The Grammar of Gender Ideology: The Press Coverage of Sexual Violence in Turkey and the Passive Voice

This research critically examines the Turkish press coverage of sexual violence during the growing hegemony of neoliberal governmentality in Turkey. Through a critical discourse analysis of the newspaper Hürriyet’s reports on rape cases during the last 20 years, I aim to decipher the structures of p...

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Main Author: Sevda Numanbayraktaroğlu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Association pour la Recherche sur le Moyen-Orient
Series:European Journal of Turkish Studies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/ejts/6359
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author Sevda Numanbayraktaroğlu
author_facet Sevda Numanbayraktaroğlu
author_sort Sevda Numanbayraktaroğlu
collection DOAJ
description This research critically examines the Turkish press coverage of sexual violence during the growing hegemony of neoliberal governmentality in Turkey. Through a critical discourse analysis of the newspaper Hürriyet’s reports on rape cases during the last 20 years, I aim to decipher the structures of power and gender regimes reflected in these reports. To this end, I critically examine the levels of agency and responsibility that reporters attribute to perpetrators and survivors of rape through the use of passive and active voice. The analysis reveals that the media reports of rape characterized male rapists as aggressive criminal agents who were helpless against the police and the legal system. Female survivors, on the other hand, were cast as autonomous agents who became helpless victims of rape (sometimes due to their naiveté) and reclaimed their agency with the help of the police and the legal system. The results point to a transformation of the traditional conceptions of rape and the mainstream gender ideologies as the outcome of two oppositional forces: neoliberal familism and feminist ideology.
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institution Kabale University
issn 1773-0546
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publisher Association pour la Recherche sur le Moyen-Orient
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spelling doaj-art-2f0dcc03f11a475dbb963184360f625d2024-12-09T13:09:41ZengAssociation pour la Recherche sur le Moyen-OrientEuropean Journal of Turkish Studies1773-05462810.4000/ejts.6359The Grammar of Gender Ideology: The Press Coverage of Sexual Violence in Turkey and the Passive VoiceSevda NumanbayraktaroğluThis research critically examines the Turkish press coverage of sexual violence during the growing hegemony of neoliberal governmentality in Turkey. Through a critical discourse analysis of the newspaper Hürriyet’s reports on rape cases during the last 20 years, I aim to decipher the structures of power and gender regimes reflected in these reports. To this end, I critically examine the levels of agency and responsibility that reporters attribute to perpetrators and survivors of rape through the use of passive and active voice. The analysis reveals that the media reports of rape characterized male rapists as aggressive criminal agents who were helpless against the police and the legal system. Female survivors, on the other hand, were cast as autonomous agents who became helpless victims of rape (sometimes due to their naiveté) and reclaimed their agency with the help of the police and the legal system. The results point to a transformation of the traditional conceptions of rape and the mainstream gender ideologies as the outcome of two oppositional forces: neoliberal familism and feminist ideology.https://journals.openedition.org/ejts/6359TurkeyGenderMedia DiscoursesRapeDiscourse AnalysisActive and Passive Voice
spellingShingle Sevda Numanbayraktaroğlu
The Grammar of Gender Ideology: The Press Coverage of Sexual Violence in Turkey and the Passive Voice
European Journal of Turkish Studies
Turkey
Gender
Media Discourses
Rape
Discourse Analysis
Active and Passive Voice
title The Grammar of Gender Ideology: The Press Coverage of Sexual Violence in Turkey and the Passive Voice
title_full The Grammar of Gender Ideology: The Press Coverage of Sexual Violence in Turkey and the Passive Voice
title_fullStr The Grammar of Gender Ideology: The Press Coverage of Sexual Violence in Turkey and the Passive Voice
title_full_unstemmed The Grammar of Gender Ideology: The Press Coverage of Sexual Violence in Turkey and the Passive Voice
title_short The Grammar of Gender Ideology: The Press Coverage of Sexual Violence in Turkey and the Passive Voice
title_sort grammar of gender ideology the press coverage of sexual violence in turkey and the passive voice
topic Turkey
Gender
Media Discourses
Rape
Discourse Analysis
Active and Passive Voice
url https://journals.openedition.org/ejts/6359
work_keys_str_mv AT sevdanumanbayraktaroglu thegrammarofgenderideologythepresscoverageofsexualviolenceinturkeyandthepassivevoice
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