Masculinity, nationalism, military service: The example of Eksi Sozluk

Masculinities are largely built on the axis of patriarchal practices from the past and dominant discourses and ideologies. The characteristic of masculinity said to come by birth and is fixed resembles the nationalist discourse. The founding ideology of modern states is intertwined with nationalism and patriarchal masculinity. Compulsory military service, on the other hand, is a nationalist practice that calls male citizens to duty in Turkey. Military service is of critical importance in the construction of nationalist practices and masculinities that cannot be considered separately from patriarchy. Economic and social conditions have led to the diversification of military service. The experience of military service, in which being a man and nationalism are glorified at the same time, is a powerful experience that both reinforces and questions the identity processes of people in the context of gender and nationality. Ekşi Sözlük was founded in 1999 and is one of the most visited websites today. It would not be wrong to evaluate the Ekşi Sözlük, which reaches millions of visitors every month, as a digital reflection where social acceptances and stereotypes can be observed and where we can trace the economic-social changes. In this study, excerpts written under the headings of "Masculinity", "Nationalism" and "Military Service" of Ekşi Sözlük between the years 2015-2021 were examined. For this purpose, the prominent themes in the related Ekşi Sözlük headings, the similarities and contradictions between them were examined with the method of critical discourse analysis.