Boys' Gymnastics Experience and Hegemonic Masculinity from Parents' Perspectives in Turkey

KAVASOĞLU İ., Alakurt T.

GENDER ISSUES, cilt.39, sa.1, ss.24-38, 2022 (ESCI) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 39 Sayı: 1
  • Basım Tarihi: 2022
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1007/s12147-021-09274-7
  • Dergi Adı: GENDER ISSUES
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, IBZ Online, ABI/INFORM, Educational research abstracts (ERA), Gender Studies Database, Psycinfo, Religion and Philosophy Collection, Social services abstracts, Sociological abstracts, Violence & Abuse Abstracts
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.24-38
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Sport, Gender, Hegemonic masculinity, Boys, Parents, SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION, GENDER, SOCIALIZATION, BELIEFS, SPORT, ATTITUDES, SEXISM, WOMEN, ATTRACTION, FOOTBALL
  • Çukurova Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

The study aimed to explore how parents, who play an important role in the construction of masculinity, construct hegemonic masculinity through their sons' gymnastics experiences. Ten parents (five mothers and five fathers) from Adana, in Turkey, were interviewed about the gendered social context and hegemonic masculinity of their son's gymnastics experiences. Data were analyzed according to the thematic analysis method. Parents see gymnastics as a sport that helps prepare their son's body for masculinity and for the future in the main sports they will be interested in. Both mothers and fathers want the sports branch their sons play at later ages to be compatible with hegemonic masculinity. Parents' perceptions and Turkish patriarchal society regulates the boys' bodies according to hegemonic masculinity values. However, the boys exhibition of their gymnastics skills gives them privileged status among their peers at school. As a result, boys' gymnastic experiences form an important role model for other boys.