The representation of the toys in social construction of gender: Gaziantep Museum of Toys and Games

Gaziantep Museum of Toys and Games has cultural richness both in terms of toy types and different historicities. The toys that are exhibited in this museum occupy an important position as to social construction of gender. Considering this fact, the first chapter analyses the concept of feminism and its kinds. To begin with, feminism that makes itself evident first in the West and then affects the whole world aims at eliminating discrimination that exists between man and woman and also (eliminating) sexual disparities; social, political and economic inequalities. Feminist thinkers who are struggling for women rights and liberty to be able to change the position of women and the contributions they made are going to be discussed in detail in the thesis. In this context, sociological approaches of, Wittgeinstein, Foucault, Baumann and Bourdieu regarding games will be correlated and elaborated. Following this chapter, at the conclusion, Gaziantep Museum of Toys and Games in which includes all kinds of different toys all over the world and exhibits many toys from almost all nations from past to present and in this sense maintaining the characteristics of cultural bridge will be the field of study. Moreover, social gender roles, the images of femininity and masculinity will be analysed in terms of semantic analysis. These images and the meanings pointed out are influenced by the circumstances of that society toys are produced and its culture, the cultural framework and lastly the situations in this framework. Key Words: Game, Toy, Feminism, Social Gender, Toy Museum