Construction of Masculinity in Modern Sciences 

2020-11-06 09:37:19


	 

	"For a woman to find herself can only be possible when she is aware about the male-dominated mind reveals and condemns  lies about her and reveals the truth. It is very important to decipher how masculine history and thought are woven step by step. And it is important also to uncover its true history to make progress on this path."

	 

	Fidan Yıldırım

	 

	"Science is neutral!" is a cliché that we have heard and read a lot throughout our lives and that we believe and defend for a long time without questioning. What science is saying is so accurate and reliable that most of us wouldn't even think to question them! We have shaped it with such a deep belief that science is for humanity and that it works for it, that we do not see that human values are trampled every day in the name of science. Modern science, despite all its claims of neutrality, is not separate from classes, nations, races, or sexes. Against the medieval religious darkness; The age of sciences, which was entered with the claim of being the creator of enlightenment, freedom and equality, resulted in capitalist hegemony, one of the most destructive systems of history under the leadership of the bourgeoisie. Science at the service of capitalism has almost become the religion of the bourgeoisie. 

	 

	One of the issues that the transformation of science into a tool of hegemony and the construction of masculinity gives itself the most attention is the relationship between women and science. The woman, who pioneered a very long period of human history wisely, was made unrecognizable by distorting her reality through mythology, religion, philosophy and science as if it was not enough to steal her knowledge and inventions she had uncovered over the millennia. The creative and wise mother goddess of Neolithic was gradually devalued and minimized by the superstitions of the male-dominated perspective. She has been alienated from  herself,  her nature, knowledge and history. Although the level of numerical representation in the field of science is also important and should be embraced as a goal, it is much more important to decipher the masculine perspective in science, its role in the construction of masculinity and its character that nurtures genderism. And it is important to to reveal the truth, and to reach a science truth that is free from sexism. A woman can only find herself if she reveals and condemns the lies about her and reveals the truths. It is very important to decipher how masculine history and thought are woven step by step, as well as to uncover its true history, to make progress on this path.

	 

	The mastery of men over modern science is a key factor in science's acquisition of a masculine language, and while he is doing science, he also conveys his own character and experiences to science. This explains why modern science has a masculine character. The masculine character of modern science is not only due to its masculine language, but more importantly, this science plays an important role in the construction and perpetuation of masculinity. Modern science, which claims to be objective, works in a very subtle manner to establish and root the patriarchal perspective. It reproduces genderism over and over again. The female body is the area that modern science focuses and manipulates most in the construction of masculinity.

	 

	Throughout history, this area, where male domination has been particularly emphasized, was previously connected to norms on the basis of religious, traditional and social hierarchies, but gained a new content with the radical paradigm change from the 18th century. The body of a woman, who had previously been marginalized in an open and rigid way, regarded as subordinate, and condemned by religious judgments, began to be controlled by more natural categories starting from this century. In the 19th century, the new modern paradigm embarked on defining women on the basis of gender, on the basis of their differences against the male gender, forming a "binary opposition". In this century, medicine has cut the female body from its natural cycle and imprisoned it within certain standards. Unable to take away the power of creating a new life in the woman's own body, the masculine mind has found the remedy to underestimate her fertility and to slander the bodily structure that makes it possible to reproduce under the guise of being scientific. The ways in which biology, medicine, psychology and psychiatry, which are among the important disciplines of the modern paradigm, deal with sex, gender and sexuality play a great role in nurturing and reproducing patriarchy. The fluid construct of gender is also supported by medical knowledge. In other words, medicine has always had a say in the creation of a gender construct, but gender has never been as much impressed into bodies as in modern medicine. While modern scientists incarnate women and push them out of the public sphere by processing that they are weak, they also sexualized them and highlighted their fertility and closed them at home.

	 

	A striking example of the transference of male and female roles in accordance with the dominant patriarchal point of view to science is revealed in the explanations about the movement of sperm and egg. According to a technical scientific article, sperm, which is active in fertilization and moves by itself, passively pierces the membrane of the egg waiting to be fertilized, transfers its genes to it and activates its growth program. Until this period, the only action of the egg is to slide in the channel and wait for fertilization. How similar is this to traditional male-female relationships! In the patriarchal society, the active state of men and the passive state of women are tried to be legitimized in the name of science as if it were a reflection of human nature. However, it later turns out that it is the protein-producing activity of the egg that allows the sperm to adhere to the egg, and fertilization takes place when the egg and sperm meet and melt with each other. As it can be seen, modern medicine is one of the fields that most manipulates the female reality in the name of objectivity and scientificity, constitutes the most support of male domination and nurtures genderism. In addition to medicine, the science of biology has served to justify an inequality based on gender difference with some of its claims. The anatomical differences of the sexes are intertwined with gender differences and nourish it. Basing the unequal position of women against men on biological differences imprisons women in the natural. Likewise, classical anthropology collaborated with Western colonialists and tried to legitimize the imperialist hegemony over the peoples by developing theses such as that the colonial peoples were backward and civilization should be brought to them. Therefore, the sexist character of the arguments of modern science on women feeds the domination of the male mind and causes the problems of humanity to remain unsolved and to drag humanity into disaster by increasing day by day. The key to the solution of all these problems lies in the correct definition of the women's reality. A correct analysis of the reality of women is only possible with a correct perspective on its nature. “As long as the female nature remains in the dark, the whole nature of society will remain unenlightened. Real and comprehensive enlightenment of social nature is only possible with comprehensive and realistic enlightenment of female nature. Clarifying the position of women from the colonization history to their economic, social, political and mental colonization will greatly contribute to clarifying all other aspects of history and contemporary society. The objection of feminist scientists against the arguments of modern science, which feeds the construction of masculinity and supports the secondary position of women and carries genderism to the field of science, and the fact that they begin to decipher the sexist character of science with their work is important in terms of achieving a character worthy of the name of science. A search has arisen to make science independent of gender, races, beliefs and ideologies. Although facing great difficulties and obstacles, these efforts; It is valuable in putting science into the service of humanity by being freed from the hegemony of the rulers. Strengthening these pursuits and efforts is the duty of all those who truly want to serve humanity and pursue the truth.