Becoming a man on the streets: an ethnographic study of joyrider communities of Ankara

Abstract

Based on ethnographic research of eleven months in Ankara, this study examines the car customization and use of customized cars by poor urban young men which play a central role in the construction of their masculine identities. Given that the relationships between things and masculine identities have not received much attention, the dialogical construction of masculine identities and masculine automobiles were the subject of inquiry. The mobility of the automobile is discussed as the primary force that shapes the form of the built environment in modern urban spaces. In this sense, the use of the automobile is considered as a way to experience and transform the city and thus the reflection of gender on the space. From this perspective, this study analyzes the conditions in which car enthusiast, poor urban young men construct their masculine identities, and how they perform masculinities through their cars and reflect their identities back on the streets.