Page - 122 - in Limina - Grazer theologische Perspektiven, Volume 2:1

122 | www.limina-graz.eu hande Birkalan-Gedik | muslim | martyr | masculine or rather the “military idea” originated as and continues to be a gendered discourse perpetuated by Turkish nationalism as well as the practices of military service and education. This idealized, hegemonic masculinity sig- nificantly determines the “male” experience of Mehmetçik—the unknown soldier, the little Mehmet. As Jenny White also underlined, it is difficult for women to define their place as national subjects. Women can do so only “as mothers of martyrs or as citizens perhaps, but not as national subjects. Indeed, nationalist—whether secular or Muslim—is a masculine term with which few women are able or willing to affiliate” (White 2013, 19). Furthermore, the militarist idea of masculinity is also heterosexual and heteronormative: While military service is not mandatory for women, they can choose to serve in the military by joining the military in a profession- al capacity. It is also interesting to note that Kemalism recognized Sabiha Gökçen, one of the adoptive daughters of Mustafa Kemal, as the first female war pilot in military history as a way to promote strong, masculine roles for women. Although the first female to fly a plane is Belkıs Şevket, a feminist who boarded and flew a plane in 1913, this has been erased from the pub- lic memory and images of Sabiha Gökçen have been planted in the minds of many Turkish people instead. While transgressing masculine categories was allowed and even encouraged for women, being “openly” gay cannot be tolerated in the masculinist, militarist understanding. Masculinity, with reference to a national identity, is therefore hegemonic: Masculinities do not have to correspond closely to the lives of actual men. “Yet these models do, in various ways, express widespread ideals, fantasies, and desires,” as Connel and Messerschmidt argued in their discussion of “hegemonic mas- culinity” (2005, 838). The ideal Turkish male, a male “person,” is defined as someone who has completed the compulsory military service, otherwise he is not a “man” yet. As such, he cannot be gainfully employed, because probably no company will employ him without performing a military ser- vice which would then imply that he does not want to do his military ser- vice. He is not yet allowed to be married because he is not mature, as many believe in the “moralizing” function of the military in that it builds char- acter and sharpens the ego (see Sinclair-Webb 2006 for more details on the meaning and function of the military for boys and young men). As such, the military can become both a producer of and a repository for masculin- The ideal Turkish male has completed the military service, otherwise he is not a “man” yet.