Construction of Gender Roles in 17th-Century Ottoman Dancing Boys (Köçeks)

Abstract

Abstract This study explores how the sexual identity and practices of the köçeks, who were positioned in the entertainment field in 17th Century Ottoman Istanbul, were socially constructed and how these practices had been well understood in the social sphere of the era. For this purpose, gender roles and practices of Köçeks’ in this period are discussed in instrumentalised body concept and dance field. The field and habitus approach of Bourdieu has been used to understand the relationship between the gender roles of the köçeks and the appreciation of this style by different social positions/classes/groups. As a result, their body and sexual identities had been accepted, and their dances had enabled köçeks to have an important position in the entertainment field by being among the tastes and preferences of the different social groups in the social space. In this sense, gender roles of köçeks had multi-component structure and cannot be easily understood over the male and female duality.