Introduction to Manhood: Digital Rituals, Gender Performance, and Male Circumcision Ceremonies in Türkiye.

Pehlivanli E., Gedik E.

CULTURE HEALTH & SEXUALITY, vol.11, pp.1-14, 2025 (SSCI)

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 11
  • Publication Date: 2025
  • Doi Number: 10.1080/13691058.2025.2573814.
  • Journal Name: CULTURE HEALTH & SEXUALITY
  • Journal Indexes: Scopus, Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Academic Search Premier, FRANCIS, International Bibliography of Social Sciences, Anthropological Literature, CINAHL, Educational research abstracts (ERA), EMBASE, Gender Studies Database, CAB Abstracts, MEDLINE, Psycinfo, Public Affairs Index, Social services abstracts, Sociological abstracts
  • Page Numbers: pp.1-14
  • Middle East Technical University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

This article examines how male circumcision ceremonies in Türkiye are being reconfigured within digital platforms, focusing on their performative, affective, and gendered dimensions. Drawing on a purposive sampling of publicly accessible Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube posts (2022–2024), we analysed reels, captions, hashtags, comments, and visuals curated under culturally specific tags such as #sunnetdugunu (circumcision ceremony), #sunnet (circumcision), #sunnetannesi (circumcision mother) and #sunnetbabasi (circumcision father) #erkekligegiris (introduction to manhood). Findings reveal a gendered division of aesthetic and affective labour: mothers are positioned as the orchestrators of emotional intensity and visual spectacle; fathers embody restrained authority and patriarchal stability; and boys are staged as future masculine subjects through ceremonial attire, convoy displays, and performative rites of passage. Far from destabilising tradition, social media amplifies hegemonic masculinity and normative femininity by transforming family rituals into algorithmically visible spectacles.