Evaluating patriarchal violence on the basis of ecofeminism: A field study on associations

In the 1970s, a new concept, "gender", was added to the discussions shaped by gender. While the meaning of imposing certain social roles on women is explained around this concept, its basis is based on "patriarchal structures". Forms of domination originating from the same root are also seen as a result of this patriarchal structure. The ecofeminist approach, which expands on this subject and offers a new perspective, argues that this domination created by male structures is not only directed towards women, but also includes nature, animals and groups with a variety of sexual orientations. The way to understand these forms of violence and to examine their causes is again through examining the social structure. Civil society organizations are among the first formations that can provide clues about the social structure. In this study, in order to examine the relationship between the forms of violence that women and LGBTI individuals are subjected to and those that nature and animals are subjected to, it was benefited from associations for the protection of women, nature and animals and associations with the theme of sexual orientation, which are civil society organizations located in Istanbul, Turkey. First, the study explained the concepts of patriarchy and the related concepts of gender, masculinity and body politics. Then, the connections of these concepts with male violence were revealed. Starting from this point, the concept of ecofeminism was examined and the way ecofeminism addresses male domination was discussed. Then, in order to explain the representative function of the associations, the concept of civil society and the characteristics of the associations were included. In the continuation of the study, the data obtained from the interviews conducted separately with the relevant associations were compared and subjected to qualitative analysis. With the findings obtained, the points where the forms of violence based on patriarchal foundations are similar to women, LGBTI, nature and animals were evaluated within the framework of the ecofeminist approach. Thus, it is aimed to examine the common reasons underlying the male domination towards these groups through the example of Türkiye and to reveal them with primary data.