Men Talk about Masculinity or Overcoming Political Correctness

Men from the fields of media, literature, academy, sports, cinema, music, rights struggle have been discussing male violence through their personal experiences and witnessing on bianet since January. The series is called 52 Weeks 52 Men and is coordinated by Şenay Aydemir. We talked about the series with Şenay Aydemir.

What was the starting point of the project? What did you have in mind?

Men in this country do not discuss much about the “masculinity” problem. Some masculinity rituals are not even seen as problems. So, this fact was our starting point. We were also curious about what men were thinking about masculinity. Although the published articles are about male violence in general, our main objective is to reveal how we perceive the states of “masculinity” and how we deal with them.

Did you get any negative feedback from women or feminist organizations?

We received both negative and positive feedback. People find it positive because it shows how men perceive masculinity. Negative comments are usually about the content of some articles, not about the whole series.

Do you think there are any achievements of the series?

The project is a first in Turkey and I think there are already many stuff to ruminate about. The writers are men from the fields of media, literature, academy, sports, cinema, music, rights struggle. They are more or less respected and followed by people in Turkey. I believe their stories will provide data for women’s struggle in Turkey.