Katılımcı Sözlüklerde Mizojinik Görünümler

Abstract

Like other forms of marginalization, misogyny feeds on negative stereotypes associated with the targeted group. These stereotypes are dominant in society, perpetuated through discourse, and often perceived as normal. Participatory dictionaries, popular sources of information for people from childhood onward, are one of the platforms where online misogyny is produced. Given the influence of these dictionaries, investigating and revealing misogyny in them may require rethinking and questioning the social assumptions about the female sex in the online environment. Though misogyny does not always result in direct violence, it mentally feeds violence against women. Investigating it in online environments is therefore vital, especially in a world where individuals are increasingly becoming socialized and learning judgments about their sex identities in digital spaces. This study aims to uncover discriminatory and misogynistic discourses against women in participatory dictionaries. For this purpose, its examination is conducted using the oldest and most popular dictionaries in Turkey—namely, Ekşi Sözlük (1999), Instela (2004 at ITU-2015 at Instela), Uludağ Sözlük (2005), and İnci Sözlük (2009). A total of 684 entries containing misogynistic elements under the topic of women are analyzed in this study. In line with the purpose of this study, these entries are analyzed using van Dijk’s ideological square technique. Our analysis reveals that discriminatory language is used against women, describing them as creatures or non-human entities through the use of negative adjectives. In addition to direct misogyny, such as insults and belittlement, indirect misogyny is also found among the entries, including victimization and objectification.