functions for rural men. Over the course of eleven months of ethnographic research, the network of relations, symbols, meanings, and practices within bullfighting were analyzed through the lens of Clifford Geertz's interpretive approach. It is claimed that the wrestling not only provides men with an opportunity to distance themselves from the masculinity norms of rural life but also provides the opportunity to reproduce and display these norms. In this context, the article examines the symbolic meanings of the bull associated with masculinity, the ways in which the wrestling events offer rural men an opportunity to escape the pressures of social masculinity, and the efforts of men to compensate for their fragile masculine reputations through spending practices during the events. This study is expected to contribute to anthropological research that focuses on the intersections of gender, power, and social status in rural societies.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Bullfights , Countryside , Fragile Masculinity , Anthropology of Sports

Boğa, eğlence ve itibar: Muğla boğa güreşleri ve taşrada erkeklik

Öz

Muğla kırsalında ilkbaharda başlayıp sonbaharda sona eren boğa güreşleri, geniş bir izleyici kitlesinin katılımıyla, insanların günlük taşra yaşamının monotonluğundan ve iş yükünden uzaklaşarak çevre köylerden gelen akrabaları ve dostlarıyla bir araya gelip keyifli vakit geçirdikleri önemli bir etkinlik olarak öne çıkmaktadır. Bu çalışmada, katılımcıların çoğu için mekânsal ve zamansal açıdan geçici bir etkinlik olan boğa güreşlerinin taşralı erkekler için özel anlam ve işlevler taşıdığına vurgu yapılmaktadır. On bir ay süren etnografik araştırma boyunca, boğa güreşlerinin içerdiği ilişkiler ağı, semboller, anlamlar ve pratikler, Clifford Geertz'in yorumsamacı yaklaşımı esas alınarak incelenmiştir. Güreşlerin erkeklere taşra yaşamının dayattığı erkeklik normlarından uzaklaşma fırsatı sunmasının yanı sıra, bu normları yeniden üretme ve sergileme olanağı da sağladığı iddia edilmektedir. Bu bağlamda, boğanın erkeklikle özdeşleşen sembolik anlamları ele alınmış, güreşlerin taşralı erkeklere toplumsal baskıdan uzaklaşma fırsatını sunma biçimleri ve güreşlerde para harcama pratiklerinin erkeklik itibarı ile ilişkisi incelenmiştir. Bu çalışmanın, kırsal toplumlarda cinsiyet, güç ilişkileri, sosyal statü arasındaki kesişimlere odaklanan antropolojik çalışmalara katkı sağlaması umulmaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Boğa Güreşleri , Taşra , Kırılgan Erkeklik , Spor Antropolojisi

Kaynakça

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