CONTINUITIES AND CHANGES IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF MASCULINITY: THE CASE OF SYRIAN AND AFGHAN MEN LIVING IN SIVAS

This study focuses on the reshaped masculinity experiences of Syrian and Afghan men with different legal statuses living in the city centre of Sivas during the transnational migration process. The field research was conducted between August 2022 and November 2023 and involved a comprehensive analysis of men's ability to maintain traditional gender roles, such as earning money, sending money back home, and getting married. The research, which has a qualitative research design, is based on in-depth interviews using semi-structured questions. Descriptive and systematic analysis of the data obtained was made and interpreted. Despite all their vulnerabilities, especially the uncertainty of their legal status, Syrian and Afghan men oppose the local men's criticism of them that 'They fled instead of defending their homeland' by turning traditional masculinity codes such as protecting and providing for the family into an individual choice. However, Syrian and Afghan men are trying to overcome the difficulties they face locally with strategies that can be summarized as 'not getting involved in the problem and social distancing', 'ignoring and trivializing' stigmatizing words in everyday life’, and finally leading them to ‘revert to various discourses that restore their masculinity’.