Index

A CRITICAL READING OF THE OTTOMAN-TURKISH HAMAM AS A
QUEERED SPACE
A THESIS SUBMITTED TO
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF NATURAL AND APPLIED SCIENCES
OF
MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY
BY
BURKAY PASİN
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS

FOR
THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
IN
ARCHITECTURE
JUNE 2014
Approval of the thesis:

QUEERED SPACE
submitted by BURKAY PASİN in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the

degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Architecture Department, Middle East
Technical University by,
Prof. Dr. Canan Özgen _________________

Dean, Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences
Prof. Dr. Güven Arif Sargın _________________

Head of Department, Architecture
Prof. Dr. Belgin Turan Özkaya __________________

Supervisor, Architecture Dept., METU
Examining Committee Members
Prof. Dr. Ali Cengizkan __________________

Architecture Dept., METU
Prof. Dr. Belgin Turan Özkaya __________________

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Elvan Altan Ergut __________________

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Şebnem Yücel __________________

Architecture Dept., Gediz University
Assist. Prof. Dr. Nina Ergin __________________

Archeology and Art History Dept., Koç University
Date: 30.06.2014
I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented
in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required
by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results
that are not original to this work.
Name, Last name: Burkay PASİN
Signature:
iv
ABSTRACT

QUEERED SPACE
Pasin, Burkay
Ph.D., Department of Architecture
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Belgin Turan Özkaya
June 2014, 284 pages
This dissertation analyzes the Ottoman-Turkish hamam as a queered space. I follow a

combined research methodology in which oral history is the primary method of
gathering knowledge, while literature review, questionnaire survey and case analyses
are supplementary. In Chapter 3, I argue that in architectural history writing, the
hamam is constructed as a desexualized archetype, while in art history, popular
literature and media it is reduced to a sexual stereotype. In Chapter 4, I analyze how
the hamam works as part of urban queer culture in Turkey for the past 40 years. The
oral history interviews provides first-hand data regarding the spatial practices, sexual
performances and experiences of the interviewees in particular queered hamams. In-
depth analyses of these interviews show that there are similarities and differences
between practices, performances and experiences of the users, which contribute to
their identity constructions. I analyze these similarities and differences within a
tripartite conceptual framework, in Chapters 5, 6 and 7 consecutively, each of which
has been theorized as a particular spatiality: an urban closet, a performance stage,
and a homosocial space. In Chapter 8, I conclude that the Ottoman-Turkish hamam is
a complex problem field which can be read through three dualities: the traditional
and the modern, the representational and the real, the commodified and the social.
Keywords: hamam, queered space, urban closet, performance stage, homosocial

space
v
ÖZ
OSMANLI-TÜRK HAMAMININ QUEERED BİR MEKÂN OLARAK

ELEŞTİREL BİR OKUMASI
Pasin, Burkay
Doktora, Mimarlık Bölümü
Tez Yöneticisi: Prof. Dr. Belgin Turan Özkaya
Haziran 2014, 284 sayfa
Bu tez, Osmanlı-Türk Hamamı’nı queered bir mekân olarak analiz etmektedir. Sözlü
tarihin öncelikli, kaynak taraması, anket çalışması ve alan çalışmasının ise yardımcı
bilgi toplama yöntemleri olduğu kombine bir araştırma yöntembilimi izlemekteyim.
Üçüncü bölümde, mimari tarih yazımında hamamın cinsiyetsiz bir arketip olarak inşa
edildiğini, sanat tarihi, popüler edebiyat ve medyada ise cinsiyetli bir steryotipe
indirgenmiş olduğunu tartışmaktayım. Dördüncü bölümde, hamamın son 40 yıldır
nasıl Türkiye’deki kentsel queer kültürün bir parçası olarak çalıştığını analiz
etmekteyim. Sözlü tarih görüşmeleri belirli queered hamamlarda görüşmecilerin
mekânsal pratikleri, cinsel performansları ve tecrübeleriyle ilgili birinci el veri
sağlamaktadır. Görüşmelerin derinlemesine analizi, bu pratikler, performanslar ve
tecrübeler arasında görüşmecilerin kimlik inşaasına katkı sağlayan benzerlikler ve
farklılıklar bulunduğunu göstermektedir. Bu benzerlik ve farklılıkları beşinci, altıncı
ve yedinci bölümlerde her biri belirli mekânsallık olarak kuramsallaştırılan üçlü bir
kavramsal çerçevede analiz etmekteyim: kentsel dolap, performans sahnesi ve
homososyal mekân. Sekizinci bölümde, hamamın üç farklı ikilik üzerinden karmaşık
bir problem alanı olduğu sonucuna ulaşmaktayım: geleneksel ve modern, temsili ve
gerçek, ticari ve sosyal.
Anahtar Kelimeler: hamam, queered mekân, kentsel dolap, performans sahnesi,

homososyal mekân
vi
To All Those Who Are Othered
vii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I want to acknowledge appreciation to numerous individuals who contributed to this

dissertation in many different stages and ways.
First and foremost, I would like to acknowledge my deepest appreciation to my

supervisor Prof. Dr. Belgin Turan Özkaya for her patience and understanding from
the initial stages of the study to its completion. It would not have been possible to
complete this dissertation without her contributions and guidance in theoretical and
practical terms.
I also would like to acknowledge appreciation to Prof. Dr. Ali Cengizkan and Assist.
Prof. Dr. Nina Ergin, both of whom kindly allocated their time and effort to monitor
my thesis development process. Prof. Dr. Ali Cengizkan not only provided me with
new research perspectives but also helped me to take critical decisions on the main
focus and methodology of the dissertation. Assist. Prof. Dr. Nina Ergin not only
shared her invaluable knowledge in history of art and architecture but also made
several detailed proof-readings of my text throughout the process.
I would like to acknowledge my third appreciation to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Elvan Altan
Ergut and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Şebnem Yücel, both of whom kindly accepted to take part
in my defense exam and shared their invaluable comments on the dissertation.
My dissertation has deeply benefited from personal testimonies and experiences of

individuals as well as those who took part in the questionnaire survey. I would like to
thank to my friends in LGBT organizations such as KAOS GL, Izmir Siyah Pembe
Üçgen and Pembe Hayat, who helped me to contact those people.
Finally, I would like to thank to my family, my friends and my colleagues in Izmir

University of Economics for their moral support.
viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ...………………………………………………………………………. v
ÖZ ………………………………………………………………………………….. vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ………….……….……….………………………… viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ..……………………………………………………... ix
LIST OF TABLES …...…………………………………………………………. xii
LIST OF FIGURES .…………………………………………………………….. xiii
CHAPTERS
1. INTRODUCTION ....…………………………………………………….. 1
1.1 Problem Field ……...……………………………………………….. 1
1.2 Scope of the Dissertation ….……………………………..………… 6
1.3 Aim of the Dissertation …………………………………………… 13
1.4 Significance of the Dissertation ……………………………….….. 16
2. METHODOLOGY ………………………………………………….….. 23
2.1 Introduction: Combined Research Methodology …………….…… 23
2.2 Questionnaire Survey ……………………………………………... 24
2.3 Oral History Research ……………………………………….……. 26
2.3.1 What is Oral History? ……………………………………… 26
2.3.2 Types of Oral History ………………………………….…... 27
2.3.3 History of Oral History ……………………………..……… 28
2.3.4 Significance of Oral History ………..……………………… 32
2.4 Oral History Research in this Dissertation ………………………. 33
2.4.1 The Preparation ……………………………………….…… 34
2.4.2 The Interview …………………………………………..…... 39
2.4.3 The Transcription ……………………………………….…. 44
2.4.4 Analyses and Interpretation ……………………………..… 44
2.5 Case Analyses …………………………………………………..… 46
2.6 Conceptual and Theoretical Framework …………………………. 49
ix
3. (DE)SEXUALIZED CONSTRUCTIONS AND REPRESENTATIONS
OF THE HAMAM ……………………………………………………... 51
3.1 Introduction …………………………………………………….… 51
3.2 The Hamam in Architectural History Writing …………………..... 52
3.3 The Hamam in Art History ……………………………………..… 63
3.4 The Hamam in Travel Literature …………………………………. 73
3.5 The Hamam in Ottoman-Turkish Literature …..……………….…. 80
3.6 The Perception of the Hamam in Global/Local Discourse and Popular
Media ………………………………………………………….….. 84
3.7 Concluding Remarks ……………………………………………... 89
4. THE HAMAM IN URBAN QUEER HISTORY AND CULTURE IN
TURKEY ………….………………………………………………….… 93
4.1 Introduction: Queer History …………………………………...….. 93
4.2 Transformation of Hamam Culture within the Urban Modernization
Process in Turkey ………………………………………………..... 97
4.3 Hamam as Part of the Urban Queer Culture in Turkey ………….. 104
4.4 Concluding Remarks …………………………………………….. 113
5. THE HAMAM AS AN URBAN CLOSET .….………………………. 117
5.1 Introduction: Closetedness …………………………………….… 117
5.2 Queer Space as an Urban Closet ………………………………… 121
5.3 Constructing the Hamam Closet ………………………………… 126
5.3.1 Exploring the Hamam .….………………………………… 133
5.3.2 Access to the Hamam ……………………………………... 135
5.3.3 Commodification of Sex in the Hamam ………………….. 143
5.3.4 Threats inside the Hamam …………………………………150
5.3.5 Claiming Space in the Hamam …………………………… 154
5.4 Concluding Remarks ……………………………………………. 156
6. THE HAMAM AS A PERFORMANCE STAGE ……………………. 159
6.1 Introduction: Queer Performativity ……………………………… 159
6.2 Queer Space as a Performance Stage ……………………………. 165
6.3 Performers on the Hamam Stage …………………..…………. 169
6.4 Roles Taken on the Hamam Stage ………………………………. 176
x
6.5 Performance Nichés in the Hamam ……………………………... 178
6.6 The Decor of the Hamam Stage …………………………………. 192
6.7 Multi-Sensory Performances on the Hamam Stage ……………... 197
6.7.1 Eye Contact ………………………………………………. 197
6.7.2 Voyeurism ………………………………………………... 200
6.7.3 Cruising ………………………………………………...… 201
6.7.4 Massage …………………………………………………... 203
6.8 Concluding Remarks ……………………………………………. 206
7. THE HAMAM AS A HOMOSOCIAL SPACE .……………….……. 211
7.1 Introduction: Homosociality vs. Public/Private Dichotomy …… 211
7.2 Queer Space as a Homosocial Space ……………………………. 216
7.3 Forms of Homosociality in the Hamam …………………………. 219
7.3.1 Homosocial Communication in the Hamam ……………... 221
7.3.2 Homosocial Rituals in the Hamam ……………………….. 225
7.3.3 Homosocial Networks in the Hamam …………………….. 230
7.4 Concluding Remarks …………………………………………….. 235
8. CONCLUSION ……………………………………………………….. 239
8.1 The queered hamam between the traditional and the modern .….. 241
8.2 The queered hamam between the representational and the real … 243
8.3 The queered hamam between the commodified and the social …. 245
EPILOGUE ………………………………………………………………………. 249
BIBLIOGRAPHY ………………………………………………………………... 253
APPENDICES …………………………………………………………………… 269
Appendix A The Questionnaire Form ……………………………………. 269
Appendix B The Interview Outline ………………………………………. 270
Appendix C Donor Form ………………………………………………… 272
Appendix D Guidelines for the Interviews ………………………………. 273
Appendix E Ethical Considerations in Oral History …………………....... 275
Appendix F A Survey of Theses on Hamams (1991-2008) ……………… 277
CURRICULUM VITAE …………………………………………………………. 279
xi
LIST OF TABLES
TABLES
Table 2.1: The number of users of various gender identities visiting a queer space in
a particular city in Turkey …………………………………………………………. 25
Table 2.2: Information about the oral history interviews with hamam users, the queer
spaces and the queered hamams they visit ...………………………………………. 42
Table 2.3: Information about the oral history interviews with 1 non-queered and 2
queered hamams’ managers and an attendant in a queered hamam .……...………. 43
Table 2.4: Common issues as experienced by the interviewees in queered hamams
..………………………………………………………………....………………….. 45
Table 2.5: Information about the selected queered hamams in terms of historical,
urban and architectural contexts …………...……………………………………… 47
xii
LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURES
Figure 1.1: Plan of a double hamam, Mahkeme Hamamı in Bursa. Source: Şehitoğlu,
(2008), 86 …………………………………………………………………………. 11
Figure 1.2: Plan of a single hamam, Umurbey Hamamı in Bursa. Source: Şehitoğlu,
(2008), 86 …………………………………………………………………………. 11
Figure 1.3: Chart showing the queering of the Ottoman-Turkish hamam in three
spatialities and its relation to the identity construction of the queer subject ……… 49
Figure 2.1: Chart showing the stages of the Combined Research Methodology …. 23
Figure 2.2: Plan schemes of the queered hamams analyzed ………………………. 48
Figure 3.1: Typology of Ottoman baths according to Glück, Source: Kanetaki,
(2004), 84 …………………………………………………………………………. 53
Figure 3.2: Typology of Ottoman baths according to Klinghardt, Source: Kanetaki,
(2004), 84 …………………………………………………………………………. 54
Figure 3.3: Typology of Ottoman baths according to Eyice, Source: Kanetaki,
(2004), 84 …………………………………………………………………………. 57
Figure 3.4: (A) The men’s section of İznik Hacı Hamza Hamam, (B) The men’s
section of Sapanca Rüstem Paşa Hamam, (C) The women’s section of the same
hamam, (D) İstanbul Haseki Hamam, (E) İznik Büyük Hamam, (F) İznik Ismail Bey
Hamam, Source: Islam Ansiklopedisi, (1997), 418……………………………….. 57
Figure 3.5: Plan of a double bath, second half of the 15th century (Topkapı Palace
Museum Archives E. 9495/7), Source: Necipoğlu, (1986), 228………………….. 60
Figure 3.6: Left: Plan of a Turkish bath, last quarter of the 16th century
(Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna, Cod. 8615, fol. 151r), Right: Plan of a
Turkish bath, last quarter of the 16th century (Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek,
Vienna, Cod. 8615, fol. 153r), Source: Necipoğlu, (1986), 225-226……………… 61
Figure 3.7: 19th century paintings by Jean-Léon Gérôme (Left: After the Bath, Jean-
Léon Gérôme, oil on canvas, 61 x 81 cm, 1881, Source:
http://www.artprintcollection.com, Right: The Turkish Bath, Jean Auguste
xiii
Dominique D’Ingres, 1862, oil on canvas, diameter: 110 cm, Musée des Louvre,
Paris, Source: Visit the Louvre Catalogue, (2005), 98 ……………………………. 64
Figure 3.8. Le Massage, Edouard Debat-Ponsan, 1883, Musée des Augustins,
Toulouse, Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89douard_Debat-Ponsan … 65
Figure 3.9: Hamam Triology by Fausto Zonaro (Left: Women entering the hamam,
Middle: Women in the hamam, Right: Women relaxing after the bath), Source: Bal,
(2010), 19 …………………………………………………………………………. 66
Figure 3.10: Left: Outer Cooling Room of the Bath near Psamatra Kapousi, Thomas
Allom, 1838 c., Source: IBB Atatürk Kitaplığı, SEL_2350/044; Right: Cooling
Room of a Hamam, William Henry Bartlett, 1838 c., Source: IBB Atatürk Kitaplığı,
ME_YD_3318/007 ………………………………………………………………… 67
Figure 3.11: The Interior of a Hamam, Thomas Allom, 1838 c., Source: IBB Atatürk
Kitaplığı, SEL_2350/017 ………………………………………………………….. 68
Figure 3.12: Left: Rūmī Spends a Day in the Hot Baths of a Ḥamam, Tarjuma-i
Thawāqib-i manāqib (A Translation of Stars of the Legend), 1590, Topkapı Palace
Museum, Middle: Ottoman miniature depicting pageboys (içoğlanları) bathing in
Hünkar Hamam in Topkapı Palace (Hünername by Seyyid Lokman Aşuri, vol. II,
1589 c. Topkapı Palace Museum), Right: Ottoman miniature depicting a men’s bath
(Khamsa of Nizami, 1494, British Museum, London) ……………………………. 69
Figure 3.13: Left: Hamamda Yıkanan Kadın by Abdullah Buhari, Topkapı Palace
Museum, 1741-42, Source: Kayaoğlu and Pekin, (1992); Middle: A painting showing
bathing women, Zenanname by Enderunlu Fazıl, 1793, İstanbul University Library,
Source: Kayaoğlu and Pekin, 1992 ……………………………………………….. 70
Figure 3.14: A painting by Münif Fehim Özerman showing the interior of a women’s
bath, 1933, Source: Yedigün Journal, (1933) ……………………………………... 71
Figure 3.15: Left: Painting depicting young men swimming, bathing and cleaning
each other in a bath pool in an intimate fashion (Source:
Album_Ahmed1_TSMK_B408_18aHamam, Topkapı Palace Museum), Right:
Huban-ı Tellak, Hubanname, 1793, Source: Feza Çakmut, (1975) ……………….. 72
Figure 3.16: The illustration of dancing boys in a hamam, Münif Fehim Özerman,
date: unkown, Source: Halil Bezmen Collection, 139b …………………………… 73
xiv
Figure 3.17: The illustration depicting Karagöz trying to enter the women’s section
of a hamam, Source: Fig1944 AD 56, National Library Archive, Ankara ………... 81
Figure 3.18: Left: Film poster, Harem Suare; Middle: A scene from the film Harem
Suare (retrived from http://www.divxturka.net/download/128360-harem-suare-1999-
ntsc-dvd5.html) ……………….…………………………………………………… 85
Figure 3.19: Film poster, Hamam (retrieved from
http://www.sinefesto.com/istanbulda-cekilen-en-iyi-10-film.html) ……………… 86
Figure 3.20: Left: Hamam scene from the film Tosun Paşa (retrieved from
http://www.kadinelihaber.com/Magazin/2702-TRT-yonetimi-dedi-ki.html), Right:
Hamam scene from the film Yedi Kocalı Hürmüz (retrieved from
http://www.genckolik.net/sinema/277432-hurmuz8217un-hamamda-erkek-
duasi.html) ………………………………………………...………………………. 87
Figure 4.1: Charts showing usage percentages of various urban queer spaces in
Ankara, İzmir and İstanbul after the 1990s ...…………………………………….. 106
Figure 4.2: Cognitive queer maps of Ankara, İzmir and İstanbul after the 1990s .. 107
Figure 4.3: Charts showing usage percentages of various urban queer spaces in
Ankara, İzmir and İstanbul between the 1970s and the 1990s …………………... 109
Figure 4.4: A comparison of cognitive queer maps of Ankara, İzmir and İstanbul
between 1970s-1990s ……………………………………………………………. 110
Figure 5.1. Schematic maps showing how to access the selected queered hamams
from the public centers by walking ………………………………………………. 137
Figure 6.1 Plan layouts of the queered hamams studied in this dissertation, showing
the labyrinthine arrangement of the main bathing chambers and additional spaces
…………………………………………………………………………………….. 169
Figure 6.2 Partial plan layouts of the queered hamams studied in this dissertation,
showing the symmetrical arrangement of the sıcaklık section ...…………………. 179
Figure 6.3 Left: Schematic section showing viewpoints of users in various positions
in the sıcaklık section, Right: Schematic section showing adjacent halvets with low
partition walls ..…………………………………………………………………… 183
showing the arrangement of the ılıklık section ..…………………………………. 185
xv
showing the arrangement of the soyunmalık section ..…………………………… 187
Figure 6.6 Partial plan layouts of the queered hamams A1 and Is2, showing
additional nichés …………………………………………………………………. 189
Figure 6.7 Images showing the multi-sensory ambience of the hamam Source:
Leonard Koren, Undesigning the Bath, (Berkeley, California: Stone Bridge Press,
1996) …………………………………………………………………………..…. 195
xvi
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Problem Field
The Ottoman-Turkish hamam has a unique position within Ottoman-Turkish bathing

culture and architecture. It has proved to be not only a communal bathing venue of
cleaning and purification based on Islamic norms, but also a space of social
interaction among users of the same sex, where men and women communicate,
entertain and realize traditional rituals separately.
As much as it is a physical space of bathing and socializing, the hamam is also a

sexualized construct in our collective history, memory and discourse. The most
private interiors of the hamam building have been subject to many paintings,
miniatures, films, novels, poems, articles, pamphlets, travellogues, etc., depicting
and/or representing either the sıcaklık chamber where the sunlight penetrating
through the openings in the dome is mixing with steam and reaching the central stone
(göbektaşı), or the women‟s section where half-naked women are washing each
other, lying on the göbektaşı, playing instruments or singing. These depictions and
representations seem to have shaped a general public conception that hamam is „a
space of female culture and sexuality‟. In order to understand the association of the
hamam space and the sıcaklık chamber with sexuality, and particulary female
sexuality, I asked a number of questions in the very early stages of my research
process:
1. Why is the Ottoman-Turkish hamam taken for granted as the only representative
figure of Turkish communal bathing culture?
1
2. Why is the sıcaklık chamber the most often depicted hamam image in popular
media?
3. How is female sexuality depicted in visual and literal representations of the
hamam?
4. How are the issues of female sexuality regarding hamam culture perceived and
reconstructed in public collective memory and discourse?
In order to respond to these questions, I conducted an extensive survey of multiple

bodies of literature: academic studies on hamams as part of architectural history
writing, literal and visual depictions of the hamam and hamam culture in histories of
art and literature as well as popular media. The outcomes of this survey are presented
and analyzed in Chapter 3. As a result of these analyses, I found out that in
architectural history writing the Ottoman-Turkish hamam is constructed as „a
desexualized archetype‟, while in some visual and literary productions of art history
and popular media, it is reduced to „a sexual stereotype‟. Consequently, I arrived at a
critical argument that these archetypes and stereotypes, in a reciprocal relation, have
further led to the sexually connotated perceptions of the hamam both in global and
local popular discourse, which created an epistemological problem in knowing what
sort of realities regarding homosexuality have historically existed in hamams.
In this dissertation, in search for an alternative epistemology to those constructions

and representations, I followed a context-conscious research strategy through a
critical gender/queer perspective. In order to examine what sort of homosexual and
homosocial relations occur in the men‟s sections of the hamams in Turkey, I visited
various establishments in İzmir, Ankara and İstanbul. I explored particular hamams
in these cities, named „queered hamams‟ in this dissertation, where such relations
may occur spontaneously and temporarily depending on their locations, user profile
and the tolerance of their managers. I also realized that these hamams are
appropriated by certain sub-cultural groups composed of various-aged men seeking
same-sex desire, entertainment and sociality.
2
Having experienced and observed this sub-cultural homoerotic environment in these
hamams, I arrived at the opinion that male homosexuality is underestimated as
opposed to the over-emphasis on female sexuality regarding hamam culture in the
general public conception. This signifies a problem field that is worth study. Yet, I
still did not know when and how same-sex relations among men started in these
hamams. This unknown was mainly due to the lack of first-hand evidence in the
existing literature. In contrast to innumerable depictions and representations of the
women‟s section of the hamam and female bathers, there are very few visual and
literary media treating the men‟s section and how men socialize in this section, apart
from the mostly speculative discourse that Ottoman-Turkish hamams have been
places of same-sex desire among men since the Ottoman past.
Some of the men I met during my field studies in these queered hamams mentioned
that they had been visiting since their younger ages. Moreover, the same men were
also visiting relatively more modern urban queer spaces such as gay bars,
beerhouses, public parks and adult cinemas to find sex partners. Hence, I understood
that the history of male homosexuality in Ottoman-Turkish hamams is not
independent from the history of urban queer culture in Turkey, and there is an
organic continuity between the visits to the hamams and to other queer spaces, even
though the actual function of the hamam is communal bathing. Accordingly, I asked
further research questions:
1. Why do some men prefer to use still-existing Ottoman-Turkish hamams as venues

of homosexuality and homosociality?
2. How did these hamams become part of the urban queer culture in Turkey among
other queer spaces?
3. What are the spatial characteristics of hamams specific to male homosexuality and
homosociality?
3
In order to respond to these questions, I followed various research methods: a brief
survey of newspaper archives, a questionnaire survey, and oral history interviews.
The data gathered from these methods are analyzed in Chapter 4. First, based on the
data gathered from newspaper articles and reports written from the late 19th century
to the present and the oral history interviews, I have written a brief history of the
evolution of (homo)sexual practices in hamams, presenting how they are affected by
various urban, social and political aspects of the modernization process in Turkey.
Second, based on the data gathered from the questionnaire survey and the oral
history interviews, I have analyzed how the hamam became part of the urban queer
culture in Turkey over the past 40 years. These analyses, presented as cognitive
urban maps of the three cities, İzmir, Ankara and İstanbul, show how queer spaces in
these cities have been linked to each other within the weekly visiting routine of the
respondents, since the 1970s.
Furthermore, the oral history interviews provided me with first-hand data regarding
actual spatial practices, sexual performances and experiences of the interviewees in
particular queered hamams in İzmir, Ankara and İstanbul. The preliminary analyses
of the data gathered from the first two pilot interviews showed that there are
outstanding common issues regarding the queering of hamams, which formed my
working hypotheses for the following interviews, as presented in section 2.4.1. To
question these hypotheses, I conducted 18 more interviews with users, managers and
attendants of these hamams. After conducting in-depth analyses of the transcriptions
of all these interviews, I found that there are similarities and differences between
spatial practices and experiences during lifelong routine visits of the interviewees to
these hamams, which have directly or indirectly contributed to their (sexual) identity
construction both as an individual and as part of a sub-cultural group.
4
As a result of this combined research process, I argue that the Ottoman-Turkish
hamam addresses a complex problem field that incorporates multiple spatialities.1
First, it is a „physical space‟ with a traditional bathing function and specific
architectural features that enable this function. Second, it is a „representational space‟
constructed through its archetypes and stereotypes in various literary and visual
representations as well as its sexually connotated perceptions both in global and local
popular discourse. Third, it is a „sexual performance space‟ for men who are seeking
same-sex pleasure. Fourth, it is a „homosocial space‟ where users, managers and
attendants continuously resist to external and internal homophobic threats as well as
power struggles.
In this dissertation, I critically read and analyze the Ottoman-Turkish hamam as a

„queered space‟ where all these spatialities can be both subverted and appropriated at
once in each visit by users with various identity formations. Whatever sex roles they
take on during sexual intercourse (top aktif, bottom pasif or versatile gey), whatever
gender profiles they display (heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, transsexual,
masculine, feminine) and whatever social roles they play in society (father, husband,
son, married or single man), they visit queered hamams for several common aims: to
bathe, to perform casual sex, to become part of a sub-cultural group, to find partners,
to make friends, etc. In accordance with their roles and identities, their expectations
from these hamams, their visiting routine to these hamams, the time they spend in
these hamams and the way in which they use various chambers and features of the
hamam space may vary, all of which are anayzed in Chapters 4, 5, 6 and 7 in detail.
1
The Marxist philosopher Henri Lefebvre suggests that the social production of space works
within a tripartite conceptual framework:
(1) Spatial practice, which embraces production and reproduction, and the particular
locations and spatial sets characteristic of each social formation [material or functional
space]
(2) Representations of space, which are tied to the relations of production and to the „order‟
which those relations impose, and hence to knowledge, to signs, to codes, to „frontal‟
relations [space as codified language]
(3) Representational spaces, embodying complex symbolisms, sometimes coded,
sometimes not, linked to the clandestine or underground side of social life, as also to art
[the lived everyday experience of space]
Henri Lefebvre, The Production of Space (Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1991), 33.
5
1.2 Scope of the Dissertation
Having evolved under the influence of Islamic regulations from the baths of earlier
civilizations in Anatolia,2 the Ottoman-Turkish hamam can be considered one of the
most unique types of building peculiar to Turkish communal bathing culture and
architecture. Two historians examining Ottoman social life, Ebru Boyar and Kate
Fleet, highlight that “the hamam, along with a mosque and a market, was one of the
first buildings erected by the Ottoman sultans after the conquest of any urban
space.”3 According to the architectural historian Kemal Ahmet Aru, the first unique
Ottoman-Turkish hamam, known as Eski Kaplıca was built in 1389 by Sultan Murad
I, in Bursa, being transformed from an earlier Byzantine hot spring.4 Aru states that
“[T]he construction of bigger hamams started after the conquest of Istanbul by
Mehmed the Conquerer” who erected “five big hamams called Ağa Hamamı,
Asaplar Hamamı, Ebuveka Hamamı, Eyüp Hamamı and Çukur Hamam (1463–
1471).”5
2
Several scholars consider Ancient Greek baths, Roman baths, Byzantine baths and Seljuk
baths in Anatolia as the forefathers of the Ottoman-Turkish hamams. In a comparative
analysis between Roman-Byzantine baths and Turkish hamams, the architectural historian
Fikret Yegül finds many similarities in terms of heating system, spatial layout and bathing
procedures. For a detailed analysis, see Fikret Yegül, “Anadolu Hamam Kültürü: Bin Işık
Hüzmesi, Bin Ilık Parmak”, in Nina Ergin (ed.) Anadolu Medeniyetlerinde Hamam
Kültürü: Mimari, Tarih ve İmgelem (İstanbul: Koç Üniversitesi Yayınları, 2012), 16-65. In
search for a genealogy of the Çemberlitaş Hamam in İstanbul, the art historian Nina
Cichocki traces “the origin of Turkish bathhouse architecture from Ancient Greece and
Roman Empire over the Byzantine Empire to the Early Islamic Period in the Arab
heartlands and Iran and, finally to the Ottoman Empire”. Nina Cichocki, The Life Story of
Çemberlitaş Hamam: From bath to tourist attraction, PhD dissertation submitted to the
Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Minnesota, 2005, 35. According to the
restoration specialist Yılmaz Önge, the first two hamams in Anatolian Seljuk settlements,
“Külük Hamam in Kayseri (XII. century) and Vakıf Hamam in Kastamonu (XIII. century),
were built on antique foundations of Byzantine baths but forming a different volumetric
configurations”. Yılmaz Önge, Anadolu‟da XII-XIII. Yüzyıl Türk Hamamları, (Ankara:
Vakıflar Genel Müdürlüğü Yayınları, 1995), 9.
3
Ebru Boyar and Kate Fleet, “The Hamam” in A Social History of Ottoman Istanbul (US:
Cambridge University Press, 2010), 249.
4
Kemal Ahmet Aru, Türk Hamamları Etüdü (İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi Mimarlık
Fakültesi Yayınları, 1949), 53.
5
Ibid., 30.
6
In the 15th and 16th centuries, the Ottoman-Turkish hamams began to play a
prominent role in urban life in Anatolian cities such as İstanbul, Bursa, Kayseri,
İznik, etc. These cities took shape within the framework of the vakıf system of social
services, which led to the formation of an organic relationship between hamams and
other structures. The cultural historian Ekrem Işın considers such a relationship as an
inevitable outcome of the double functionality of hamams: (1) “for health and
cleanliness of workers in the imarets”, (2) “to supply the imaret with an income.”6
The hamams were mostly constructed as revenue-generating foundation properties
(vakıf) as part of a mosque complex. However, as the “[C]onstruction of mosque
complexes slowed down towards the end of 17th century”, as Işın states, “bath
architecture was kept to smaller scale than in the past”.7
The significance of the Ottoman-Turkish hamam in urban social life, particularly in

Ottoman İstanbul, can be treated in various dimensions. First, “[F]ar more than
merely a place of washing, the hamam provided men and, in particular, women with
a social space where many of the important rituals of life took place.”8 Some of the
traditional rituals that take place in hamams are: gelin hamamı (bride‟s bath) and
lohusa hamamı (fortieth day bath) performed by women as well as damat hamamı
(groom‟s bath), sünnet hamamı (circumcision bath) and asker hamamı (soldier‟s
bath) performed by men. I highlight that all these rituals create a form of sociality
based on the celebration of various stages of male and female sexuality in the
Ottoman-Turkish culture. Second, “[I]t was where neighbors and friends could meet
and socialize, also enabling women, whose social relations were more limited than
those of men, to mix with women not from their immediate family circle.”9
6
Ekrem Işın, “Turkish Hamams: Public Baths as Social Venues” in Everyday Life in
İstanbul (İstanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 1990), 269.
7
Ibid., 269.
8
Boyar and Fleet, A Social History of Ottoman Istanbul, 249.
9
Ibid.
7
Third, “the hamam was a microcosm of the world outside, reflecting the social
divisions and political upheavals of the society beyond its walls.”10 Non-Muslim
bathers were separated from Muslims by means of dress codes and spatial use.11 “At
the beginning of the 20th century, although they changed their clothes in separate
places, Muslims and non-Muslims shared the same space for washing.”12
Accordingly, Işın defines the hamam as “a democratic environment created by
people from diverse cultural strata of the Turkish society.”13 Based on these social
dimensions regarding sexuality, friendship, status and ethnicity, the Ottoman-Turkish
hamam can be conceptualized as a “homosocial space” where users with various
sexual identities and socio-economic levels perform rituals, entertain, communicate
and construct interpersonal networks.
Until the early 20th century, the hamams were also integral to the economic life of the
city as part of a vakıf holding14, “giving employment [hamamcı, tellak, natır,
külhancı] and stimulating trade in related services [scrubbing and massage] and in
the production of needed commodities and materials [towel, hamam bowl, clog,
soap, peştamal].”15 They also performed a welfare function, as a “homeless shelter”
for the poor and the children who were permitted to spend the winter in their
stokeholds and boiler rooms.16
10
Ibid., 258.
11
According to the regulations dated 1640, “[…] non-Muslims, both male and female, were
to be distinguished from Muslims by wearing a special marker, a ring, on their peştemals. It
was also stipulated that “[T]hey were to change in different place, were not to be given
clogs, and had to wash at separate spots.” Boyar and Fleet, A Social History of Ottoman
Istanbul, 258.
12
Ibid., 259.
13
Işın, Everyday Life in İstanbul, 268.
14
Cichocki explains the change of the administrative context of the hamams with the
foundation of the Turkish Republic as follows: “They passed into the private property of
long-term renters following a 1936 law abolishing the practice of the Double Rent
(icareteyn), […] or they were sold to other individuals who answered newspaper
advertisements announcing their sale.” Nina Cichocki, The Life Story of Çemberlitaş
Hamam: From bath to tourist attraction, PhD dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the
Graduate School of the University of Minnesota (2005), 245-246.
15
Boyar and Fleet, A Social History of Ottoman Istanbul, 250.
16
For a detailed explanation of this function, see Boyar and Fleet, A Social History of
Ottoman Istanbul, 253-254.
8
Işın argues that “[A]lthough hamam culture was at its most colorful in the 19th
century, this vitality was confined to a type of popular entertainment available only
at the already existing neighborhood and market baths.”17 This is because the urban
modernization process in Turkey that started in the mid-19th century had various
effects on traditional hamam culture, as analyzed in Chapter 4. First, with the
emergence of thermal baths, sea baths and modern bathrooms in apartments in large
cities like İstanbul, the bathing habits and styles of citizens changed as they no longer
needed hamams for a full cleaning. Second, with the emergence of modern public
spaces such as cafes, bars, gazinos, theaters, cinemas and parks where men and
women could socialize together, the urban social life underwent an urban
transformation from the homosocial to the heterosocial. As a result, the Ottoman-
Turkish hamams lost their significance both as traditional communal bathing venues
and as socializing spaces for a majority of citizens. Some were demolished, some
closed their doors, and some were renovated to survive for the benefit of foreign and
domestic tourism.
The scope of this dissertation is limited to the queering of some of the still-existing
Ottoman-Turkish hamams after the mid-20th century, particularly from the 1970s up
to the present, due to two reasons. First, even though we can see the traces of
homosexual relations among men in hamams in a number of miniatures, illustrations,
travelogues, poems, novels and pamphlets produced before the mid-20th century, as
analyzed in Chapter 3, these provide us with bits and pieces of information about
these relations. In other words, it is not possible to know when, why and how these
relations occurred in hamams, and in which hamams, by means of the analyses of
these visual and written sources. Yet, the data gathered from newspaper articles and
municipal records of the mid-20th century, as analyzed in Chapter 4, show that for
governmental and municipal authorities, homosexuality in hamams was an issue to
be dealt with, as it was believed to threaten public health and morality after the
1950s. Second, the data gathered from oral history interviews show how some of the
historic hamams located in urban neighborhoods gained popularity among elderly
17
Işın, Everyday Life in İstanbul, 269-270.
9
men who were in their 20s in the 1970s and have been seeking same-sex desire and
homosociality since then. In this context, I argue that the queering of these hamams
after the 1970s is a direct or indirect result of the aforementioned social, cultural and
spatial transformations within the urban modernization process in Turkey.
How does an Ottoman-Turkish hamam serve men and women in daily use? A typical
Ottoman-Turkish hamam building consists of three sequential chambers from the
coldest to the hottest: soyunmalık (the disrobing room), ılıklık (the warm transition
room), and sıcaklık (the main hot room). This spatial organization can show
variations, i.e. with the existence of an additional chamber called soğukluk (cold
room). Hamams are also classified according to their forms of usage by the opposite
sexes: (1) single (tek) hamam used by men and women on alternate days, or at
different times of the day, (2) double (çifte) hamam used simultaneously by each sex.
In this classification, the double hamam consists of two adjacent and generally
symmetrical sections for men and women allowing simultaneous use,18 whereas in a
single hamam, “men and women either bathe on alternate days”19, or “the hamam is
open to men in the morning and to women between noon and the evening prayer
[kuşluk hamamı].”20 (See Figures 1.1 and 1.2)
18
The art historian Nina Ergin highlights that “[…] there are also double hamams where the
women‟s section is smaller, maybe based on the demographics of the neighborhood.” Nina
Ergin, “Architecture and Sociability in Turkish Hamams”, unpublished symposium paper
presented in Fürdö, Hamam, Sauna Symposium (Istanbul, Koç University Research Center
for Anatolian Civilizations, 25-26 April 2009), retrieved from the author.
19
Ergin, “Architecture and Sociability in Turkish Hamams”.
20
This type of hamams is called kuşluk hamamı, “because the morning time for the male
bathers was also known as kuşluk.” Ergin adds that “[I]n order to indicate that it was the
women‟s time in the bath and to prevent men from stealing a glance, a cloth would be
draped over the entrance during the women‟s hours.” Ergin, “Architecture and Sociability
in Turkish Hamams”.
10
Figure 1.1: Plan of a double hamam, Mahkeme Hamamı in Bursa. Source: Şehitoğlu, (2008), 86
Figure 1.2: Plan of a single hamam, Umurbey Hamamı in Bursa. Source: Şehitoğlu, (2008), 86
11
There are also single hamams called “avret hamamı”21, reserved for women, while
hamams located in the market area and reserved for men are called “rical hamamı”.
Within the scope of this dissertation, I analyze five queered Ottoman-Turkish
hamams located in Ankara, İzmir and İstanbul (A1, Iz1, Iz2, Is1 and Is2), which not
only function as communal bathing venues, but also as „urban closets‟, „performance
stages‟ and „homosocial spaces‟ for their users. All of these hamams have the
tripartite spatial arrangement incorporating the soyunmalık, ılıklık and sıcaklık
chambers in sequence; only Is2 has an additional soğukluk chamber. While the
hamam A1 is a double hamam, the other four hamams are all single hamams (Iz1,
Iz2, Is1 are rical hamamı serving only men and Is2 is a kuşluk hamamı serving both
men and women, yet allocating less time for women).
Most of these hamams were built in the 15th and 16th centuries and underwent
restoration a number of times in the 19th and 20th centuries. I particularly investigate
how men closet themselves, perform same-sex activities and socialize in these
hamams. In fact, while Ottoman-Turkish hamams are mostly associated with female
(homo)sexuality and homosociality in histories of art and literature, there is almost
no evidence to reveal the existence of same-sex relations among women in more
recent research on women‟s hamams.22
21
In Ergin‟s words, “avret literally means the part of the body that modesty required to be
concealed, and more broadly also the womenfolk of a family which modesty required to be
secluded.” Ergin, “Architecture and Sociability in Turkish Hamams”.
22
There are two significant studies that focus on (homo)social relationships among women
inside hamams, rather than on sexual intercourses. The cultural anthropologist Marjo
Buitelaar studies the public bath in Moroccan society to discuss the sexual division of
space in North African cultures. She focuses on the hamam as the most private of public
female domains and investigates how modernization processes influence women‟s relations
and access to female networks through privacy in Moroccon hamams. Marjo Buitelaar,
“Public Baths as Private Places, Women and Islamization”, in Contemporary Dimensions
of Discourse on Gender Relations, ed. Karin Ask and Marin Tjornsland (Oxford, New
York: Berg, 1998), 103-123. Elif Ekin Akşit in her article entitled “The women‟s quarters
in the historical hammam”, describes the women‟s section of the Şengül Hamam in Ankara
as “a changing space where women negotiate their status, social positions and safety in an
urban environment.” By means of interviews and regular visits, she investigates how
women in this section “connect with history, negotiate and renegotiate their status in a
changing environment”. Elif Ekin Akşit, “The women‟s quarters in the historical
hammam”, Gender, Place and Culture, vol. 18, no. 2 (April 2011): 277–293.
12
The men frequenting queered hamams incorporate various (homo)sexual identities
from the traditional to the modern. The sociologist Tarık Bereket classifies the
„traditional‟ identities of Turkish male sexual minorities into two: (1) according to
their sex-roles: aktif (top) male and pasif (bottom) male conforming to the
male/female dichotomy in which the pasif male is considered a lubunya/lubun
(effeminate homosexual); (2) according to their ages: balamoz (elderly male), manti
(younger male) and laço (middle-aged male).23 The research data show that some of
these men define themselves with „modern‟ forms of sexual identities: gay,
heterosexual, bisexual and transsexual.24 In a critical approach to the understanding
of „queer(ness)‟ as a fixed identity category that is believed to signify a homogenous
group of people who do not conform to norms and practices of heterosexuality, this
dissertation analyzes how this heterogenous population of men has queered Ottoman-
Turkish hamams over the past 40 years.
1.3 Aim of the Dissertation
The main objective of this dissertation is to analyze the Ottoman-Turkish hamam as a

queered space, as part of urban queer culture in Turkey. Here, it is necessary to
understand how certain spaces in various urban geographies are queered. The
23
Bereket considers this traditional model as “an extention of the dominant sex typing and
gender schema in [Turkish] society at large”, which is “defined by rigid sex roles during
anal penetration […] one partner being the masculine aktif and the other being the
effeminate pasif…”. Tarık Bereket, Camouflaged Liaisons: The Social Organization of
Turkish Male Sexual Minorities, Master of Arts, Department of Sociology and
Anthropology, University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada (2003), 104. Even though it is not
exactly known by date when these still-existing traditional identities of homosexuality first
emerged in the Turkish society, we can see role- and age-based examples of these identities
in the form of sodomy (oğlancılık) in Ottoman society in the 17th and 18th centuries. For
further information about these examples and their class-based roots, see Halit Erdem
Oksaçan, “Osmanlı Tarih Kitaplarında Oğlancılığın Tarihsel Kökeni” in Eşcinselliğin
Toplumsal Tarihi (İstanbul: Tekin Yayınevi, 2012), 241-244.
24
Bereket considers these identites as “Western models of gay identification” which
emerged in “the early 1990s” when some Turkish men “started to incorporate their
homosexual behaviour into their sense of self and comfortably identify themselves under
the label „gey‟, as a social identity…”. Bereket, (2003), 129.
13
American architect, critic and lecturer Aaron Betsky defines „queer space‟ as “a
useless, amoral, and sensual space that lives only in and for experience; a space of
spectacle, consumption, dance and obscenity; a misuse or deformation of a place, an
appropriation of the buildings and codes of the city for perverse purposes.”25 Even
though he uses the term „queer‟ as a word rather than a verb to define such a space,
for Betsky, queer space is not a fixed corporeal entity but an “implied, ambivalent,
leaky, ironic, invisible and ephemeral”26 condition. He considers queer space as “a
third place for the third sex” that functions as “a counterarchitecture appropriating,
subverting, mirroring, choreographing the orders of daily life in new and liberating
ways… not necessarily for same-sex love but this third nature.”27
Betsky exemplifies queer space in relation to the daily spatial practices of Euro-
American middle-class culture of „individuality‟. Since none of these middle-class
institutions worked well for queer subjects who had to hide their desire, certain
public places such as the club, the salon, the gym, the tearoom, the restroom, the
bathhouse, the locker room, the sauna, etc. appeared both as “momentary places of
satisfaction” and “an alternative to places based on family and state power.”28 Once
these spaces are queered, they become “ephemeral counter-spaces to the emerging
transactional space of the middle-class city.”29 In this way, queer subjects form
networks of „cruising‟, finding unused, labyrinthine and potentially sexual edges of
the city. Cruising is not a separation but a loneliness that relies on the individual‟s
knowledge and awareness of exploring potentially „queerable‟ spaces. Thus,
queering turns into performative “acts of continual appropriation and the sexing of
public spaces” creating “a sudden sensuality in spaces like dark alleys, parks, cracks,
unlit corners, unused buildings, public toilets and hidden rooms.”30
25
Aaron Betsky, Queer Space: Architecture and Same-Sex Desire, (New York: William
Morrow and Company, Inc., 1997), 5.
26
Ibid., 18.
27
Ibid., 26.
28
Ibid., 44.
29
Ibid., 142.
30
Ibid., 141.
14
However, enclosed queer spaces like gay bars and clubs, video rooms, bathhouses
and saunas in most European and American cities function as „commodified sex-on-
site venues‟ which are stabilized in urban ghettos, hence do not need to be explored
and queered by cruising. Janet R. Jakobsen, a scholar in the field of Women's
Studies, suggests that one way of avoiding the problems associated with the notion
of queer as an identity is to “complete the Foucauldian move from human being to
human doing.”31 In other words, it may be more productive to think of queer as „a
verb‟ (a set of actions), rather than „a noun‟ (a stable identity). In this way, the
inherent instability of the term in signifying „an ephemeral and subversive act
dependent on time, space, geography and context‟ can be understood.
I propose that the queering of the Ottoman-Turkish hamam is different from other
enclosed queer spaces, particularly bathhouses and saunas, in various aspects. First,
the hamam is a homosocial space, as described by the literary critic Julian Vigo,
“where the darkness conceals the secret acts… a secret country which is part desert
and partially irrigated.”32 For Vigo, “the division of the sexes within the space of the
hamam does not, in fact, prevent „impure‟ thoughts or acts - this space works as
dialectic of the spiritual and the impure whereby the acts taking place within the
walls must remain ever so secret.”33 Second, as described by the sociologist Ibrahim
Abraham, the hamam is “something of an in between-ness” or “an intercessional
space between the sacred space of the mosque and the potentially corruptible space
of the body.”34 Abraham claims that “the hamam works as something of a
heterotopia where queer desires beyond the everyday are made possible.”35 Third, if
any casual sex is likely to occur in a hamam, it takes place as a temporary subversion
31
Janet, R. Jakobsen, “Queer is? Queer does) Normativity and the problem of resistance”,
GLO: A Journal of Gay and Lesbian Studies, 4:4, (1998): 516.
32
Julian Vigo, “The Body in Gender Discourse; The Fragmentary Space of the Feminine”,
La femme et l’écriture, (Meknés, Université de Meknés, 1996): 44.
33
Ibid., 45.
34
Ibrahim Abraham, “The veil and the closet: Islam and the production of queer space”,
published paper in the proceedings of Queer Space: Centres and Peripheries Conference,
(University of Technology Sydney, 20-21 February 2007): 3.
35
Ibid., 3.
15
of a public space primarily designed for communal bathing. This is potentially a
more ephemeral condition compared to the functioning of a bathhouse as a venue for
easy and normalized casual sex, where bathing is a secondary function and does not
even occur in many cases.
1.4 Significance of the Dissertation
The critical reading of the Ottoman-Turkish hamam as a queered space based on

personal testimonies and experiences of its users is a significant attempt in terms of
its contribution to multiple bodies of literature in diverse disciplinary areas. In the
discipline of architectural history, there is no scholarly work that questions how the
daily social and sexual practices of the users have influenced the formation of
gender-based typologies (tek, çifte, kuşluk, avret and rical) of the hamam. As
critically argued in Chapter 3, having provided formal and functional typologies that
take the male/female division for granted without questioning how this division
functioned in daily use, scholars have formed a referential basis for more recent
research on the hamam archetype. In this dissertation, avoiding such a formalist
approach, I analyze the selected kuşluk and rical hamams following a context-
conscious approach. In Chapter 5, I analyze these hamam buildings within the urban
context, in terms of their explorability, accessibility and invisibility as a closet space.
In Chapters 6 and 7, I analyze them within a sub-cultural context to find out how
both the original and additional spatial features of these hamams provide a multi-
sensory performance stage and a homosocial environment, consecutively, for the
male members of this sub-culture.
In the discipline of architectural theory, there are few scholarly works on queer
space, one of them being Queer Space: Architecture and Same-Sex Desire by the
American architect and critic Aaron Betsky. In this work, Betsky reveals a historical
interrelationship among a gay sensibility, design, and culture. He focuses
predominantly on spaces associated with the sexual activities of white, middle-class
16
gay males such as dance clubs, tearooms, restrooms, gymnasiums and public baths.36
The theory of queer space is also treated by American critical geographers David
Bell, Gill Valentine and Michael P. Brown. In Mapping Desire: Geographies of
Sexualities, Bell and Valentine explore the places and spaces of sexuality from body
to community, from the „cottage‟ to the Barrio, from Boston to Jakarta, from home to
cyberspace. They focus on queer subjects in various sexual geographies: lesbians at
home and on the streets, gay men on fantasy islands and in the heterosexual
workplace.37 In Closet Space: Geographies of metaphor from the body to the globe,
Brown provides the epistemological bases of the closet metaphor and analyzes how
the urban closets are produced, focusing on the city of Christchurch as the sex capital
of New Zealand.38 However, all these studies conceptualize queer space in relation to
the spatial practices of Euro-American middle-class cultures.
The bathhouse, as a type of queer space that emerged in European and American
cities in the 20th century, is one of the most frequently analyzed cases by sociologists
and cultural theorists. The American cultural theorist Allan Ronald Bérubé, the
Canadian cultural theorist Dianne Chisholm and the American sociologist Corrie
Hammers examine queer bathhouses in an ethnographic approach, not necessarily
analyzing the relations between spatial features and users.39 Focusing on social and
cultural aspects of a traditional public space in Turkish geography from the users‟
perspective, this dissertation can also be considered an ethnographic study. However,
36
Aaron Betsky, Queer Space: Architecture and Same-Sex Desire, (New York: William
Morrow and Company, Inc., 1997).
37
David Bell and Gill Valentine, Mapping Desire: Geographies of Sexualities, (New York:
Routledge, 1995).
38
Michael P. Brown, Closet Space: Geographies of metaphor from the body to the globe,
(London: Routledge, 2000).
39
See Allan R. Bérubé, “The History of Gay Bathhouses”, Journal of Homosexuality, vol.
44, no. 3/4 (2003): 33-53, Dianne Chisholm, “Love at Last Sight; or, The Dialectics of
Seeing in the Wake of the Gay Bathhouse”, in Queer Constellations: Subcultural Space in
the Wake of the City, (Minneapolis, MN, USA: University of Minnesota Press, 2004): 63-
99, Corrie Hammers, “An Examination of Lesbian/Queer Bathhouse Culture and the Social
Organization of (Im)Personal Sex”, Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, vol. 38, no: 3,
Sage Publications (2009): 308-335.
17
in comparison to the above-mentioned studies on gay bathhouses, I provide a new
theoretical framework in which the sexual identity construction of the user is in a
reciprocal relation with the physical space.
From a methodological point of view, this dissertation mainly contributes to oral

history literature. In order to collect and document the community histories of
LGBT40 groups, oral history was utilized as a method of inquiry by queer theorists
such as Allan Ronald Bérubé, Elizabeth Lapovsky Kennedy, Madeline D. Davis and
George Chauncey. Bérubé, in Coming Out Under Fire: The History of Gay Men and
Women in World War II examined the stories of gay men and women in the US
military between 1941 and 1945. He interviewed gay veterans who were
commissioned in the US army during the World War II, and recorded their individual
life stories to investigate anti-gay policies pursued by the US military authorities in
that period.41 The study of Kennedy and Davis, entitled Boots of Leather, Slippers of
Gold: The History of a Lesbian Community, drawing on oral histories collected from
45 women, is a comprehensive history of a working-class lesbian community in
Buffalo, New York, from the mid-1930s to the early 1960s.42 Chauncey in Gay New
York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890-1940
portrayed the closeted gay world in New York between 1890 and 1940. Based on an
extensive research of individual diaries, legal records, and unpublished documents,
he investigated how this world is constructed in rooming houses, cafeterias,
bathhouses and streets.43
40
LGBT is an acronym that stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual/Transgender
(people), and it is meant to represent the different groups who make up a community. Not
everyone who identifies with one of the identities named in the acronym considers (or
wants to be considered) part of the community. Retrieved on 17.03.2014 from
<http://queerdictionary.tumblr.com/post/3905146134/lgbt>
41
Allan R. Bérubé, Coming Out Under Fire: The History of Gay Men and Women in World
War II, (US: The University of North Carolina Press, 1990).
42
Elizabeth Lapovsky Kennedy and Madeline D. Davis, Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold:
The History of a Lesbian Community, (New York & London: Routledge, 1993).
43
George Chauncey, Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay
Male World, 1890-1940, (New York: BasicBooks, 1994).
18
The quantity of more recent scholarly work in queer studies using oral history is
quite small. An online survey in the Journal of Oral History Society (JOHS),44 from
its first publication in 1971 to the present, displays only two articles focusing on the
life histories of queer communities: “Men Don‟t Wear Velvet You Know!
Fashionable Gay Masculinity and The Shopping Experience, London, 1950-Early
1970s” by Clare Lomas, which explores the relationship between fashion, gay
masculinity and shopping, through the experiences of three men during the 1950s to
the early 1970s,45 and “Listening to Queer Maps of the City: Gay Men‟s Narratives
of Pleasure and Danger in London‟s East End” by Gavin Brown, which examines the
relations of the gay population in London to a particular district and the spaces they
have created.46
A similar survey via „Databases & Indexes‟ of the METU library47 displays a few
dissertations using oral history research as a method of inquiry: “Cape Queer: The
politics of sex, class, and race in Provincetown, Massachussetts, 1859-1999” by
Karen Kristel Krahulik, which traces the evolution of a gay resort area and sexual
subculture48, “Communities of Desire: Gay Latina/Latino History and Memory in the
San Francisco Bay Area, 1960s to 1990s” by Horacio Nelson Roque Ramirez, which
investigates the formation of lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual Latina/Latino
communities in the San Francisco Bay Area from the 1960s to the 1990s through
conversations with 40 narrators detailing their life, work, struggles and playtime49,
44
http://www.oralhistory.org.uk (accessed on 24.05.2012).
45
Clare Lomas, “Men Don‟t Wear Velvet You Know! Fashionable Gay Masculinity and The
Shopping Experience, London, 1950-Early 1970s”, The Journal of the Oral History
Society, vol. 35, no. 1 (2007): 82-90.
46
Gavin Brown, “Listening to Queer Maps of the City: Gay Men‟s Narratives of Pleasure
and Danger in London‟s East End”, The Journal of the Oral History Society, vol. 29, no. 1
(2001): 48-61.
47
http://www.lib.metu.edu.tr (accessed on 24.05.2012).
48
Karen Kristel Krahulik, Cape Queer: The politics of sex, class, and race in Provincetown,
Massachussetts, 1859-1999, Ph. D. dissertation, New York University, (2000).
49
Horacio Nelson Roque Ramirez, Communities of Desire: Queer Latina/Latino History and
Memory, San Francisco Bay Area, 1960s-1990s, Ph.D. dissertation, University of
California, Berkeley, (2001).
19
and “Old Coyotes: Life Histories of Aging Gay Men in Rural Canada” by Barry
Trentham, which examines the lives of three gay men aging in rural environments by
using a life history approach.50
There is less oral history research on Turkish queer culture. The sociologist Alp
Biricik, in his article “Öteki'nin ürettiği Mekânlar ve Toplumsal Cinsiyet Kurguları
(Places Produced by Others and Fictions of Gender/Sexuality)” provides a historical
insight into the queer spaces in the Beyoğlu district of İstanbul appropriated by
LGBT communities between the mid-1970s and mid-1990s by means of oral history
interviews.51 Another study using oral history as a research method is a Ph.D.
dissertation entitled “Cosmopolitanism in the City: Contested Claims to Bodies and
Sexualities in Beyoglu, Istanbul” by the cultural geographer and sociologist Begüm
Başdaş who tries to understand the relationship between public space, sexuality, and
difference in Istanbul. In her fieldwork, Başdaş worked with women from different
grassroots organizations and NGOs, triangulating such methods as participant
observation, interviewing as well as participatory and action-oriented techniques.52 In
a recent oral history research project, entitled 80’lerde Lubunya Olmak, nine
transsexuals, aged over 50, share their life histories, struggles and experiences after
the 12 September 1980 military coup in Turkey.53 In their stories, they emphasize
certain public spaces such as parks, gay bars and clubs, gazinos, beerhouses,
hamams, neighborhoods, streets, hotels and adult cinemas showing pornographic
movies where they witnessed the actors of urban queer culture in Turkey having
various gender identities, closeting themselves, performing casual sex and
socializing. A more recent research, entitled 90’larda Lubunya Olmak, is based on
50
Barry Trentham, Old Coyotes: Life Histories of Aging Gay Men in Rural Canada, Ph.D.
dissertation, University of Toronto, (2010).
51
Alp Biricik, “Öteki‟nin Ürettiği Mekânlar ve Toplumsal Cinsiyet/Cinsellik Kurguları”,
Dosya 19: Cinsiyet ve Mimarlık, TMMOB Mimarlar Odası Ankara Şubesi Yayınları,
(April 2010): 81-85.
52
Begüm Başdaş, Cosmopolitanism in the City: Contested Claims to Bodies and Sexualities
in Beyoglu, Istanbul, Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, LA, (2007).
53
80’lerde Lubunya Olmak, prepared by Erdem Gürsu and Sinan Elitemiz, Siyah Pembe
Üçgen Tarih Dizisi 1 (Siyah Pembe Üçgen İzmir: 2012).
20
the life stories of 19 queer subjects and how they are exposed to discrimination,
violence and exclusion in the 1990s in Turkey.54
It is significant to note that in this limited body of local and global literature using
oral history research – except for Chauncey, Brown, Biricik and Başdaş who
investigate the formation of urban queer culture in relation to spatial features,
practices and experiences – most scholars focus on the sexual identity construction of
queer subjects from a sociological and psychological point of view. In this context,
this dissertation is a unique research project in the discipline of architecture, as it
benefits from oral history data to discuss a two-way interaction between the hamam
user and the hamam space. On the one hand, it tries to find out how tangible features,
practices, experiences in hamam space influence the personal identities of the users,
which are conceptually abstract. On the other hand, it reveals how the user‟s
conception and perception of the hamam space changes even though the space does
not change physically.
54
90’larda Lubunya Olmak, prepared by Erdem Gürsu and Yavuz Cingöz, Siyah Pembe
Üçgen Tarih Dizisi 2 (Siyah Pembe Üçgen İzmir: 2013).
21
22
CHAPTER 2
METHODOLOGY
2.1 Introduction: Combined Research Methodology
This dissertation follows a combined research methodology in which oral history

research is the primary method of gathering knowledge on the queering of Ottoman-
Turkish hamams, while literature review, survey of newspaper archives and
municipal records, questionnaire survey and case analyses of the selected queered
hamams are the supplementary methods to support the data gathered from oral
history interviews. The research process is a linear one, the stages of which are
shown in Figure 2.1.
Figure 2.1: Chart showing the stages of the Combined Research Methodology used in this
dissertation (prepared by the author)
23
In Chapter 1, Section 1.1, I have already presented my preliminary research process
including preliminary research questions and literature survey, critical argument and
further research questions that formed the contextual ground for the oral history
process. In this chapter, I present in detail the following stages of my research:
questionnaire survey, oral history interviews and case analyses. In the first section, I
explain the aims of the questionnaire survey and how the resulting data are analyzed
and utilized. In the second section, I provide basic information about oral history
research and explain how I prepared for and conducted the interviews as well as
transcribed and interpreted the interview data within the context of this dissertation.
In the third section, I explain how I conducted case analyses of the selected hamams.
Epistemologically, this multi-staged research process combining various methods

enabled me to gather five different types of knowledge: spatial, personal, communal,
social and cultural. Even though some of the research methods seem to produce a
particular type of knowledge, i.e. case analyses revealing spatial features and
characteristics peculiar to queered hamams, these methods are rather porous and the
knowledges they gather support each other. Hence, in each chapter and throughout
the flow of the dissertation text, I provide interrelations among these knowledges in
order to support my hypotheses and arguments.
2.2 Questionnaire Survey
In order to examine the significance of Ottoman-Turkish hamams among other

spaces within urban queer culture in Turkey, I conducted a questionnaire survey with
people who reside in Ankara, İzmir and İstanbul and visit the following LGBT
organizations: KAOS GL and Pembe Hayat in Ankara, Lambda Istanbul and
GayBear in İstanbul, and Siyah Pembe Üçgen in İzmir. The questionnaires were
completed either on hard copy sheets provided in those organizations, or online via
their websites. The questionnaire consisted of both demographic questions such as
age, sexual identity, marital status, education level, and place of residence of the
respondents, and specific questions such as which queer spaces they visit in a
particular city, when, how frequently and for what purpose (See Appendix A). The
24
questionnaire results showed that most of the respondents in all three cities are in the
age group of 25-39, single, university graduates, defined themselves as „gay‟ and
resided in central districts of their cities.
Table 2.1 shows the number of men and women with various sexual identities (gay
man, bisexual man, heterosexual man, transsexual woman and other) visiting a
queer(ed) space (bar, park, cinema, hamam and activist center) in a particular city.
The table also shows that the bar is the most visited space by nearly all of the
respondents in all the three cities, while the hamam is the least frequented. In
addition, cinemas and activist centers have a considerable visiting frequency, yet not
as much as bars, especially in Ankara.
Table 2.1: The number of users of various gender identities visiting a queer space in a particular
city in Turkey (Total number of respondents: 38 in Ankara, 8 in İstanbul, 34 in İzmir)
IN ANKARA IN İZMİR IN İSTANBUL

Queer Spaces
Hamam
Hamam
Hamam
Cinema
Cinema
Cinema
Center
Center
Center
Park
Park
Park
Visited
Bar
Bar
Bar
Sexual # # #
Identity
Gay 20 17 8 12 5 14 20 17 11 11 3 5 5 4 0 3 0 3
Bisexual Man 6 4 2 4 3 5 5 5 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Heterosexual Man 3 3 2 3 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Transsexual Woman 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Other 3 3 2 3 0 2 6 4 3 4 1 1 3 3 2 3 1 1
Not Indicated 6 4 3 4 2 3 2 2 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
38 31 17 26 12 26 34 29 16 20 5 6 8 7 2 6 1 4
A further analysis of this survey is provided in Chapter 4. Based on the usage

frequency of each space by the respondents who visit more than one space weekly or
monthly, I have formed cognitive queer maps of the three cities for the past 20 years
25
to investigate which queer spaces are linked to each other within the visiting routine
of the respondents and how strong these links are relatively.
2.3 Oral History Research
In this dissertation, due to the insufficiency of substantial knowledge in the existing

literature about the queering of the Ottoman-Turkish hamams, I inevitably refer to
personal testimonies of hamam users. Oral history research is one of the most
convenient methods for gathering first-hand data regarding the actual spatial
practices, sexual performances and experiences of these users.
2.3.1 What is Oral History?
Oral history is a particular research method of gathering oral material, as the

qualitative researcher Valerie J. Janesick describes: “the stories and reminiscences of
a person or persons who have firsthand knowledge of any number of experiences.”55
Listening to spoken firsthand memories in an interview setting where the collector
(interviewer) and the contributor (interviewee) are in a close, direct and face-to-face
relationship is the most conventional and preferred technique in oral history research.
That is why “the term „oral history‟ refers both to the process and the interview
itself.”56 The oral historian Stephen Caunce descibes the data collection process in
oral history as follows:
The act of collection is what makes oral history decisively different from other
ways of working – autobiographies apart – for the collector has an active role to
play in the creation of the primary source material […] Collectors and
contributors together determine what is put on record and an oral recording
55
Valerie, J. Janesick, Oral History for the Qualitative Researcher, Choreographing the
Story, (New York: The Guilford Press, 2010), 2.
56
Barbara W. Sommer and Mary Kay Quinlan, The Oral History Manual, (UK: Altamira
Press, 2009), 1.
26
session can range over a whole lifetime of experience, attitudes, skills and
philosophy.57
Yet, oral historians use not only “face-to-face interviewing” but also various
supplementary visual/audio-visual techniques for data collection: “observation,
document analysis, journal writing, photo-taking, videotaping” as well as non-visual
media such as “photographs, videos, blogs, video logs and social networking sites”.58
Oral history does not only reveal personal truths by means of individual narratives
but also enables historians to understand these narratives within the context of social
history. Janesick defines four types of truth that can be derived out of testimony:
(1) Factual and forensic truth: the actual evidence of what occurred and where
(2) Personal or narrative truth: the person‟s story of how something occurred and
affected the person
(3) Social or cultural truth: the social context of the history of what occurred
(4) Healing or restorative truth: needed to heal the wounds uncovered by the
engagement with the truths above59
2.3.2 Types of Oral History
Oral history research is commonly grouped into four categories by various oral
historians in accordance with the scope of the study:
1) Stand-alone individual oral history, also called “life histories”; which relies
on one person‟s story and involves multiple interview sessions with that person
to create a collection of autobiographical materials in a type of stream-of-
consciousness narrative
57
Stephen Caunce, Oral History and the Local Historian, (London and New York:
Longman, 1994), 19.
58
Janesick, Oral History for the Qualitative Researcher, Choreographing the Story, 4.
59
Ibid., 18.
27
2) Collective oral history, also called as “community histories”; which
encompasses a series of interviews with a variety of individuals in which many
stories may be found around a particular theme, topic, place, or event of shared
interest
3) Family History connoting only genealogy or oral tradition, but not necessarily
one‟s own family, but family dynamics, experiences and interactions in groups
that are not constituted only by one‟s relatives.
4) Subject-Oriented Oral Histories in which researchers try to explicate specific
questions rather than entering the broader realms defined by life, community, or
family histories60
2.3.3 History of Oral History
Oral history was developed in the US as a method of historical data collection by

researchers such as William T. Couch, from the University of North Carolina, who
published a selection of interviews with ordinary Southeners, in These are Our
Lives61, by the folklorist Benjamin A. Botkin who focused on the Former Slave
Narratives portion of his Lay My Burden Down: A Folk History of Slavery,62 and by
the newspaperman and historian Allan Nevins who recorded at Columbia University
the participation of living Americans in the political, economic and cultural life of
the last sixty years in the US, published in The Gateway to History63.
60
See Janesick, Oral History for the Qualitative Researcher, Choreographing the Story, 2.;
Sommer and Quinlan, The Oral History Manual (2nd edition), 2.; and Mary A. Larson,
„Research Design and Strategies‟, in Thomas L.Charlton, Lois E. Myers and Rebecca
Sharpless (ed.) History of Oral History: Foundations and Methodology, (UK: Altamira
Press, 2007), 96-101.
61
William T. Couch, These are Our Lives, Federal Writers‟ Project, (Chapel Hill: University
of North Carolina Press, 1939).
62
Benjamin A. Botkin, Lay My Burden Down: A Folk History of Slavery, (US: University of
Chicago Press, 1945).
63
Allan Nevins, The Gateway to History, (New York: D. Appleton-Century, 1938).
28
In the 1950s, the practice of oral history started to be unified and institutionalized in
the Western academic world, with a high level of agreement on its basic matters. In
1954, the University of California at Berkeley created its Regional Oral History
Office. In 1959, the regents of the University of California at Los Angeles
established the UCLA Oral History Program.64 In the 1960s, oral history research
expanded dramatically, owing to the availability of portable cassette recorders
invented by the Philips Company in 1963. The National Archives of the US began
formal oral history work through the presidential libraries such as the Harry S.
Truman Library,65 which opened in 1961 and the John F. Kennedy Library,66 which
opened in 1964.
In 1965, the oral history movement in the US reached a critical mass. „Oral History
in the United States‟, a report published in the same year by the Columbia University
Oral History Research Office, identified eighty-nine oral history projects nationwide.
The National Colloquim on Oral History (September 1966, Lake Arrowhead,
California) gathered seventy-seven archivists, librarians and historians. The
colloquim consisted of panel discussions aimed at gaining consensus on “definitions
of oral history, the uses of oral history, directions for future work, techniques for
interviewing and professional objectives and standards.”67
This emerging academic trend in oral history inevitably led to various publications in
the field. The new Oral History Association, chartered in 1967, published the
proceedings of its first meetings, and then broadened the publication to an annual
journal, entitled The Oral History Review in 1973. Willa K. Baum, the director of the
Regional Oral History Office at the University of California at Berkeley, published
64
See the website http://oralhistory.library.ucla.edu/ for more information.
65
See the website www.trumanlibrary.org/oralhist/oral_his.htm for more information.
66
See the website http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/Archives/JFKOH.aspx for more
information.
67
Rebecca Sharpless, „The History of Oral History‟ in Thomas L. Charlton, Lois E. Myers
and Rebecca Sharpless (ed.) History of Oral History: Foundations and Methodology, (US:
Altamira Press, 2007), 14.
29
Oral History for the Local Historical Society68, the first how-to-manual on oral
history.
Oral history research also reflected the social changes of the 1960s and 1970s. The
civil rights movement gave impetus to numerous oral history projects on African-
American history such as The Autobiography of Malcolm X69 and Roots: The Saga of
an American Family70 by Alex Haley, and All God’s Dangers: The Life of Nate
Shaw71 by Theodore Rosengarten. The women‟s movement also found oral history to
be congenial to its aims. In 1977, the oral historian Sherna Gluck openly challenged
traditional historiography with her groundbreaking article „What‟s So Special About
Women‟s History‟72. Between 1976 and 1985, the Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger
Library at Radcliffe College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, conducted a project
entitled „Black Women Oral History Project‟ by “interviewing 66 African American
women, aged 70 and over, who made significant contributions to their communities
through professional or volunteer work.”73 Critical community historians and
folklorists such as William Lynwood Montell, Paul Thompson, Michael Frisch,
Alessandro Portelli and Elizabeth Tonkin had also realized the value of interviewing
in the documentation of local history and made significant publications in the field
between 1970s and 1990s.74
68
Willa K. Baum, Oral History for the Local History Society, (US: Altamira Press, 1969).
69
Alex Haley, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, (New York: Grove Press, 1965).
70
Alex Haley, Roots: The Saga of an American Family, (New York: Doubleday, 1976).
71
Theodore Rosengarten, All God’s Dangers: The Life of Nate Shaw, (New York: Knopf,
1974).
72
Sherna Gluck, „What‟s So Special About Women‟s Oral History‟, Frontiers: A Journal of
Women Studies, 2:2, (1977): 3-17.
73
Sharpless, „The History of Oral History‟ in History of Oral History: Foundations and
Methodology, 17-18.
74
See William Lynwood Montell, The Saga of Coe Ridge: A Study in Oral History,
(Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press, 1970), Paul Thompson, The Voice of the
Past: Oral History, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1978), Michael Frisch, A Shared
Authority: Essays on the Craft and Meaning of Oral and Public History, (Albany: State
University of New York Press, 1990), Alessandro Portelli, The Death of Luigi Trastulli and
Other Stories: Form and Meaning in Oral History, (Albany: State University of New York
Press, 1991), Elizabeth Tonkin, Narrating Our Pasts: The Social Construction of Oral
History, (US: Cambridge University Press, 1992).
30
In Turkey, the History Foundation (Tarih Vakfı) has greatly contributed to the field
of oral history since 1993 by way of translated publications75 as well as various
panels, conferences, workshops and projects. The social historian and anthropologist
Leyla Neyzi is a key figure in Turkish oral history studies, who has contributed
several publications in the field.76
There are also a few unpublished dissertations that examine what people remember
of their experiences and that use these memories to evaluate the social meaning of
the architectural and urban context in Turkey. Architect and social psychologist
Nilgün Fehim Kennedy‟s dissertation, entitled „The Ethos of Architects Towards an
Analysis of Architectural Practice in Turkey‟,77 is one example that applies oral
survey in analyzing contemporary architectural practice in the country. She
concentrates on architects‟ professional practices by highlighting those who work
independently. Architect Serpil Özaloğlu‟s dissertation entitled „Transformation of
Ankara between 1935-1950 in Relation with Everyday Life and Lived Spatiality‟,78
also uses the oral survey method to analyze the social meaning of place in Ankara.
She examines the change of urban culture in Ankara between 1935 and 1950 and
focuses on different public places in the city. Her work concentrates on the lived
spatiality and everyday life so as to understand the transformation of the society and
the spatial use in a socio-political frame. A more recent dissertation by the
architectural historian Çılga Resuloğlu, entitled „The Tunalı Hilmi Avenue, 1950s-
75
See David E. Kyvig and Myron A. Marty, Yanıbaşımızdaki Tarih (Nearby History:
Exploring the Past around You), translated by Nalan Özsoy, (İstanbul: Tarih Vakfı Yurt
Yayınları, 2011), Stephen Caunce, Sözlü Tarih ve Yerel Tarihçi (Oral History and the
Local Historian), translated by Bilmez Bülent Can and Alper Yalçınkaya, (İstanbul: Tarih
Vakfı Yurt Yayınları, 2011),
76
See Leyla Neyzi, Ben Kimim? Türkiye’de Sözlü Tarih, Kimlik ve Öznellik, (İstanbul:
İletişim Yayınları, 2009), Leyla Neyzi, Nasıl Hatırlıyoruz? Türkiye’de Bellek Çalışmaları,
(İstanbul: Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları, 2011), Leyla Neyzi, İstanbul’da
Hatırlamak ve Unutmak, (İstanbul: Tarih Vakfı Yurt Yayınları, 2011).
77
Nilgün Fehim Kennedy, The Ethos of Architects Towards an Analysis of Architectural
Practice in Turkey, Ph.D. dissertation, Ankara, Middle East Technical University, (2005).
78
Serpil Özaloğlu, Transformation of Ankara between 1935-1950 in Relation with Everyday
Life and Lived Spatiality, Ph.D. dissertation, Ankara, Middle East Technical University,
(2006).
31
1980s: The Formation of a Public Space in Ankara‟79, also uses oral history research
in order to understand how public life and public place are shaped in a reciprocal
manner, and how the spatial formation of a street is realized in relation to the daily
experiences of its inhabitants. Although the aims of these studies are different, they
all use oral survey as an alternative method in the field of architecture to understand
socio-spatial experiences of the users in the built environment.
2.3.4 Significance of Oral History
The primary significance of oral history is that it provides the researcher with a
viewpoint to question and re-consider written sources about a topic. In most
historical research, it is the perception of verifiability which ensures the primacy of
written evidence. Regardless of how much truth it really embodies, the fact that a
written document can be checked by others increases the possibility of distorting
historical truth. Caunce states that “only the official view survives in writing.”80 In
comparison to the written, oral evidence has the advantage that “contributors can be
asked to expand on what they have said, or challenged if it seems dubious.”81
The secondary significance of oral history is its limitless potential as „narrative

history‟. It helps us “to understand not just what happened [in the past], but how
those telling the story understood what happened and what they may now think of
it”82 and hence “allows researchers to probe beneath the surface of the written record
to discover not just what happened but how and why.”83 In contrast to „descriptive
history‟, “narrative history lays out all the facts, not only the basic ones taken for
granted.”84
79
Çılga Resuloğlu, The Tunalı Hilmi Avenue, 1950s-1980s: The Formation of a Public
Space in Ankara, Ph.D. dissertation, Ankara, Middle East Technical University, (2011).
80
Caunce, Oral History and the Local Historian, 15.
81
Ibid., 16.
82
Sommer and Quinlan, The Oral History Manual, 3.
83
Ibid., 4.
84
32
Third, oral history is not merely a research method but, in Janesick‟s words, “a social
justice project” of collecting “the stories of those left on the periphery of society.”85
Janesick highlights that “instead of interviewing only prominent or elite participants,
all voices have the potential to be documented.”86 In this way, the unwritten truths
that those in power would often prefer to ignore become more visible to public. In
this context, the oral historians Sommer and Quinlan describe the basic uses of oral
history as such: “(1) Documenting events in the history of a community, (2) Serving
people with a history of disenfranchisement, (3) Preserving languages and dialects,
(4) As a teaching technique, (5) Bringing people together”. 87 Accordingly, Caunce
highlights that “change did occur in ordinary people‟s lives, and locally it could be
rapid and far reaching, but on the whole it was organic and steady, so there was a
lack of awareness of the processes involved and few records were kept of what was
vanishing.”88
2.4 Oral History Research in this Dissertation
The oral history method used in this dissertation can be considered a hybrid of „life
histories‟ and „community histories‟. By means of multiple interview sessions (both
one-to-one and in a group), I have gathered not only „individual‟ hamam experiences
of the interviewees, but also „shared‟ experiences as part of their lifestyles. Due to
the constructedness and/or insufficiency of the existing written sources regarding
issues of (homo)sexuality in Ottoman-Turkish hamams, I have inevitably referred to
oral evidence to reveal factual, personal and social truths.
Oral history research is mostly conducted as “a work in progress”, having multiple

stages of “collection, analysis, interpretation, representation”89 of the knowledge as
85
86
Ibid., 4.
87
Sommer and Quinlan, The Oral History Manual, 3-4.
88
89
33
well as a preparation stage which is necessary before starting the actual interviews.
In this section, I explain in detail how I went through these stages.
2.4.1 The Preparation
The preperation stage of my oral history research consisted of a literature survey on

oral history method to learn about its guidelines, ethical considerations and
implementations by various scholars, as presented in section 2.3, as well as the
selection of interviewees, writing an interview outline and working hypotheses,
which will be explained here.
According to Caunce, the collector‟s role is quite crucial in terms of “bringing

together the contributors, finding and selecting them, taking responsibility for
organizing and running sessions and developing personal relationships with
contributors.”90 The oral historian Mary A. Larson proposes four types of sampling
methods in selecting the interviewees:
Snowball sampling consists of obtaining suggestions for interviewees from those

already interviewed and continuing on in that manner as work progress.
Stratified sampling entails interviewing at all levels of a community or group in
order to get equal representation.
Purposive sampling is essentially stratified sampling with the additional goal of
having all sides represented on controversial or sensitive issues.
Quota sampling reflects an attempt to match the population of a certain place
and time with a closely correlated group of interviewees in categories such as
age, gender, race, education, occupation, religion.91
90
Larson, „Research Design and Strategies‟ in History of Oral History: Foundations and
91
Methodology, 114-115.
34
I selected the interviewees using initially „quota sampling method‟ among a closely
correlated group of interviewees of various sexual identities. This selection was
made in multiple stages. First, I selected potential interviewees among the ones who
participated in the questionnaire survey held in the activist centers in Ankara, İzmir
and İstanbul, as explained in section 2.5. Once a potential pool of interviewees was
formed, a second selection was made with an eye toward representative coverage of
the groups involved. Third, I contacted potential interviewees from two popular
websites frequently referred to by queer subjects in Turkey for chatting as well as
finding friends and sex partners: www.planetromeo.com, www.gabile.com. The
number of interviewees was increased throughout the oral history process, using „the
snowball sampling method‟ by obtaining suggestions from those already
interviewed. Fourth, I visited various queered hamams in Ankara, İzmir and İstanbul
to find potential narrators who would accept to share their experiences. In this multi-
staged selection process, with reference to Sommer and Quinlan, I considered that
the selected narrators…
(1) have first-hand, previously undocumented information about project topics or

themes.
(2) are willing to give an account of their memories of the project topics or
themes.
(3) have an ability to understand the basics of the oral history process as
explained by the interviewer.
(4) are reasonably comfortable with interview equipment in either audio or video
settings
(5) can communicate effectively and have a good memory.92
Before starting the actual interviews, I made two pilot interviews to test the above-
mentioned criteria, the convenience of questions, the duration of the interview and
92
Sommer and Quinlan, The Oral History Manual, 49.
35
the recording quality of the digital audio-recorder. Time and transportation were
other significant factors to be considered while making appointments with the
interviewees from different cities. Rather than making frequent and arbitrary
interviews, I prefered scheduling organized weekly visits during which a reasonable
number of interviews could be conducted.
„The interview outline‟ is the list of topics and notes about questions specific to the
narrator‟s knowledge, which is used to guide the interview. Most oral historians
develop an ordered list of questions classified under themes and topics specific to the
problem area that have been inadequately covered in the written sources. Janesick
describes 6 types of questions along the course of the interview: “(1) Basic
Descriptive Questions, (2) Structural / Paradigmatic Questions, (3) Follow-up /
Clarifying Questions, (4) Experience / Example Questions, (5) Comparison /
Contrast Questions, (6) Closing Questions”.93
As seen in Appendix B, the outline I prepared consisted of basic descriptive and

structural questions grouped under the following topics: (1) The demographics and
the life story of the contributor, (2) The urban queer lifestyle of the contributor, (3)
The hamam experiences of the contributor. The questions are not only quantitative
using „what‟, „when‟ and „where‟, but also qualitative, using „how‟ and „why‟.
Throughout the flow of the interview, I also asked more open-ended „follow-up‟,
„experience‟ and „comparison‟ questions by using phrases such as „Tell me about...‟,
„Describe...‟, „Can you exemplify...‟, „What do you mean...‟ depending on how much
detail the narrator wants to share about a particular topic. The aim of these open-
ended questions was to deeply understand the reasons and effects of particular spatial
experiences of a contributor. It is also significant to note that I did not ask the
questions directly and in the same sequence with the list as in Appendix B, but in a
93
Janesick, Oral History for the Qualitative Researcher, Choreographing the Story, 46-47.
36
more free and mixed manner.94 Some of the questions in the list were not even asked
but the related knowledge was provided by the narrator throughout the conversation.
As Janesick suggests, the oral historian looks for “major themes, key words and
indices of behaviour and belief while analyzing and interpreting the recorded data.”95
The following sets of „working hypotheses‟ came out of the preliminary analysis of
the data gathered in the pilot interviews:
1) The transformation of urban queer spaces in Turkey in the past 40 years:

 Since the 12 September 1980 military coup, there has been increasing
oppression on LGBT communities in Turkey by means of (un)official
homophobic threats in urban queer spaces they visit for meeting, socializing and
having sex.
 After a queer space is closed due to illegal sexual activites, these communities
move to another place and queer it. Accordingly, the more gay sex is suppressed,
the more it spreads throughout the city.
 The more sexual activities are exposed and frequented in a queer space, the more
likely that space is closed down.
 There has been an obvious decrease in the use of queered hamams for the past
40 years.
 There used to be an organic continuity among visits to particular queer spaces 20
years ago.
2) Visiting routine and criteria of a queered hamam:
 The queered hamams are generally visited on weekends when they are more
crowded compared to weekdays.
94
Caunce states that “[T]he recordings are meant to have a value in their own right and the
contributor must therefore be encouraged to do more than answer questions.” Caunce, Oral
History and the Local Historian, 132.
95
37
 Users having partners on a long-term basis may also visit queered hamams for
socializing and entertainment.
 For some users, the primary aim of visiting a queered hamam is cleaning and
scrubbing, while having casual sex is a secondary function.
 The location of a queered hamam in the urban environment is a criterion for
personal security both indoors and outdoors.
 One of the reasons why a hamam can easily be queered is the sexual identity of
the hamam‟s manager as well as his tolerance of homosexual relations.
 The cleanliness of a hamam is a major criterion for most users. However, for
some users who have no other place to have casual sex, the level of cleanliness
may be neglected.
3) User profile of a queered hamam:
 The most frequent visitors of queered hamams are elderly people for whom the
traditional hamam ritual is a lifestyle. Younger visitors who have no other venue
for casual sex also visit these hamams. This creates a heterogenous user profile.
 A person who plays a heterosexual role in his ordinary life outside the hamam
may behave completely different in a queered hamam, taking a homosexual role.
4) The sexual rituals and performative strategies in a queered hamam:
 A typical bathing ritual in a hamam takes maximum 2 hours including sweating,
being scrubbed and soap-massaged, and cooling down. For those who stay
longer, the primary aim is to have as much casual sex as possible.
 In order to find a sex partner, hamam users mostly follow visual strategies such
as voyeurism and eye contact.
 Since everyone is partially naked in a hamam, there is no status difference and
the relations among the users are more horizontally constructed.
5) The architectural features of a queered hamam related to issues of sex:
 The hamam is an appropriate space for same-sex relations in terms of its
sequential spatial layout including soğukluk, ılıklık and sıcaklık sections.
 The size, location and height of the halvets in the sıcaklık are significant in terms
of engaging in same-sex relations.
38
 The central layout of the sıcaklık enables eye contact in multiple angle of views
and continuous cruising.
 The dimmed light in a hamam creates an attractive ambience for sexual
encounters.
6) Communication in a queered hamam:
 Having a close relationship with the hamam manager and attendants is a strategy
for some bathers to strengthen their position in that hamam and to prevent any
unwanted situations from happening.
 The verbal and bodily communication between the bather and the tellak during
the scrubbing activity may turn out to be an ephemeral sexual activity.
 There is a particular sub-cultural language including many sexual connotations,
used by some hamam users to communicate among themselves.
7) A foreign visitor‟s view of a queered hamam:
 Some foreign visitors who have preconceived the hamam as an erotic place have
experienced that hamam space is rather „sexual‟ but not „erotic‟.
 For foreign visitors, gay saunas in Europe are more social spaces than queered
hamams.
 Foreign visitors mostly prefer visiting the hamam for its historic ambience and
traditional bathing experience.
2.4.2 The Interview
Most of the interviews were conducted as a „stand-alone individual oral history

session‟ relying on a single person‟s lifestory and experiences. However, based on
the commonalities in sexual identities, spatial practices and lifestyles of the
contributors, the interviews form a „collective community history‟ as well. Prior to
each interview session, the following guidelines were taken into consideration:
1) Keeping the interview setting as comfortable and quiet as possible to enable the
narrator to concentrate on the interview: The physical comfort of the setting,
particularly for this dissertation, was not only important in terms of enabling a proper
39
sound recording quality, but also being aurally isolated while talking about private
affairs about which the narrators were quite sensitive.
2) Establishing a sense of trust between the narrator and the interviewer: I followed
several ways to facilitate this. First of all, before each interview session, I gave the
narrator a coherent picture of my aims to ensure that I was not going to waste their
time. Second, I was always on time for a scheduled session even though the narrator
might not have been. Before starting the recorder, I took some time with the narrator
to relax. I explained the aim, scope and duration of the interview. In addition, I
provided the narrator with fully informed consent with a release (donor) form
(Appendix C) that clearly explains all those issues and transfers copyright to the
designated owner (the interviewer) in order to use the transcribed oral session for the
dissertation and future publications. The interviewee was also informed that he could
refuse to answer any question and terminate the interview at any time, with no
adverse consequences. The form was signed both by the interviewer and the
interviewee.
As these guidelines were satisfied, I started the recorder and provided the following
information before asking questions: name of the oral history project, name of the
interviewer, track number, place and date of the interview. Some oral history
interviews also provide the name of the narrator; however, the narrators I interviewed
mostly refused this in order not to give away their identity. The interviews were held
not simply as question-answer sessions, but „semi-structured dialogues‟ between the
researcher and the narrator, each lasting no more than 1.5 hours. I recorded each
session using a specific digital voice recorder, OLYMPUS VS-8700PC, with a
recording memory of 1684 hours.96 There were also other criteria I took into
consideration during each interview session, as shown in Appendix D.
96
Caunce describes the importance of tape recorders in oral history as follows:
Tape recorders have transformed the reliability of oral evidence and also given
historical records a new dimension. A good recording has a quality that bears no
comparison with any other historical source except film. To be able to hear someone‟s
actual voice, with all the subtleties of speech that sometimes contribute to meaning as
much as the words themselves, with the original accent, and delivered exactly as they
40
The interviewer‟s position either as an insider or an outsider within the particular
community is also crucial in oral history. An insider, as Larson discusses, “has the
benefit of an existing rapport with the interviewees, knowing much of the necessary
background material, and has access to privileged information.”97 But an insider can
also be “not neutral, overlooking obvious questions due to taking certain things for
granted and knowing the rules of engagement in a community.”98 As an interviewer,
I considered myself neither an insider, nor an outsider, but as a researcher who is
familiar with the sexual and social relations that occur in hamams as well as in many
other urban queer spaces. This enabled me to establish empathy with the narrators
while listening to their subjective experiences. Accordingly, I took various ethical
issues into consideration during the interviews, as shown in Appendix E.
From January 2012 to May 2013, I conducted 16 interviews with the users of
queered hamams (13 face-to-face interviews with a single user, 2 online interviews
with a single user, and 1 group interview with multiple users), the duration of which
ranged from 15 to 115 minutes. Table 2.2 shows date, place and duration of each
interview; age, sexual identity and hometown of each interviewee, the queer spaces
and the queered hamams they visit as well as for how long they have been visiting
those hamams. These interviews were conducted in two stages: (1) the preliminary
interviews held with six queered hamam users (Pilot Interviews 1 and 2, Interviews
1, 2, 3, and 4) to form working hypotheses to be tested in (2) further interviews, the
data of which were analyzed to construct a conceptual framework.99
said it, is something beyond question, any more than a written document that can be
seen as tamper-proof, or above suspicion as a forgery.
97
Larson, „Research Design and Strategies‟ in History of Oral History: Foundations and
Methodology, 111.
98
Ibid., 112.
99
Caunce states that “[I]t is reasonable to limit the number of contributors at the beginning,
until it becomes clear that there are certain areas that seem to be historically significant,
and about which the contributors are willing and able to talk; then the investigation phase
can be ended and the main project defined.” Caunce, Oral History and the Local Historian,
132.
41
Table 2.2: Information about the oral history interviews with hamam users, the queer spaces
and the queered hamams they visit (PInt: Pilot Interview, Int: Interview, GInt: Group
Interview, P: Park, Be: Beerhouse, H: Hamam, C: Cinema, Ce: Center, B: Bar, I: Internet, S:
Sauna, VD: Video Room)
QUEERED
Interview
INTERVIEW INFO INTERVIEWEE INFO HAMAMS

# of the
QUEER
SPACES VISITED
Sexual Home VISITED
Date Place Duration Age Since Code
Identity town
Gay P, Be, H, C, 18 years
PInt 1 10/01/12 Ankara 60 min 38 Ankara A1, Iz1
Man Ce, B, I old
Gay S, B, VR, Iz1, Iz2,
PInt 2 18/01/12 İzmir 55 min 36 Stockholm 2010
Man H, I Is2
Bisexual P, Be, H, C, 18 years
Int 1 14/02/12 Ankara 115 min 43 Ankara A1, Iz1
Man Ce, I old
Gay
Int 2 26/02/12 İzmir 55 min 43 Dublin B, S, H, I 2000 Iz1, Iz2
Man
Bisexual P, Be, H, 24 years
Int 3 16/04/12 İzmir 65 min 57 İzmir Iz1, Iz2
Man C, I old
Trans. 22 years
Int 4 10/05/12 Ankara 70 min 64 Ankara H, C Is2
Woman old
Gay P, H, C, S, 18 years Iz1, Iz2,
Int 5 15/06/12 İzmir 75 min 67 İzmir
Man Be, I old A1, Is2
Gay P, B, H, C, 18 years Iz1, Iz2,
Int 6 02/09/12 İstanbul 50 min 38 İstanbul
Man S, I old Is1, Is2
Gay P, H, B, C, 18 years A1, Is1,
Int 7 20/09/12 Ankara 23 min 48 Ankara
Man Ce, Be old Is2
Bisexual
Int 8 18/11/12 İzmir 27 min 59 Ankara S, I - -
Man
Bisexual
Int 9 02/12/12 İzmir 96 min 62 İzmir H, C, I 2000 Iz1, Iz2
Man
Gay 20 years
Int 11 02/02/13 Online 35 min 60 İzmir H, I Iz1, Iz2
Man old
Gay 18 years
Int 12 25/02/13 Kuşadası 80 min 58 Ankara H, I, S, B A1, Iz1
Man old
Bisexual 18 years
Int 13 06/05/13 Online 15 min 40 İzmir C, I, H Iz1
Man old
Gay 30 years
Int 14 13/05/13 İzmir 15 min 53 Erzurum B, P, H, I A1
Man old
35
45 Trans. B, P, H, C, 18 years
GInt 31/08/12 İstanbul 20 min İstanbul Is1, Is2
48 Women Be, Ce, I old
72
42
I also conducted interviews with managers of three hamams (a non-queered hamam
in İzmir, Is2, Iz1) and another face-to-face interview with the tellak of the hamam
A1, the duration of which ranged from 20 to 61 minutes. Table 2.3 shows date, place
and duration of each interview, age, sexual identity and hometown of each
interviewee, the hamams which they manage, where they work and how long they
have been managing/working in those hamams.
Table 2.3: Information about the oral history interviews with 1 non-queered and 2 queered
hamams’ managers and an attendant in a queered hamam (Int: Interview, B: Bar)
MANAGER /
Interview
INTERVIEW INFO INTERVIEWEE INFO

# of the
QUEER ATTENDANT
SPACES
Sexual Home
Date Place Duration Age VISITED Of Since
Identity town
Manager of a
Heterosexual Not
Int 10 14/08/12 İzmir 61 min 58 İzmir non-queered 1987
Man known
Hamam
Not Manager of the
Int 15 29/06/13 İstanbul 23 min 38 Not known İstanbul 1993
known Hamam Is2
Manager of the
Int 16 09/08/13 İzmir 40 min 54 Gay Man İzmir B 1992
Hamam Iz1
Not Tellak in the
Int 17 14/09/13 Ankara 20 min 48 Gay Man Ankara 1993
known Hamam A1
After each interview session, the digital files (WMA) of the recordings were copied
both onto an external harddisk and a CD, re-named with the track number and the
date of the relevant interview and organized in folders for future use. If required, the
narrator was provided with a copy of the record file as well.
43
2.4.3 The Transcription
Final products of oral history may be diverse in nature: research files, video logs,
transcripts, cataloging manual, etc. Particular to this dissertation, which aims to
gather as much information on the use of hamam space as possible from individual
life histories, a full transcript of each interview was necessary. As Caunce highlights,
“transcribing is not an easy work” since “the recordings may be of variable quality,
accents and dialects may obscure relatively normal words.”100 He proposes that
“every significant pause is indicated on the transcript if there is to be total
reliability."101
I transcribed each interview session as soon as it finished, by listening to every word

carefully, preferably three times to spell it correctly. I wrote each interview into a
single word document, entitled with its name, track number, date and place. I
numbered the lines of each transcript in the left margin of the document in order to
find and quote any particular information when necessary.
2.4.4 Analyses and Interpretation
In the final stage, I conducted an in-depth reading and analysis of the transcription of
each interview. I found out that there are certain topics, resulting in a working
hypothesis which are experienced and interpreted by the interviewees as outstanding
issues regarding the queering of the hamams. Table 2.4 shows which interviewees
visit which queered hamams and which issues they highlighted during the interviews.
These issues are as follows: closeting in a hamam, exploration of a hamam, accessing
a hamam, experiencing commodified sex, coping with threats and claiming space in
a hamam, experiencing a hamam as a performance stage by means of multi-sensory
performances such as eye contact, voyeurism, cruising and massage, experiencing a
hamam as a homosocial environment by means of a particular form of verbal
communication, male-specific rituals, as well as homosocial networks.
100
101
Ibid.
44
Table 2.4: Common issues as experienced by the interviewees in queered hamams (PInt: Pilot
Interview, Int: Interview, GInt: Group Interview)
QUEERED OUTSTANDING ISSUES

INTERVIEWEE INFO HAMAMS
the Interview
Communciation
Claim for Space
Niches & Decor

Performativity
Homosociality
Commod. Sex
VISITED
Accessibility
Eye Contact
Exploration
Voyeurism
Networks
Closeting
Cruising
Massage
Threats
# of
Rituals
Sexual Home
Age Since To
Identity town
Gay 18 years
PInt 1 38 Ankara A1, Iz1 - X X X X X X X X - X - X X X X
Man old
Gay Iz1, Iz2,
PInt 2 36 Stockholm 2010 - X X - - - X X - - - X - - - -
Man Is2
Bisexual 18 years
Int 1 43 Ankara A1, Iz1 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
Man old
Gay
Int 2 43 Dublin 2000 Iz1, Iz2 - X - - X X X X X - - X - - - -
Man
Bisexual 24 years
Int 3 57 İzmir Iz1, Iz2 X X - X - X X X X X X X X X X X
Man old
Trans. 22 years
Int 4 64 Ankara Is2 - - - X - - - - - - - X X X X -
Woman old
Gay 18 years Iz1, Iz2,
Int 5 67 İzmir X X X X X - X X X X X - - - - X
Man old A1, Is2
Gay 18 years Iz1, Iz2,
Int 6 38 İstanbul - X X X - X X X X X X X X X X X
Man old Is1, Is2
Gay 18 years A1, Is1,
Int 7 48 Ankara - X X X - X X X X - - X - X - X
Man old Is2
Bisexual
Int 8 59 Ankara - - X - - - - - - X - - - X - - X X
Man
Bisexual
Int 9 62 İzmir 2000 Iz1, Iz2 - X X X X - X X X X - X - X - -
Man
Gay 20 years
Int 11 60 İzmir Iz1, Iz2 X X X - - X X X X X X - - - - X
Man old
Gay 18 years
Int 12 58 Ankara A1, Iz1 - X - X - - X X - - - X - - - -
Man old
Bisexual 18 years
Int 13 40 İzmir Iz1 X X X X - - X - X - X X - - - -
Man old
Gay 30 years
Int 14 53 Erzurum A1 X X - X X - - - X - X - - - - -
Man old
35 - X - - - X X - - - - X X X - -
45 Trans. 18 years X - - X X X X - - - - X X X - -
GInt İstanbul Is1, Is2
48 Women old X - - X X X X - - - - X X X - -
72 X - - X X X X - - - - X X X - -
45
It can be seen from the table that not all the issues apply to each interviewee. Some
interviewees (Pilot Interview 1, Interviews 1, 3, 6 and 7), for instance, experienced
nearly all these issues from the moment they explored a queered hamam until they
formed a homosocial network. Others (Interviews 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13 and 14) only
engaged in same-sex performances, but did not become part of the homosocial
network in the hamam. Yet, others (Interviews 4 and 8) did not engage in any same-
sex performance, but considered the queered hamam as part of a male-specific
homosocial network.
2.5 Case Analyses
In order to generate a real understanding of the problem field rather than describing it
alone,102 I further supported the evidential knowledge gathered from oral history
interviews by making case analyses of the selected queered hamams: Iz1, Iz2, Is1,
Is2, A1. There were two main criteria for selecting these particular hamams for case
analyses. First, these hamams were known as popular venues frequented by men
seeking same-sex pleasure in Ankara, İzmir and İstanbul. Their names not only used
to be revealed, from the 1990s, on certain websites that promote gay scene in these
cities but also mentioned by most interviewees who have been visiting them since
their youth. Second, in spite of various restorations they underwent in the 19th and/or
20th centuries, they still incorporate original architectural features that enable and
enhance a traditional bathing experience in an Ottoman-Turkish hamam.
The case analyses of these hamams were conducted in two stages. First, I conducted
a literature survey to understand the historical and urban contexts as well as the
architectural characteristics of these hamams. The literature survey enabled me to
find historical data, such as their construction dates, any renovations or
reconstructions, presented in the historical context column of the table, as well as
their locations in the urban environment, presented in the urban context column.
102
Sommer and Quinlan suggests that “[oral history] interviews should be begun first, and as
themes and potential problems are identified for further investigation, then documentary
research can take place.” Sommer and Quinlan, The Oral History Manual, 109.
46
Second, I conducted on-site inspections and participant observations in these
hamams to record their current situation. During my on-site inspections, I found out
how these hamams currently serve men and women as well as which chambers exist,
as presented in the architectural context column of the table. In addition, I drew
sketches of the interiors and recorded any changes and additional features which did
not exist in the original layout of those hamams.
Table 2.5 presents the data gathered for the case analyses under three contexts:
historical, urban and architectural. Due to issues of confidentiality, I have coded each
queered hamam with an abbreviation: Iz1 and Iz2 for the hamams in İzmir, A1 for
the hamam in Ankara, Is1 and 1s2 for the hamams in İstanbul.
Table 2.5: Information about the selected queered hamams in terms of historical, urban and
architectural contexts
HISTORICAL CONTEXT URBAN CONTEXT ARCHITECTURAL CONTEXT

Hamam
The
Reconstructed Type of Additional

Constructed City Type Chambers
/ Renovated District Features
Single-storey tea corner,
in the 19th or Single
in the 16th Trade & soyunmalık, storage,
Iz1 the early 20th İzmir Rical
century Shopping ılıklık & laundry &
century Hamam
sıcaklık toilets
Double-storey
in the 18th Single
Trade & soyunmalık,
Iz2 or the early in 1997 İzmir Rical toilets
Shopping ılıklık &
19th century Hamam
sıcaklık
Double-storey
Single
in the 16th Business & soyunmalık, sauna, showers
Is1 in 1965 İstanbul Rical
century Trade ılıklık & & toilets
Hamam
sıcaklık
Double-storey resting room,
Residential,
Single soyunmalık, massage room,
Recreational,
Is2 in 1430 in 1831 İstanbul Kuşluk soğukluk, sauna, showers,
Cultural &
Hamam ılıklık & mini bar, toilets
Shopping
sıcaklık & storage
Double-storey
in the 2nd in the 19th, Residential, sauna, steam
Double soyunmalık,
A1 half of the 20th & 21st Ankara Trade & room, showers,
Hamam ılıklık &
15th century centuries Shopping & toilets
sıcaklık
47
In order to prevent the recognizability of the selected hamams, I turned these
sketches into more abstract schemes showing the plan layout of each hamam as a
solid-void drawing, as seen in Figure 2.2. Particular sections of these schemes
showing the arrangement of each chamber are analyzed in a more detailed way in
Chapters 5 and 6.
Figure 2.2: Plan schemes of the queered hamams analyzed (Top-Left: A1, Top-Middle: Is1, Top-
Right: Is2, Bottom-Left: Iz1, Bottom-Right: Iz2)
48
2.6 Conceptual and Theoretical Framework
As a result of an in-depth analyses of the oral history interviews with users of

queered hamams, I found that there are certain outstanding issues regarding the
queering of the hamams as testified and experienced by the users. I argue that,
whether experienced similarly or differently, these issues have contributed to the
sexual identity construction of these users during their lifelong routine visits to these
hamams. In this dissertation, I analyze these issues in a tripartite conceptual
framework (closetedness, performativity and homosociality), in Chapters 5, 6 and 7
consecutively, each of which has been theorized as a particular spatiality (the hamam
as an urban closet, the hamam as a performance stage, and the hamam as a
homosocial space), as seen in Figure1.3.
Figure 1.3: Chart showing the queering of the Ottoman-Turkish hamam in three spatialities and
its relation to the (sexual) identity construction of the queer subject
49
In Chapter 5, I analyze how some users construct the hamam as an „urban closet‟ by
means of exploration, access, commodification, coping with police and homophobic
threats, as well as claiming space. For some users, the hamam is a „performance
stage‟ which provides them with ambivalent and unexpected spatial conditions that
require continuous exploration and experimentation. In Chapter 6, I analyze
performativity in the hamam in terms of performers‟ profiles, their permanent or
temporary sex-roles, the niches and the decor of the hamam stage as well as multi-
sensory performances acted out on this stage. Yet, some users visit the hamam to
socialize and realize male-specific rituals rather than closeting themselves and
looking for same-sex pleasure. In Chapter 7, I analyze how various forms of
„homosociality‟ are enacted in hamam space through verbal communication, cultural
rituals and solidarity networks among the users.
50
CHAPTER 3
(DE)SEXUALIZED CONSTRUCTIONS AND REPRESENTATIONS OF

THE HAMAM
3.1 Introduction
As much as being a physical space for communal bathing, the Ottoman-Turkish

hamam is a multi-layered construct. These layers of the hamam construct are both
sexualized and de-sexualized in accordance with its visual and literary
representations produced in various cultural geographies. In this chapter, based on an
extensive survey of art and architectural history literature, I aim to reveal how
various constructions and representations of the hamam have concealed and/or
manipulated the realities of (homo)sexuality in the Ottoman-Turkish hamam and led
to the production of certain preconceptions, archetypes and stereotypes regarding
hamam culture.
In the first section, I analyze how the hamam archetype is constructed in architectural
history writing by means of its formal and functional categorizations, neglecting
social and sexual practices in the hamams. In the second section, based on an
overview of the visual depictions of the hamam in the histories of both European and
Turkish Art, I discuss the over-emphasis on femininity and female homoeroticism in
these depictions as opposed to the underestimation of masculinity and male
homoeroticism. Finally, in the fourth section, I present how these stereotypical
depictions have affected the perception and representation of hamam culture both in
global and local discourse as well as in popular media.
51
3.2 The Hamam in Architectural History Writing
The first seminal studies on the hamam and its building typology were conducted by
the Austrian art historian Heinrich Glück and the German art historian Karl
Klinghardt in the early 20th century. These two researchers studied the Ottoman-
Turkish hamam as a distinctive building type through a formalist and functionalist
scientific approach.103
Glück, in Die Bäder Konstantinoples,104 proposes two types of classifications for an

Ottoman-Turkish hamam: functional and formal. Functionally, he describes the
spatial arrangement of a hamam‟s interiors as a series of chambers from the coldest
to the hottest: der Auskleide und Ruheraum (camekân), der halbwarme Raum
(soğukluk) and der Warmraum (harara or sıcaklık). Formally, as seen in Figure 3.1,
he classifies the formation of the sıcaklık section based on the subordination of the
domes and iwans along two axes: (1) Vieriwankuppel (four-iwan dome), (2)
Vieriwankuppeln auf Stützen (four-iwan dome with columns), (3) Achtstützenkreuz
mit Exedren, im Quadrat (a cross of eight columns in a square with extentions), (4)
Dreiiwankuppel (three-iwan dome), (5) Polygone mit Iwanerweiterung (polygon
with extended iwans).105
However, there are two gaps in Glück‟s study. First, his formal classification is based
on the formation of the sıcaklık section, without an analysis of how the other two
sections (camekân and soğukluk) affect this formation. Second, he does not question
whether these classifications apply to both the men‟s and the women‟s section in a
103
Such scientific studies analyze monumental historic buildings, as the Turkish architectural
historian Selen B. Morkoç argues, “as objects of functional, ideological and aesthetic
analyses”, or “as architectural symbols of the religio-political sphere” without “covering
private and social realms alike.” Selen B. Morkoç, A Study of Ottoman Narratives on
Architecture: Text, Context and Hermeneutics, (Betheseda, Dublin and Palo Alto:
Academica Press, 2010), 6-8.
104
Heinrich Glück, Probleme des Wölbungsbaues: Die Bäder Konstantinoples, (Vienna:
Halm & Goldmann, 1921).
105
Glück, Probleme des Wölbungsbaues: Die Bäder Konstantinoples, 48-50.
52
double hamam. Glück further provides a catalogue of 26 selected hamams in
İstanbul, each of which is analyzed in accordance with these functional and formal
classifications. Yet, in none of these analyses, he relates social aspects and the user
profile of a specific hamam to his classifications.
Figure 3.1: Typology of Ottoman baths according to Glück, Source: Kanetaki, (2004), 84
Klinghardt, in Türkische Bäder106 proposes a functional classification similar to

Glück‟s: „dschamken’, „soukluk’, „harara‟ and „iwane‟. Unlike Glück, but still using
a formalist approach, he also classifies the hamams in accordance with the
expression and the disposition of the sıcaklık: (1) kleine Bäder mit beliebig
106
Karl Klinghardt, Turkische Bäder, (Stuttgart: Julius Hoffmann, 1927).
53
angeordneter Raumfolge (Small bath with arbitrarily arranged rooms), (2) Bäder mit
einem hervorgehobenen gröβeren Raum (Bath with a distinguished large room), (3)
Bäder mit zentral gestaltetem Hauptschwitzraum (Bath with a central sweating
room), (4) Bäder mit sternförmigem Zentralraum (Bath with a star-shaped central
room), (5) Bäder auf offenbar byzantinischer Grundlage (Bath of an apparent
Byzantine basis).107
Figure 3.2: Typology of Ottoman baths according to Klinghardt, Source: Kanetaki, (2004), 84
In a section entitled „Bedeutung und Benutzung der Türkischen Bäder im

Öffentlichen und Privaten Leben (The Importance and Usage of the Turkish Bath in
107
Klinghardt, Turkische Bäder, 70.
54
Public and Private Life)‟, Klinghardt covers social aspects of the hamams. For
instance, he considers the entrance hall (Badevorhalle) as “a place to come together
and exchange information.”108 He criticizes the allocation of certain baths to
particular arts and craftsmen: “There is no distinction between social classes in a
hamam... In healing water, people come together for a common experience.” He adds
that “the quality of service, air, audience and cleanliness in a hamam are some of the
visiting criteria for the educated Turks.”109
Klinghardt also classifies the hamams according to gender-based usage: (1) male
hamams of the lower class (das Bad des einfachen Mannes) where men not only
have regular daily cleaning before praying but also rest, smoke and drink coffee, (2)
double hamams (Doppelbäder-tschift) used simultaneously by men and women, also
at night in cities.110 He also discusses the aspect of homosexuality in hamams
indicating that “sexual acts may occur during a bathing gathering, but in hamams of
the lower class”, and adds that “the reputation of baths in Bursa declined due to the
lovers playing there.”111 However, he does not explain in which hamams of the lower
class in Bursa, these acts occured.
The architectural historian Kemal Ahmet Aru, in Türk Hamamları Etüdü112, refers to
a simpler functional layout than the ones proposed by Glück and Klinghardt:
soyunmalık or camekân (apodyterium), soğukluk (tepidarium), sıcaklık (caldarium),
külhan (hypocausten). He proposes three types of classifications: (1) according to
source of water and location: halk hamamı (public bath), saray hamamı (palace bath)
and kaplıca (thermal bath)113; (2) according to gender-based usage: tek hamam
(single bath) and çifte hamam (double bath), and the double bath further into two
types: a men‟s section and a smaller women‟s section, attached only by a shared
108
Ibid., 6.
109
Ibid., 7.
110
Ibid., 9.
111
Ibid., 15.
112
Kemal Ahmet Aru, Türk Hamamları Etüdü, (İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi Mimarlık
Fakültesi Yayınları, İstanbul Matbaacılık, 1949).
113
Aru, Türk Hamamları Etüdü,30-31.
55
külhan, (b) male and female sections, nearly similar in size, attached sideways from
camekân, soğukluk, sıcaklık and külhan114; (3) A chronological classification: Bursa
Period (1325-1453), Classical Period (1453-1603), Regeneration Period (1603-
1702), and Baroque Period (1730-1808)115. However, he does not question how
gender-based classification affects the architecture of public and thermal baths as
well as the baths built in different periods.
Following the formalist approach of Glück and Klinghardt, the art historian Semavi
Eyice in İznik’te Büyük Hamam ve Osmanlı Hamamları Hakkında bir Deneme116
proposes six types of hamams according to how the sıcaklık space is formed and
arranged: (A) 4-iwan sıcaklık with corner halvets, (B) Star-shaped sıcaklık, (C)
Square domed sıcaklık surrounded with halvets, (D) Sıcaklık with multiple domes,
(E) Rectangular domed sıcaklık with two halvets, and (F) Same-sized sıcaklık with
ılıklık and halvet.117 (See Figure 3.3)
In the „Hamam‟ section of the İslam Ansiklopedisi, Eyice exemplifies these types by
selected hamams in İznik and İstanbul.118 As seen in Figure 3.4, the sıcaklık space in
the men‟s and women‟s sections of the İstanbul Haseki Hamam and the İznik Büyük
Hamam are of the same type and size, while in the İznik Hacı Hamza Hamam and
the Sapanca Rüstem Paşa Hamam, they are of different types and sizes. However,
this issue has not been further questioned by Eyice.
114
Ibid., 30.
115
Ibid., 53-119.
116
Semavi Eyice, “İznik‟te Büyük Hamam ve Osmanlı Hamamları Hakkında bir Deneme”,
Tarih Dergisi, c 11, sayı 15, (Eylül 1960): 99-120.
117
Eyice, “İznik‟te Büyük Hamam ve Osmanlı Hamamları Hakkında bir Deneme”, 105.
118
Semavi Eyice, “Hamam: I. Tarih ve Mimari”, in İslam Ansiklopedisi, (İstanbul: Türkiye
Diyanet Vakfı, 1997), 418-419.
56
Figure 3.3: Typology of Ottoman baths according to Eyice, Source: Kanetaki, (2004), 84
Figure 3.4: (A) The men’s section of İznik Hacı Hamza Hamam, (B) The men’s section of
Sapanca Rüstem Paşa Hamam, (C) The women’s section of the same hamam, (D) İstanbul
Haseki Hamam, (E) İznik Büyük Hamam, (F) İznik Ismail Bey Hamam, Source: Eyice, Islam
Ansiklopedisi, (1997), 418.
57
Providing formal and functional typologies and taking the strict male/female division
for granted without questioning how this division functioned in the daily use of
hamams in particular cities, Glück, Klinghardt, Eyice and Aru have formed a
referential basis for more recent research on the hamam archetype. After the 1990s,
an academic trend of case study research, in which the existing hamams in a
particular city are surveyed, recorded and catalogued, has emerged.
The restoration specialist Yılmaz Önge in Anadolu’da XII-XIII. Yüzyıl Türk

Hamamları119 focuses on technical and architectural details of Seljuk hamams built
in the 12th and 13th centuries. He analyzes 18 public hamams and 2 thermal baths in
accordance with the functional layout of soyunmalık, aralık, soğukluk, sıcaklık, su
deposu and külhan.120 As a gender-related issue, he only highlights “the attention
given to the positioning of the door of the female section of a hamam as opening to a
secondary street or an isolated place.”121
The historian Mehmet Nermi Haskan in İstanbul Hamamları122, records and analyzes
237 hamams in İstanbul, only 60 of which are still in service, in accordance with
their gender-based usages. The restoration specialist Mustafa Denktaş in Kayseri’de
Tarihi Su Yapıları (Çeşmeler ve Hamamlar)123 analyzes 21 hamam buildings in
Kayseri in accordance with the formal typology established by Eyice. The art
historian Harun Ürer in İzmir Hamamları124 analyzes 15 existing hamams in Izmir in
accordance with the functional layout of soyunmalık, soğukluk, ılıklık, sıcaklık and
külhan. The art historian Osman Eravşar in Tokat Tarihi Su Yapıları (Hamamlar)125
119
Yılmaz Önge, Anadolu’da XII-XIII. Yüzyıl Türk Hamamları, (Ankara: Vakıflar Genel
Müdürlüğü Yayınları, 1990).
120
Önge, Anadolu’da XII-XIII. Yüzyıl Türk Hamamları, 19-28.
121
Ibid., 12.
122
Mehmet Mermi Haskan, İstanbul Hamamları, (İstanbul: TURENG Yayınları, 1995).
123
Mustafa Denktaş, Kayseri’deki Tarihi Su Yapıları (Çeşmeler ve Hamamlar), (Kayseri:
Kıvılcım Yayınları, 2000).
124
Harun Ürer, İzmir Hamamları, (Ankara: TC. Kültür Bakanlığı Yayınları, 2002).
125
Osman Eravşar, Tokat Tarihi Su Yapıları (Hamamlar), (İstanbul: Arkeoloji ve Sanat
Yayınları, 2004).
58
analyzes 22 existing and 8 non-existing hamams in Tokat in accordance with Eyice‟s
formal typology.
This trend has also been followed by many scholars in departments of architecture,
archaeology and restoration in Turkish universities. An online survey using the
keyword „hamam‟ via the YOK (Turkish Higher Education Institute) database results
in 36 relevant graduate theses completed between 1991-2008 in Turkey.126 As seen
in Appendix F, 27 of these theses conduct case study research on a particular hamam
or hamams in a particular region, two of which have been published: Tire
Hamamları127 by the restoration specialist Canan Çakmak, and Bursa Hamamları128
by the restoration specialist Elif Şehitoğlu. Çakmak catalogues and analyzes 13
existing hamams in Tire in accordance with Eyice‟s typology under 6 groups.
Şehitoğlu focuses on the thermal baths and hamams in Bursa, a city famous for its
thermal water sources. In the second section of her book, she initially classifies 41
surviving Ottoman-Turkish baths in Bursa under 4 types – Külliye Hamamları, Çarşı
Hamamları, Mahalle Hamamları and Kaplıcalar – with reference to Aru. She further
analyzes these hamams in accordance with Eyice‟s formal typology.
The Turkish architectural historian Gülru Necipoğlu, in her article entitled „Plans and
Models in 15th- and 16th-Century Ottoman Architectural Practice‟129, goes beyond
these formal and functional typologies and analyzes the formation of men‟s and
women‟s sections in the early architectural drawings of hamams. She compares the
men‟s section and the women‟s section in the first plan drawing of a double hamam,
dated to the second half of the 15th century (Figure 3.5) and drawn in black ink over a
grid of 8x8 mm2 with simple conventions, as follows:
126
This survey was conducted and presented as the term paper of the course ARCH 616
Architectural Research II given in Spring 2008–2009, at METU Faculty of Architecture.
127
Canan Çakmak, Tire Hamamları, (Ankara: TC. Kültür Bakanlığı Yayınları, 2002).
128
Elif Şehitoğlu, Bursa Hamamları, (İstanbul, Tarih Vakfı Yurt Yayınları, 2008).
129
Gülru Necipoğlu, “Plans and Models in 15th- and 16th-Century Ottoman Architectural
Practice”, The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Vol. 45, No. 3, (1986):
224-243.
59
The men's changing room, containing 21 x 21 squares, has a flower-shaped
fountain at its center and is surrounded by raised platforms on all sides. The
smaller women's disrobing room to its left, the interior of which measures 13 x
13 squares, has a separate entrance and is similarly surrounded by raised
platforms with a hexagonal fountain at the center. These two dressing areas
communicate with remaining sections of the bath, terminating in a long area at
the back for the furnace.130
Figure 3.5: Plan of a double bath, second half of the 15th century (Topkapı Palace Museum
Archives E. 9495/7), Source: Necipoğlu, (1986), 228.
130
Necipoğlu, “Plans and Models in 15th- and 16th-Century Ottoman Architectural
Practice”, 229.
60
In this article, Necipoğlu also analyzes plan drawings of two single hamams, dated to
the last quarter of the 16th century, in which the name of each chamber and
architectural feature is indicated (Figure 3.6). She interprets that these two plans “not
only contain valuable information about the layout and terminology of a bath's
individual units, but also testify to the existence of Ottoman ground plans with easily
legible conventions.”131
Figure 3.6: Left: Plan of a Turkish bath, last quarter of the 16th century (Osterreichische
Nationalbibliothek, Vienna, Cod. 8615, fol. 151r), Right: Plan of a Turkish bath, last quarter of
the 16th century (Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna, Cod. 8615, fol. 153r), Source:
Necipoğlu, (1986), 225-226.
131
Ibid., 226.
61
Even though Necipoğlu does not primarily aim to trace the gendered construction of
the hamam archetype, there are several gaps in her study. First, she provides no
information about why the men‟s changing room was designed as a bigger space than
the women‟s in such a proportion, and how the placement of the entrances of the two
sections was decided. Second, it is not legible from the plan drawings whether these
single hamams are serving either only men (rical hamamı), only women (avret
hamamı), or both men and women at different hours of the day (kuşluk hamamı).
Furthermore, Necipoğlu does not question how the usage of the chambers and spatial
features may have changed accordingly.
A few studies focus on social and cultural aspects of hamams, rather than treating
them only as formal and functional material entities. The restoration specialist Tülay
Taşçıoğlu in Türk Hamamı132 discusses architectural, religious, social, economic and
cultural aspects of hamams. However, she neither questions the formal and
functional typologies of hamam archetypes nor provides a new unique typological
framework in light of the aspects she discusses. Another study is a PhD dissertation
entitled „The Life Story of the Çemberlitaş Hamam: From Bath to Tourist
Attraction‟133 by the art historian Nina Cichocki. This dissertation, the first scholarly
book-length study of a single hamam, recognizes the new meanings that the hamam
acquired and then integrates the global and the local within a unique format.134 It also
combines a survey of the Çemberlitaş Hamam‟s architecture with a reconstruction of
the historical context by means of archival evidence, an analysis of its ideological
132
Tülay Taşçıoğlu, Türk Hamamı, hazırlayan: Ali Pasiner, (İstanbul: Duran Ofset, 1998).
133
Nina Cichocki, The Life Story of Çemberlitaş Hamam: From bath to tourist attraction,
PhD dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of
Minnesota, 2005, 35.
134
The format used by Cichocki is a biography, to see contextual shifts in the use and
meanings of the hamam, to evaluate a local institution in a global context and within an
economic, social and cultural network. These contexts are treated as the life story of
Çemberlitaş Hamam in the following stages: „genealogy of the hamam‟, „birth of the
hamam‟, „the family network of the hamam‟, „making money out of the hamam‟, „sickness
and recovery of the hamam by renovations‟, „old age and the hamam‟s value as a heritage‟,
and „second spring of the hamam as tourist attraction‟.
62
meaning, and a history of the perception of the hamam, discussing such issues as
„heritage politics, orientalism, globalization and tourism‟.
The art historian Nina (Cichocki) Ergin highlights that while many of the double
hamams “offered equal facilities for men and women”; there were also double
hamams “where the women‟s section was smaller, probably based on the
demographics of the neighborhood.”135 She argues that social interaction between the
sexes in a double hamam was “furthermore prevented by placing the entrance to the
women‟s section away from that of the men‟s section.”136 Accordingly, the entrance
of the men‟s section opens out to a main road or an arena, while the entrance of the
women‟s section (much simpler and smaller) opens out to a side road allowing
discrete and unobserved access to the hamam (See Figure 1.1).
3.3 The Hamam in Art History
The histories of European Art and Turkish Art discuss various artistic representations
of Ottoman-Turkish hamams. One major period of such representations in the history
of European Art is the 19th century, during which Orientalist paintings of hamam
scenes, particularly depicting bathing women and interiors of the women‟s section of
a hamam, were produced. French Orientalist painters such as Jean Auguste
Dominique Ingres, Jean-Léon Gérôme and Edouard Debat-Ponsan, inspired partially
by the literary depictions in the travelogues of Lady Mary Wortley Montague and
Julia Pardoe, represented the bathing women of the Orient as lustful and shameless
sex objects for the voyeuristic gaze of the European male.
Most of these paintings display the naked female body in a corner of the sıcaklık
section of a hamam, over-emphasizing corporeality rather than the hamam space by
135
Nina Ergin, “Architecture and Sociability in Turkish Hamams”, unpublished paper
presented in Fürdö, Hamam, Sauna Symposium, 25-26 April 2009, (İstanbul: Koç
University Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations), 8 (retrieved from the author)
136
Ibid.
63
creating an “Oriental mirage”.137 In the paintings by Gérôme, for instance, who
pictorialized the hamam many times in the 19th century, we can observe a tendency
that foregrounds „the bodily femaleness‟ of bathers and represents the Orient as „a
deviant paradise‟ full of naked or semi-naked female bodies. In a similar vein, in the
painting „Bain Turc‟ by Ingres, the female figures are represented in compliance with
the Western aesthetic pleasure for the Eastern female body (Figure 3.7).
Figure 3.7: 19th century paintings by Jean-Léon Gérôme (Left: After the Bath, Jean-Léon
Gérôme, oil on canvas, 61 x 81 cm, 1881, Source: http://www.artprintcollection.com, Right: The
Turkish Bath, Jean Auguste Dominique D’Ingres, 1862, oil on canvas, diameter: 110 cm, Musée
des Louvre, Paris, Source: Visit the Louvre Catalogue, (2005), 98
137
Ruth Bernard Yeazell highlights that “… the Bain Turc commemorates Ingres‟ long-
decades obsession with some eye-witness records – descriptions of Turkish women at their
bath that had first encountered in the letters of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu […]
Sometimes in the late 1830‟s, he [Ingres] copied out several lenghty extracts from them
into his notebooks […]” Ruth Bernard Yeazell, Harems of the Mind: Passages of Western
Art and Literature, (Yale University Press, printed in China, 2000), 36-37.
64
Figure 3.8. Le Massage, Edouard Debat-Ponsan, 1883, Musée des Augustins, Toulouse, Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89douard_Debat-Ponsan
The hamam paintings of the Italian painter Fausto Zonaro, who spent a long time in
the Ottoman lands at the end of the 19th century, look more realistic than the
imaginary paintings of Ingres, Gérôme and Debat-Ponsan, in terms of representing
the bathing women not as sex objects but as mothers, relatives and friends, as well as
traditional features of bathing such as nalın, peştamal, etc and architectural details of
a hamam‟s interiors in more detail (Figure 3.9).
65
Figure 3.9: Hamam Triology by Fausto Zonaro (Left: Women entering the hamam, Middle:
Women in the hamam, Right: Women relaxing after the bath), Source: Bal, (2010), 19.
However, considering that there is no possibility for a male painter to be an

eyewitness to the interior of a women‟s bath, it is questionable in how far Zonaro‟s
hamam paintings reflect reality. Yet, the representation of women in his paintings is
a „descriptive‟ usage of gender “associated with the study of things related to
women”, rather than understanding their social and cultural nature.138
Apart from the Orientalist painters of the 19th century, as the Turkish art historian
Günsel Renda argues, “who aimed to represent naked and semi-naked female bodies
138
The American feminist historian Joan Wallach Scott describes the approaches of feminist
historians in studying the historical construction and conceptualization of gender as
twofold: “first, descriptive – referring to the existence of phenomena or realities without
interpreting, explaining or attributing causality; second, causal – theorizing about the
nature of phenomena or realities, seeking an understanding of how and why these take the
forms they do” Joan Wallach Scott, “Excerpts from Gender: A Useful Category for Historical
Analysis”, in Jane Rendell (ed.) Gender Space Architecture: An Interdisciplinary Introduction,
(New York & London: Routledge, 2000), 77-78.
66
in an exotic environment rather than documenting bathing traditions” 139, there were
also other European painters in the same period, whose paintings “reflected real
images”140 based on their eyewitness accounts in the men‟s section of public
hamams. The British painters Thomas Allom and William Henry Bartlett who stayed
in İstanbul in the early 19th century were “more realistic in depicting the architectural
details of the hamam interiors and privileged customers served by tellaks.”141 These
painters, as Renda comments, “draw attention to the importance of public hamams
open to people from various classes and professions.”142 In the soyunmalık depictions
of Allom and Bartlett, we can see semi-naked or clothed male customers resting,
smoking or being served by the hamam attendants before they leave the hamam
(Figure 3.10). In a sıcaklık depiction by Allom, we can see a man seated by a kurna
and bathing himself and another man being scrubbed by a tellak (Figure 3.11).
Figure 3.10: Left: Outer Cooling Room of the Bath near Psamatra Kapousi, Thomas Allom,
1838 c., Source: IBB Atatürk Kitaplığı, SEL_2350/044; Right: Cooling Room of a Hamam,
William Henry Bartlett, 1838 c., Source: IBB Atatürk Kitaplığı, ME_YD_3318/007
139
Günsel Renda, “Ressam Gözüyle Osmanlı Hamamı”, in Nina Ergin (ed.) Anadolu
Medeniyetlerinde Hamam Kültürü: Mimari, Tarih ve İmgelem, (İstanbul Koç Üniversitesi
Yayınları, 2011), 395.
140
Renda, Ressam Gözüyle Osmanlı Hamamı, 395.
141
Ibid., 377.
142
Ibid.
67
Figure 3.11: The Interior of a Hamam, Thomas Allom, 1838 c., Source: IBB Atatürk Kitaplığı,
SEL_2350/017
As seen in the figures above, there is a major difference between the depictions of
the women‟s section and the men‟s section of an Ottoman-Turkish hamam. In the
orientalist paintings of Ingres, Gérôme and Debat-Ponsan, the naked female figures,
as the dominating elements of their imaginary compositions, do not only serve to
satisfy the voyeuristic gaze of the European male, but also reflect a homoerotic
desire in the expression of intimate body contact among the bathing women. In
comparison, in their more realistic paintings of the men‟s section, Allom and Bartlett
emphasize the functions of sıcaklık and soğukluk spaces where the male bathers are
depicted in various poses to support this functionality, while their sexuality is not
explicitly depicted.
There is also a common problem in most of these paintings: the lack of name, type or
location of the specific hamam, the interiors of which are visually depicted. In fact, if
we had this information, we could have it cross-checked with the information on
selected hamam cases for this dissertation. In this way, we might have been able to,
68
first, predict the user profile in the men‟s and women‟s sections of a specific hamam
in a specific neighborhood; second, relate this profile with that hamam‟s type, size
and spatial arrangement; and third, as Renda indicates, “get clues about the services
offered to customers of various classes and status”143 in that specific hamam.
We also come across hamam paintings in Ottoman miniatures, yet not as frequently
as in European Art. The Ottoman miniatures of the 16th century, for instance,
produced mostly as illustrations for manuscripts such as Surname-i Humayun,
Hünername, etc., differ from the above-mentioned European paintings, in terms of
artistic style, spatial expression and detailing. However, they reflect more or less a
similar approach to the works of Allom and Bartlett in representing bathing,
dressing, resting and working men in the different chambers of a hamam, without
any reference to sexuality (Figure 3.12).
Figure 3.12: Left: Rūmī Spends a Day in the Hot Baths of a Hamam, Tarjuma-i Thawāqib-i
manāqib (A Translation of Stars of the Legend), 1590, Topkapı Palace Museum, Middle:
Ottoman miniature depicting pageboys (içoğlanları) bathing in Hünkar Hamam in Topkapı
Palace (Hünername by Seyyid Lokman Aşuri, vol. II, 1589 c. Topkapı Palace Museum), Right:
Ottoman miniature depicting a men’s bath (Khamsa of Nizami, 1494, British Museum, London)
143
Ibid., 378.
69
This pictorial association of the hamam with female sexuality and eroticism
continued in the following centuries. In the painting „Woman at her toilette in a
hammam‟ by Abdullah Buhari, one of the famous market painters of the 18th century,
a nude and pear-shaped woman bathing by a kurna displays her breasts and partially
her genitals. In another painting which is produced as part of the manuscript
Zenanname by the Ottoman poet Enderunlu Fazıl in 1793, we see various-aged
naked women bathing in quite a comfortable manner (Figure 3.13).
Figure 3.13: Left: Woman at her toilette in a hammam by Abdullah Buhari, Topkapı Palace
Museum, 1741-42, Source: Kayaoğlu and Pekin, (1992); Middle: A painting showing bathing
women, Zenanname by Enderunlu Fazıl, 1793, Istanbul University Library, Source: Kayaoğlu
and Pekin, 1992.
70
A painting dated 1933, by the Turkish illustrator Münif Fehim Özerman is similar to
the Orientalist hamam paintings of Ingres, Gérôme and Debat-Ponsan, in various
terms: the depiction of naked and semi-naked women in various erotic poses, the
presence of a black female figure, as well as a partially-drawn sıcaklık space the size
of which cannot be estimated (Figure 3.14).
Figure 3.14: A painting by Münif Fehim Özerman showing the interior of a women’s bath, 1933,
Source: Yedigün Journal, (1933)
In the history of Turkish Arts, we rarely come across the depiction of effeminate
males, an identity which is believed to have occurred mostly among the hamam
attendants (tellak). In a painting in the album of Ahmed I, we see young men
swimming, bathing and cleaning each other in a pool. The art historian Emine
71
Fetvacı sees a “sense of camaraderie, youth, intimacy and playfulness”144 in this
painting, which she considers “a festive scene that helps us visualize one of the
physical contexts in which men socialized intimately.”145 In the illustration „Huban-ı
Tellak‟, which is produced as part of the manuscript Hubanname by the Ottoman
poet Enderunlu Fazıl in 1793, a male tellak figure standing by a kurna is depicted in
quite an effeminate manner in terms of his facial expression, body proportion and
dress (Figure 3.15).
Figure 3.15: Left: Painting depicting young men swimming, bathing and cleaning each other in
a bath pool in an intimate fashion (Source: Album_Ahmed1_TSMK_B408_18aHamam,
Topkapı Palace Museum), Right: Huban-ı Tellak, Hubanname, 1793, Source: Feza Çakmut,
(1975).
144
Emine Fetvacı, “Love in the Album of Ahmed I” in Cemal Kafadar and Gönül A. Tekin
(ed.) Journal of Turkish Studies, vol. 34/II, (December 2010): 39.
145
Emine Fetvacı, Love in the Album of Ahmed I, 39.
72
In the painting of an entertainment scene in the men‟s section of a hamam, made by
Münif Fehim Özerman, young boys are depicted as dancing for an audience
composed of middle-aged men. In this painting, the young boys look very feminine
with their slim bodies and dancing style, while the men watching them are macho-
looking and masculine (Figure 3.15).
Figure 3.16: The illustration of dancing boys in a hamam, Münif Fehim Özerman, date:
unkown, Source: Halil Bezmen Collection, 139b
3.4 The Hamam in Travel Literature
Hamams have also been a frequent subject of travel literature. Especially the
narratives of European travelers have constituted a significant part of the literature on
hamams since the early 18th century. These travelogues can be grouped into two, in
terms of the author‟s gender and the way in which s/he depicts same-sex intimacy
73
among the bathers in a hamam: the narratives of male travelers on homosexuality,
and the narratives of female travelers on homosociality.
We rarely come across female and male homosexuality in the narratives of male
travelers. The Austrian ambassador Ogier Ghislain de Busbecq and the Italian
traveler Luigi Bassano de Zara, both of whom were forbidden to enter the women‟s
section of a hamam, mostly depicted what they imagined about this space rather than
what they observed. In their narratives, the hamam space is abstracted from its
environmental, social and cultural contexts, and constructed as „a stereotypical
venue‟ offering “a vision of synaesthetic and sensual indulgence”146 for the so-called
„Oriental feminine figure‟. Busbecq in Turkish Letters (originally published in 1595)
claims that “a hamam is quite a convenient space for some elderly women to fall in
love with young girls coming from all around the world.”147 Bassano, who authored
one of the most authoritative commentaries on the customs of the Ottomans, amongst
whom he spent eight years (1532-1540), described a women‟s hamam as follows:
… [women would go to the hammam] with others, and they wash each other. It
is common knowledge that as a result of this familiarity in washing and rubbing
women fall in love with each other. Therefore it is common that a woman be in
love with another woman. And I have met Greek and Turkish women who, on
seeing a beautiful girl, seek occasion to bath with her, just to see her naked and
touch her. That is why, though it is customary to go the neighborhood
hammam, women would go to more distant hammams. Women‟s bathing is a
cause of much dishonesty.148
146
Patrick Conner, “On the Bath: Western Experience of the Hammam”, Culture, Theory
and Critique, vol. 31, issue 1, (London: Routledge, 1987): 34.
147
Ogier Ghislain de Busbecq, Türk Mektupları (Turkish Letters), translated by Hüseyin
Cahit Yalçın, (İstanbul: Remzi Kitabevi, 1939), 150-151.
148
Luigi Bassano de Zara, Costumi et i modi particolari della vita dei Turchi (The Costumes
and the Manners of the Turks, 1545, quoted in Anna Vanzan, “Turkish Hammam and the
West: Myth and Reality” in Emine G. Naskali and Hilal O. Altun (ed.) Acta Turcica,
Çevrimiçi Tematik Türkoloji Dergisi, II/2, “Kültür Tarihimizde Hamam”, (Temmuz 2010):
5.
74
In 1856, the French author Lascelles Wraxall wrote a travelogue on his one-week
journey to İstanbul, in which he described not only the spatial layout and
architectural features of an Ottoman hamam he visited in Galata, but also the
intimate massage he was given by a young tellak.149 The Turkish travel writer Evliya
Çelebi, in the 35th section (Hamamcılar Esnafı) of his famous Seyahatname (vol. 1,
1630-40), classified the 15th and 16th century hamams in İstanbul in accordance with
their male users‟ professions and social status150 and “linked the Ortaköy Hamam
with prostitutes”.151 In the 3rd volume of Seyahatname, he depicts how young and
silver-skinned Persian boys swim like fish and touch each other in the hot springs
located on the outskirts of Nahcivan.152 In the 9th volume, he describes a men‟s
hamam he visited in Vienna in 1665 as follows: “In these hamams, while elderly
people are clothed in peştamals, young adolescents are fully naked; exposing their
slender and soft bodies oscillating like broth and curly hairs smelling musk…
playing with each other and enjoying the hamam”.153
The testimony of European female travel writers are quite explanatory in terms of
female homosociality in a hamam. However, there is no single view of homosociality
since each female travel writer interprets this female-only environment through her
own perspective and social status. Although the hamam atmosphere may have been
unattractive or even repulsive for many female travelers, some of them seem to have
149
Lascelles Wraxall, “A Week in Constantinople”, Bentley’s Miscellany, 39, (1856): 304.
150
Though being too generalized, Tülay Taşçıoğlu describes Evliya Çelebi‟s classification as
follows:
Aksaray Hamam for courtiess, Cerrahpaşa Hamam for surgeons, Cuma Pazarı Hamam for
market sellers, Çinili Hamam for muralists, Davutpaşa Hamam for armor-makers, Kadırga
Limanı Hamam for sailors, Lonca Hamam for musicians, Macuncu Hamam for paste-
makers, Haydarpaşa Hamam, Yenikapı Hamam and Küçük Ayasofya Hamam for
dervishes, Sultan Süleyman Hamam for poets, Yeni Bahçe Hamam for gardeners, etc
Tülay Taşçıoğlu, Türk Hamamı, (İstanbul: Duran Ofset, 1998): 112.
151
Evliya Çelebi, The Seyahatname of Evliya Çelebi. Book One: İstanbul, 137/96a, quoted in
Marinos Sariyannis, “Prostitution in Ottoman Istanbul, Late Sixteenth – Early Eighteenth
Century”, Turcica 40, (2008): 58.
152
Evliya Çelebi Seyahatnamesi, vol. III, edited by Zuhuri Danışman, (İstanbul: Zuhuri
Danışman Yayınevi, 1969-71, 15 vols): 230.
153
Ibid. vol. IX, 298. (translated by the author)
75
been affronted by the hamams‟ lack of racial segregation rather than its other
features. One such female travel writer is Sofia Lane Poole, a British woman who
described the hamams in Cairo in the 1840s as “disgusting”. Obviously, she was
offended not only by the exposure of female flesh, but also the mingling of different
ethnicities and social classes:
On entering the chamber a scene presented itself with beggar's description. My

companion had prepared me for seeing many persons undressed; but imagine
my astonishment on finding at least thirty women of all ages and many young
girls and children perfectly unclothed. You will scarcely think it possible that
no one but ourselves had a vestige of clothing. Persons of all colors, from the
black and glossy shade of the negro to the fairest possible hue of complexion,
were formed in groups, conversing as though fully dressed, with perfect
nonchalance.154
For a Victorian lady, the impact of seeing such a relaxed attitude of Eastern women
to frank nudity must have been, as Anna Vanzan, an Italian scholar of Islamic
Studies, describes, “not only outrageous, but also promiscuous and uncontrollably
licentious.”155 Analogously, Harriet Martineau, a British feminist who traveled in the
Middle East in the same period, described her experience in a hamam as if it was a
descent to hell:
Through the dense stream, I saw a reservoir where the water stands to cool for
some time before it can be entered: several women were standing in it; and
those who had come out were sitting on a high shelf in a row, to steam
themselves thoroughly […] The crowd and the steam were oppressive, that I
154
Sofia Lane Poole, The Englishwoman in Egypt: Letters from Cairo Written During a
Residence There in 1842, 3 and 4, vol. II, (London: Charles Knight and Co., 1844): 173.
155
Anna Vanzan, “Turkish Hamam and the West: Myth and Reality”, in Emine G. Naskali
and Hilal O. Altun (ed.) Acta Turcica, Çevrimiçi Tematik Türkoloji Dergisi, II/2, “Kültür
Tarihimizde Hamam”, (Temmuz 2010): 4.
76
wondered how they could stay; but the noise was not to be endured for a
moment. Everyone seemed to be gabbling at the top of her voice, and we
rushed out after a mere glance, stunned and breathless. To this moment, I find it
difficult to think of these creatures as human beings and certainly I never saw
anything which so impressed me with a sense of the impassable differences of
race.156
The best-known hamam narratives are those of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, the
wife of Edward Wortley Montagu who served as the British ambassador in Istanbul
from 1716 to 1718. In her famous account of a visit to a pre-marriage ceremony in
Istanbul, as Mary Jo Kietzman, an English professor of literature describes, we see
“an experimental approach to ethnography” with “her attentiveness to the dialogical
and temporal character of her encounter.”157 In this account, according to Kietzman,
Montague does not “other the women by making them stand for generalized Oriental
humanity or the disjunction between the Eastern and Western cultures.”158 Instead,
she represents “an encounter in which all participants collaborate to construct their
subjectivities in relation to the Other not by denying difference but by articulating
and exploring it.”159
I was in my travelling habit, which is a riding dress, and certainly appeared

very extraordinary to them. Yet there was not one of them that showed the least
surprise or impertinent curiosity, but received me with all the obliging civility
possible. I know no European court where the ladies would have behaved
themselves in so polite a manner to a stranger... The lady that seemed the most
considerable among them entreated me to sit by her, and would fain have
156
Harriet Martineau, Eastern Life: Present and Past, (Philadelphia: Lea and Blanchard,
1848), 544.
157
Mary Jo Kietzman, “Montagu‟s Turkish Embassy Letters and Cultural Dislocation”,
Studies in English Literature, vol. 38, no:3, (Rice University, 1998): 538.
158
Ibid.
159
Ibid.
77
undressed me for the bath. I excused myself with some difficulty, they being
however all so earnest in persuading me,... I was at last forced to open my
stays, which satisfied them very well,... they believed I was so locked up in that
machine, that it was not in my own power to open it, which contrivance they
attributed to my husband.160
Female homosociality in the narratives of Montagu incorporates contrasting features

of representation. In the same account, Montague articulates that bathing women in
hamams are fully naked but not immodest, free but not licentious, languid but not
unproductive. Montagu‟s delight in seeing those naked women is, as John C. Beynon
argues, “... characterized by self-conscious reflection about her own status as an
observer and interest in her own acts of looking.”161 Beynon proposes that such
“[S]apphic […] models of visual pleasure between women seem a more appropriate
model for understanding Lady Mary‟s erotic delight in looking at women.”162 It is
not the sexual possession of women that interests her (as it invariably interests male
observers), but something we might call „the representation of women's sexual self-
expression‟.
The first sofas were covered with cushions and rich carpets, on which sat the
ladies, and on the second their slaves behind them, but without any distinction
of rank by their dress, all being in the state of nature, that is, in plain English,
stark naked, without any beauty or defect concealed. Yet there was not the least
wanton smile or immodest gesture amongst them [...] I was here convinced of
the truth of a reflection I had often made, that it was the fashion to go naked,
the face would be hardly observed. I perceived that the ladies with finest skins
and most delicate shapes had the greatest share of my admiration, though their
160
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, “To Lady_1 April 1717”, in The Turkish Embassy Letters,
(London: Virago Press, 1994): 58-59.
161
John C. Beynon, “Lady Mary Wortley Montagu‟s Sapphic Vision”, in Holden P &
Ruppel R. J. (ed.) Imperial Desire: Dissident Sexualities and Colonial Literature, (The
University of Minnesota Press, 2003): 36.
162
Ibid., 34.
78
faces were sometimes less beautiful than those of their companions... so many
fine women naked, in different postures, some in conversation, some working,
others drinking coffee or sherbet, and many negligently lying on their
cushions… I have now entertained you with an account of such a sight [...] no
book of travels could inform you of as ‟tis no less than death for a man to be
found in one of these places‟.163
The English traveler, poet, historian and novelist Julia Pardoe, who travelled to
Istanbul with her father in 1836, characterizes the hamam depictions of the preceding
European travelers as „imaginary tales that can be considered almost real‟. For
instance, she questions Montague‟s narratives by announcing: “I had witnessed none
of that unnecessary and wanton exposure described by Montague […] Either the fair
Ambassadress was present at a particular ceremony, or the Turkish ladies have
become more delicate and fastidious in their ideas of propriety.”164 Similar to
Montague‟s accounts, Pardoe‟s hamam depictions are focused on spatiality; yet, the
multi-sensory illusion created by the hamam space leads her to a constructed reality
and a fallacy to consider her single experience of a hamam as representative of all
women‟s hamams:
For the first few minutes I was bewildered; the heavy, dense, sulphureous
vapour that filled the place, and almost suffocated me - the wild shrill cries of
the slaves pealing through the reverberating domes of the bathing-halls, enough
to awaken the very marble with which they were lined - the subdued laughter
and whispered conversations of their mistresses, murmuring along in an under
current of sound - the sight of nearly three hundred women, only partially
dressed, and that in fine linen so perfectly saturated with vapour that it revealed
the whole outline of the figure - the busy slaves passing and repassing, naked
163
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, “To Lady_1 April 1717”, 58-59.
164
Julia Pardoe, The City of Sultans and Domestic Manners of Turks, (London: Henry
Colburn, 1836), 130.
79
from the waist upwards, and with their arms folded upon their bosoms,
balancing on their heads poles of fringed or embroidered napkins - groups of
lovely girls, laughing, chatting, and refreshing themselves with sweetmeats,
sherbet, and lemonade - parties of playful children.165
3.5 The Hamam in Ottoman-Turkish Literature
Sexualized representations of the hamam and hamam culture can also be seen in
various genres of Ottoman-Turkish literature such as novels, pamphlets, folk plays,
poems and stories. The possibility of intimate relationships (cross- or same-sex) in
public space which are forbidden by authorities regulating Islamic morality, are
revealed in Ahmet Rasim‟s novel Hamamcı Ülfet166, originally published in 1898.
An elderly woman, named Pakize, falls in love with a young girl named Ülfet as she
sees and touches her naked body in the hamam. This novel, treating a desperate
relation between two women, may also be interpreted as a reflection of public
opinion against the integration of women in Ottoman-Turkish public space. Another
depiction of a lesbian relationship can be seen in the Karagöz folk play Çifte
Hamamlar167, in which the main character Karagöz searches for ways to enter the
women‟s section of a hamam, where “there is a lesbian couple that falls out and then
makes up with a lot of mutual excitement.”168
165
Julia Pardoe, The Beauties of the Bosphorus, (London: George Virtue, 1839), 15.
166
Ahmet Rasim, Hamamcı Ülfet, (İstanbul: Arba Yayınları, 1987).
167
Muhittin Sevilen, „Çifte Hamamlar Oyunu yahut Karagöz‟ün Dayak Yemesi‟, Karagöz,
(İstanbul: Milli Eğitim Basımevi, 1969).
168
Ze‟evi Dror, Producing Desire: Changing Sexual Discourse in the Ottoman Middle East,
1500-1900, (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2006), 142.
80
Figure 3.17: The illustration depicting Karagöz trying to enter the women’s section of a hamam,
Source: Fig1944 AD 56, National Library Archive, Ankara
Marinos Sariyannis discusses the relation of hamams to prostitution by referring to a

pornographic poem from the late 18th century, Şevk-engiz by Sünbülzade Vehbi,
claiming that “most women ready for love were attendants in women‟s baths.”169
Yet, due to rigid segragation between men‟s and women‟s sections of a public
hamam, “which was easy to surpass, at least in small, ill-reputed baths”170, this type
of prostitution was more likely to be homosexual rather than heterosexual.
In most narratives of homosexual prostituton in hamams, tellaks were depicted as

having sex with their customers; over time this had led to the public opinion that all
tellaks have such a sexual orientation. The Turkish historian Reşat Ekrem Koçu
shares quite interesting details about the sexual rituals of these hamam attendants: “It
is no doubt that pretty boys at the age of 13–15 wearing only a silk peştamal have
169
Century”, Turcica 40, (2008): 58.
170
Ibid., 59.
81
spent years of sexual affairs with men of higher status and ages […] They received
high tips for their services.”171 Dellakname-i Dilkuşa (The Heart-breaking Book of
Masseurs), a manuscript written by Derviş İsmail in 1686 and published rather
inadequately by the Turkish journalist Murat Bardakçı, tells the personal stories of 11
tellaks, working as male prostitutes in that period and explains not only in which
hamam they were employed but also how much money they received.172 Sariyannis
mentions that these tellaks were chosen amongst boys who were caught at
“prostituting themselves or even just raped” and “recorded in a specific register by
the subaşı”173 and shares the following information about their working procedure:
In a guild-like pattern, these masseurs abided by a hierarchy based on age,

while they often had partners or „pupils‟, usually being their lovers as well.
Some of them, however, did not work permanently in one bath but functioned
as „free-lance‟ prostitutes in several hammams, to which they apparently had to
deliver a percentage of the profits. As far as their origin is concerned, they
mostly were poor boys, sailors, workers in the Arsenal or other places, and
sometimes apprentice janissaries (yeniçeri) or even softas, who had been raped
or caught in sexual acts and were obliged to work as prostitutes in order to
make a living.174
171
Reşat Ekrem Koçu, „Dellak‟, İstanbul Ansiklopedisi, vol. 8, (İstanbul: Koçu Yayınları,
1966), 4367.
172
Murat Bardakçı lists the names of these tellaks as such: “Yemenici Bali, Sipahi Mustafa
Bey, Kız Softa, Seyis Ali, Kalyoncu Süleyman, Kınalıkuzu Firuz, Peremeci Benli Kara
Davud, Altınbaş İskender, Keşmir Mustafa, Hamleci İbrahim and Karanfil Hasan”. Murat
Bardakçı, Osmanlı’da Seks, (İstanbul: İnkilap Kitabevi, 2005), 97-98. Yet, the original text
was translated and interpreted by Bardakçı himself without being double-checked by an
academic scholar.
173
Century”, 62.
174
Ibid.
82
In the Divan poetry of the 16th century, there is a particular type of poem called
hammamiye, which depicts the bathing bodies in a hamam using metonymic and
pornographic expressions celebrating the beauty of bathers‟ skins.175 These poems
can be considered products of homoerotic desire, since the Divan poets, who
generally came together in the hamams in winter for chatting and entertainment, as
the sociologist Abdelwahab Bouhdiba asserts, “often sung of their love of boys,
aroused by the constant spectacle of so many beautiful naked bodies exhibited to
view.”176
The book Dafiu’l gümum ve Rafiu-l hümum (The Repeller of Anxiety and Presenter
of Comfort to the Heart)177, written by Deli Birader Gazali at the beginning of the
16th century, is one of the masterpieces that deals with the subject of sex. The book is
composed of more than hundred pornographic poems, anecdotes and stories. One of
the stories is about a man who visits a hamam and engages in anal intercourse with
another man.178 In the fifth chapter of the book, there is a passage about masturbation
in hamams: “Those who masturbate usually do it in the baths. There they watch the
bright bodies, soft skin of the gays. When it appeals to them, they take their art into
their hands. By making a joke of things, they have their excitement in their
imagination”.179
175
Ottoman Divan poets such as Fuzûlî, Nâbî, Nedîm, Belîğ, Nev‟îzâde Atâî and Deli
Birader Gazâlî wrote hammamiyes. The best-known hammamiyes are: Kaplıca-name by
Deli Birader (Gazali) and Hamamname-i Dilsuz by Beliğ. In some of the mesnevis such as
Heves-name by Taci-zade Cafer Çelebi and Hayal u Yar by Vücudi, we also see sections
about the hamam entertainments of the period. Yunus Kaplan, “Türk Hamam Kültürünün
Divan Şiirine Yansımaları (Reflections of Bath Culture on the Classical Ottoman Poetry)”,
A.Ü.Türkiyat Araştırmaları Enstitüsü Dergisi [TAED], 44, (2010): 134.
176
Abdelwahab Bouhdiba, “The Hammam” in Chapter 12: “Certain Practices”, Sexuality in
Islam, translated by Alan Sheridan, (London: Saqi Books, 2004), 167.
177
Mehmed Gazali, Book of Shehzade: Dafiu’l gümum ve Rafiu-l hümum’, edited by Stuart
Kline and translated by Robert Landor, (İstanbul: Dönence Publications, 2001).
178
Mehmed Gazali, „Chapter 3: Explains the intercourse and love desires of fresh lily-
cheeked gays‟, in „Book of Shehzade: Dafiu’l gümum ve Rafiu-l hümum’, 53.
179
Mehmed Gazali, „Chapter 5: Masturbation: Those who are unclean in their dreams (have
orgasm) and Relationship with Animals‟, in „Book of Shehzade: Dafiu’l gümum ve Rafiu-l
hümum’, 104
83
3.6 The Perception of the Hamam in Global/Local Discourse and Popular Media
The association of hamams with female sexuality, homoerotic desire and male
prostitution in art and literature, as discussed above, led to the global public opinion
that all Ottoman-Turkish hamams, independent from their geographical, cultural and
social contexts, function as a space of homosexuality and homoeroticism. For
instance, the Jermyn Street Hamam constructed as part of the Turkish Bath
Movement in England in 1862, had become in time, as the art historian John Potvin
discusses, “an ideal venue for a queer constituency to experience safely – at the
levels of the visual and the corporeal – homoerotic desire.”180 Similarly, the art
historian Metin And writes that “the brothels in Japan were known as Turkish
Hamams”181 in the 1970s.
Turkish Cinema of the 20th century seems to have supported this global opinion. The
hamam space, specifically the sıcaklık section, has been used as a stereotypical scene
in many Turkish films such as Tosun Paşa, Yedi Kocalı Hürmüz, Harem Suare and
Hamam. The hamam scenes in these films show many similarities to the Orientalist
paintings analyzed in section 3.3, in terms of the representation of the female body
seated by a kurna or lying on a göbektaşı as well as the hamam rituals and
entertainments that are believed to occur in the sıcaklık space. The hamam scenes in
the film Harem Suare182 by Ferzan Özpetek, for instance, can be read as partial
imitations of Orientalist paintings depicting the exaggerated naked bodies of female
bathers and their racial differences (Figure 3.18).
180
John Potvin, “Vapour and Steam: The Victorian Turkish Bath, Homosocial Health, and
Male Bodies on Display”, The Journal of Design History, vol. 18, no. 4, (2005): 319.
181
Metin And, “Türk Hamamının Kültürümüzde ve Sanatımızda Yeri ve Önemi”, Ulusal
Kültür, year: 2, no: 5, (July 1979): 55.
182
Ferzan Özpetek, Harem Suare, (Istanbul: DVD by Kanal D Home Video, 1999).
84
Figure 3.18: Left: Film poster, Harem Suare; Middle: A scene from the film Harem Suare
(retrived from http://www.divxturka.net/download/128360-harem-suare-1999-ntsc-dvd5.html
on 11.05.2014)
Another film by Özpetek, Hamam or Steam183, which tells about a temporary

intimate relationship between a Turkish boy and an Italian man, is quite expressive in
depicting the hamam as a stereotype of culturally and historically constructed
homosexuality. The Italian cultural theorist Serena Anderlini-D‟Onofrio describes
this relationship as a “bisexual/bicultural game placed at the centre of the diegetic
space [which] enables the inner transformations that make the characters capable of
creating a sustainable emotional environment around themselves”184 (Figure 3.19).
183
Ferzan Özpetek, Steam: The Turkish Bath (Hamam), (Italy: DVD by Asbrell Productions,
1997).
184
Serena Anderlini-D‟Onofrio, “Bisexual games and emotional sustainability in Ferzan
Özpetek‟s queer films”, New Cinemas: Journal of Contemporary Film, vol. 2, no: 3,
(2004): 172.
85
Figure 3.19: Film poster, Hamam (retrieved from http://www.sinefesto.com/istanbulda-cekilen-
en-iyi-10-film.html on 11.05.2014)
It was the first time that the films Hamam and Harem Suare showed hamam interiors
as venues appropriate for homosexual relations. As the scenes in the films were
designed as re-presentations of famous Orientalist paintings, they received negative
reactions in the Turkish popular media from hamam managers who claim that there
are no such relations in hamams.185 In comparison, in the films Tosun Paşa directed
by Kartal Tibet in 1976 and Yedi Kocalı Hürmüz directed by Ezel Akay in 2009, the
women‟s section of a hamam is represented as an intimate space peculiar to female
communication, entertainment and sociability rather than a homoerotic space (Figure
3.20).
185
The Head of the Chamber of Hamam Managers showed a reaction to the sexual scenes of
the film „Hamam‟ taking place in the Zeyrek Çinili Hamam in İstanbul, 01 November
1997, Milliyet Newspaper Archives, retrieved from http://gazetearsivi.milliyet.com.tr/ on
17.03.2014.
86
Figure 3.20: Left: Hamam scene from the film Tosun Paşa (retrieved from
http://www.kadinelihaber.com/Magazin/2702-TRT-yonetimi-dedi-ki.html on 11.05.2014), Right
Hamam scene from the film Yedi Kocalı Hürmüz (retrieved from
http://www.genckolik.net/sinema/277432-hurmuz8217un-hamamda-erkek-duasi.html on
11.05.2014)
However, the perception of the hamam by locals is not that straightforward. On the
contrary, it is quite conservative and reductionist in terms of questioning the issues of
sexuality in hamam culture. For some of the local visitors, a hamam visit can be
considered a rediscovery of the hamam in the manner of an „autoethnography‟, by
which internal tourists perceive their own culture through the filter of the
epistemological apparatus inherent in tourism. This autoethnographic
(re)discovery186 is experienced in such a way that a Turkish individual who has never
(or scarcely ever) stepped into a hamam but seen the hamam interiors in films and
magazines is conditioned to accept any ordinary bathing venue labeled as hamam as
an essential representation of his/her local bathing culture left from the Ottoman past.
The emergence of the Internet seems to have contributed to the popularization of
hamams as venues of tourist attraction, as the first time in 1998 the Cağaloğlu
186
For the critical theorist Mary Louise Pratt, the term „autoethnography‟ or
„autoethnographic expression‟ refers to “instances to which colonized subjects undertake to
represent themselves in ways that engage with the colonizer‟s terms.” Mary Louise Pratt,
Imperial eyes: travel writing and transculturation, (New York: Routledge, 2008), 9.
87
Hamam in İstanbul started to be promoted by its manager Abdullah Kasapbaşı with
its own website.187
There are various newspaper and magazine articles on hamams from the 1930s up to
now, all of which are written in a popular language to support this autoethnographic
discovery and to revitalize the hamams as venues of tourist attraction. In these media,
the Ottoman-Turkish hamams have been represented in an Orientalist and nostalgic
manner, as representative figures of Turkish culture, which are under the threat of
disappearance. It is significant that these articles mostly describe the women‟s
section of the hamam and their cultural rituals in an authentic and nostalgic manner,
as if nothing has changed in the application of these rituals during the modernization
period of Turkey.188 In a similar vein, the manager of a historic hamam in İzmir, who
claims to revitalize hamam culture, puts particular emphasis to traditional female
rituals such as the gelin hamamı, the originality of the hamam interiors and the use of
traditional bathing accessories such as clogs, peştamals, scrubs, etc. Interestingly,
foreign men and women can bathe in his hamam together, while local visitors should
visit separately at different times of the day.189
Apart from those autoethnographic perceptions of hamams, there are several phrases
in the Turkish language, that have sexual connotations, mostly regarding the
women‟s hamam: “hamam anası gibi (very fat woman)”, “kadınlar hamamı (a very
noisy place)”, “hamam oğlanı (a feminine gay male bather)”, “hamam soygunu
(completely nude)”, “hamam nalını suratlı kadın (very ugly woman)”190
187
05_07_1998_bilgi caginin hamamı cagaloglu_s22, retrieved from Milliyet Newspaper
Archives http://gazetearsivi.milliyet.com.tr/ on 17.03.2014.
188
See Ahmet Rasim, “Kadınların Eski Hamam Alemleri”, Resimli Tarih Mecmuası, no: 42,
vol: 4, (İstanbul: Tan Matbaası, Haziran 1953), Hikmet Feridun Es, “Eski İstanbul‟da
Kadınlar Hamamı”, Hayat Mecmuası, no: 30, (İstanbul: Şevket Rado, 22 Temmuz 1965),
Münevver Alp, “Eski İstanbul Hamamları ve Gezmeleri”, Türk Folklor Araştırmaları, no:
179, (Haziran 1964), Hikmet Feridun Es, “Türk Hamamı Tarihe Karışıyor”, Yıllarboyu
Tarih, no: 1, year: 4, (İstanbul: Hürriyet Ofset Matbaacılık, Ocak 1982): 43-46, Yurdagül
Akyar, “Tarihten Günümüze Hamamlar ve Hamam Kültürümüz”, Haliç: Golden Horn
Kültür, Sanat ve Haber Dergisi, (İstanbul. Haliç Belediyeler Birliği, Aralık 2003): 5-19.
189
Oral History Interview 10, 14.08.2012, İzmir.
190
Tülay Taşçıoğlu, Türk Hamamı, hazırlayan: Ali Pasiner, (İstanbul: Duran Ofset, 1998),
198.
88
3.7 Concluding Remarks
In this chapter, I have critically analyzed (de)sexualized constructions and

representations of the Ottoman-Turkish hamam by means of various literary and
visual sources in architectural history writing, art history, travel literature, Ottoman-
Turkish literature as well as popular media. In the first section, I have analyzed de-
sexualized constructions of the hamam archetype from the early plan drawings of the
hamams in the 15th and 16th centuries to more recent research on hamams in the 20th
century. The analyses of these sources initially show that dimensional, formal and
functional differences between the men‟s and the women‟s sections of a hamam
remain unquestioned in the historiography of Ottoman-Turkish architecture. In the
plan drawings, there is no evidence regarding the design criteria forming these two
sections. Similarly, the leading 20th century scholars of hamam architecture, Glück,
Klinghardt, Aru and Eyice, did not relate their gender-based classifications with their
formal and functional typologies to question this issue. The followers of this
approach who have surveyed and catalogued the existing hamams in a particular city
as case study research did not further question how this gender-based usage affected
the daily use of these hamams.
While these architectural historians mostly disregarded sexuality in their

constructions of the hamam archetype, painters and illustrators used sexuality,
particularly female sexuality, as a significant element of their depictions of hamam
interiors. As analyzed in the second section, the nude images of Eastern bathing
women, as well as homoerotic desire and multi-racial intimacy among them are
major concepts that dominate the spatial reality in the works of the French Orientalist
painters Ingres, Gérôme and Debat-Ponsan. There are also the paintings of Zonaro,
Allom and Bartlett, in which sexuality is an uncovered or minor concept, but how
much they reflect spatial reality is questionable, due to the lack of the name, type or
location of the specific hamam depicted. Though not being as expressive as these
Orientalist paintings, the stereotypical representation of the hamam as a space of
female eroticism can also be seen in the Ottoman-Turkish miniatures and paintings.
Even in the very few depictions of male homosexuality, there is a tendency to
89
represent men in the hamam in an „effeminate‟ manner, as seen in the tellak figure in
the Hubanname and the illustration of dancing boys by Münif Fehim. In this context,
the history of paintings does not differ from architectural history writing, since
neither provides substantial evidence about the existence of same-sex relations in
particular Ottoman-Turkish hamams in particular cities.
In travel literature, as analyzed in the third section, the hamam narratives of Busbecq
and Bassano partially cover female homosexuality, yet in a speculative manner
similar to the imaginary stereotypical representations of the Orientalist painters, since
there was no possibility for them to eyewitness same-sex relations in the women‟s
section of a hamam. Although Evliya Çelebi in his Seyahatname, provides us with
some anecdotes of male homosexuality in hamams, there exists no further
information to justify his experiences in the hamams he visited. In contrast to the
narratives of these male travelers, the eyewitness accounts of European female
travelers Poole, Martineau, Montagu and Pardoe focus less on homoeroticism, but
more on homosociality, depicting in detail the multi-sensory spatial ambience of a
hamam where women of various ages, classes and races mix. However, as I have
argued in the same section, these narratives are realities constructed through each
traveler‟s subjective perceptions of and conceptions about these female-only
environments.
In various genres of Ottoman-Turkish literature, as analyzed in the fourth section, the

hamams were either associated with female homoeroticism and prostitution, i.e. the
novel Hamamcı Ülfet, the Karagöz folk play Çifte Hamamlar, and the poem Şevk-
engiz; or with male homoeroticism and prostitution, i.e. the manuscript Dellakname-i
Dilkuşa, the hammamiyes in Divan poetry, and the pornographic poems and stories
in Dafiu’l gümum ve Rafiu-l hümum. Although these genres are local cultural
products, which are expected to be the most reliable sources about hamam culture,
they are as much constructed realities as the hamam narratives of the European
travelers. I have argued in the fifth section that the stereotypical association of
hamams with female sexuality, homoerotic desire and male prostitution in these
sources has further led to the emergence of global and local preconceptions about
90
hamam culture. The reflections of these preconceptions can be seen in the scenes of
women‟s hamams of the 20th century films Tosun Paşa, Yedi Kocalı Hürmüz, Harem
Suare and Hamam, in the form of replications of the Orientalist paintings, as well as
in the Turkish language, in the form of hamam-related expressions with sexual
connotations. I have further argued that these preconceptions have led the hamam to
become not only an attractive emblem of Turkish culture, offering global tourists a
so-called (homo)erotic environment, but also an ethnographic element of internal
tourism, the traditional rituals of which are rediscovered by local visitors, who do not
necessarily visit but read about hamams in newspapers and magazines.
Consequently, I propose in this dissertation that, in order to analyze the Ottoman-

Turkish hamam as a queered space, it is necessary to understand its constructed
spatiality between the representational and the real. On the one hand, as seen in the
analyses of various sources in this chapter, (de)sexualized constructions and
representations of the hamam do not support each other or show consistency in terms
of understanding homosexual realities inside the hamam. On the other hand, the
realities regarding the existence of same-sex practices in the queered hamams studied
in this dissertation are quite different from these constructions and representations.
These hamams are either single hamams serving only men, or double hamams in
which men‟s visiting hours are much longer than women‟s. However, global and
local preconceptions of the hamam as a space of female sexuality, homoerotic desire
and male prostitution seem to have affected the queering of these hamams in various
aspects, as will be analyzed in Chapter 6. First, foreign visitors have the expectation
that they would find a homoerotic atmosphere in these hamams similar to what they
have read and seen in magazines, films and paintings. Second, the multi-sensory
ambience of the hamam represented in paintings and travelogues increases the libido
of some users and encourages them to engage in various same-sex performances.
Third, male prostitution depicted by the effeminate tellak figure in the paintings and
pamphlets still continue in some of these queered hamams.
91
92
CHAPTER 4
THE HAMAM IN URBAN QUEER HISTORY AND CULTURE IN TURKEY
4.1 Introduction: Queer History
Writing queer history is a problematic attempt for the critical theorists of the late 20th
century. For the scholar of British literature Donald E. Hall, for instance, this
problem is based on the conceptualization of „history‟ as “an artificial construct
which depends upon numerous acts of interpretation, exclusion, and information
shaping that reflect inevitably and indelibly the beliefs and biases of the historian or
critic.”191 He adds that “the construction of any simple historical timeline is
particularly problematic from such a theoretical perspective.”192 Hence, according to
Hall, a linear queer history is artificial since “queers have lived often in ignorance of
each other and of queer–relevant historical information from the near, as well as
distant, past.”193
Another challenge in writing queer history, as emphasized by Hall, is that “sexuality

itself, particularly sexual nonconformity, has been ignored as part of historical record
keeping, and has often (though not always) gone unrecorded.”194 As analyzed in
Chapter 3, much of history writing conceals issues of sexuality, i.e. the construction
of a de-sexualized hamam archetype in architectural history writing or histories of art
ignoring male homoeroticism. The Turkish historian Halit Erdem Oksaçan explains
191
Donald E. Hall, “A Brief, Slanted History of „Homosexual‟ Activity”, in Iain Morland
and Annabelle Willox (ed.) Queer Theory, (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005), 96.
192
Ibid.
193
Ibid.
194
Ibid.
93
this ignorance by claiming that “there is no history of homosexuality” simply
because “homosexuality has not affected, changed or formed the society, politics,
economics or history in any historical period.”195 On the contrary, it “has emerged
and been formed as a direct result of the modes of production, economic conditions
and social classifications of societies.”196 As presented in the following sections, for
instance, urban queer lifestyles in Turkey have been largely shaped and affected by
the urban modernization process in which heteronormative social structures are
strengthened in public space, together with oppressive regulations by state, police
and municipal authorities.
But whose history is queer history? And within which context is it defined? In order
to respond to these questions, it is necessary to understand the history of the word
„queer‟ in terms of the subjects and the sexual practices it signifies. Up to the gay and
lesbian activism of the 1980s, the term „queer‟ was used as a synonym for the term
„homosexual‟ and has operated in linguistic practice to shame the homosexual
subjects it names or to produce these subjects through that shaming interpellation.
The French philosopher Michel Foucault in History of Sexuality offers 1870 as the
date of birth of modern homosexuality.197 Under the influence of Foucault, the
American critical queer theorist David M. Halperin asserts that “homosexuality and
heterosexuality, as we currently understand them, are modern, Western, bourgeoise
productions”198 and exemplifies the same-sex practices of pre-modern societies more
like a homosocial bondage as follows:
In London and Paris, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, there appear
[…] social gathering-places for the persons of the same sex with the same
195
Halit Erdem Oksaçan, Eşcinselliğin Toplumsal Tarihi, (İstanbul: Tekin Yayınevi, 2012),
15.
196
Ibid.
197
Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality, Volume 1: An Introduction, (New York:
Vintage Books, 1990), 43.
198
David M. Halperin, One Hundred Years of Homosexuality: and other essays on Greek
love, (New York and London: Routledge, 1990), 8.
94
socially deviant attitudes to sex and gender who wish to socialize and to have
sex with one another […]199
The understanding of „queer(ness)‟ as a fixed identity category that is believed to

signify a homogenous group of people who do not conform to norms and practices of
heterosexuality, is criticized by postcolonial queer theorists Robert J. Corber and
Stephen Valocchi who questions whether “the circulation of people, commodities,
media, discourses and capital across national borders has transformed the sexual
politics and cultures of Western and non-Western nations alike.”200 They rather
propose a queer historiography that “takes into account the coexistence of multiple
forms of homosexuality and that recognizes that these forms are never historically
static or unchanging but shift over time as they interact with each other and compete
for dominance.”201
The fixed understandings of the term „queer‟ have changed over time by means of
such critical perspectives which suggest a blurring of the boundaries between straight
and gay identities and validate those who in the past would have been considered
sexual „outlaws‟. Along with the development of queer theory in the 1980s,202 the
term „queer‟, once cast as such an offensive term to signify gay and lesbian identity
and visibility as a deviance, began to be used against the knowledge of its past
meanings to subvert the pervasive public discourse of normalcy and appropriate
behavior.
199
Ibid.
200
Robert J. Corber and Stephen Valocchi, “Introduction”, in R. J. Corber and S. Valocchi
(ed.) Queer Studies: An Interdisciplinary Reader, (UK: Blackwell Publishing, 2003), 5.
201
Ibid, 6.
202
“Queer as a political strategy arose in the 1980s as a hybrid of the issues raised by the gay
and lesbian civil rights movements, the „sex wars‟ over pornography and censorship
amongst feminists, and the early 1980‟s AIDS epidemic.” Iain Morland and Annabelle
Willox, “Introduction”, in I. Morland and A. Willox (ed.) Queer Theory, (New York:
Palgrave Macmillan, 2005), 2.
95
The critical queer theorists Iain Morland and Annabelle Willox consider queerness as
“a celebration of a diversity of identities” by defining it as “a cultural diversity that
surpasses the notion of identity.”203 They tend to clarify this duality by questioning if
it is important for “queerness to refer to always the same communities, acts or
beliefs.”204
Following these critical approaches, I propose that notions of queerness could be

defined in a myriad of ways, depending largely on the time, geography and culture
within which they emerge. The urban queer culture in Turkey on which I focus in
this chapter is heterogenous in two aspects. First, the actors of this culture meet,
socialize or perform sexual acts in various types of public spaces from the most
traditional, like the hamam, to the most contemporary: gay bars and clubs, public
parks, adult cinemas, activist centers and the Internet. As presented as a brief history
in the first section, some of these spaces which used to serve heterosexual men and
women from the mid-19th to the early 20th centuries have been queered within the
context of various political, architectural and urban dynamics in Turkey since then.
In this section, writing the queer history of the Ottoman-Turkish hamam covering
this period is an alternative attempt to its (de)sexualized constructions and
representations discussed in Chapter 3. By writing such an alternative history, I aim
to reveal the realities regarding the appropriation of the hamam by queer subjects,
which were ignored in those sexually blind, orientalist or reductionist constructions
and representations.
Second, the actors of urban queer culture in Turkey incorporate not only traditional
forms of sexual identities based on sex-role and age, i.e. aktif male, pasif male,
balamoz (elderly male), manti (younger male), laço (real man/heterosexual),
lubunya/lubun (effeminate homosexual), as described by Bereket, but also modern
203
Iain Morland and Annabelle Willox, “Introduction”, in I. Morland and A. Willox (ed.)
Queer Theory, (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005), 3.
204
Ibid.
96
forms of sexual identities (i.e. gay man, heterosexual man, bisexual man, transsexual
man), as indicated by the respondents of the questionnaire survey conducted in
LGBT centers.
In the second section, based on the data gathered from the questionnaire survey and
the oral history interviews, In this section, I show how the hamam has been working
as part of the urban queer culture from the 1970s to the present. I analyze how these
identities mix in hamams, gay bars and clubs, public parks, adult cinemas, activist
centers and the Internet in Turkey over the past 40 years. I present these analyses as
cognitive queer maps of three Turkish cities, İzmir, Ankara and İstanbul, in two
periods: between the 1970s and the 1990s, and from the 1990s to the present. By
doing so, I have found out which queer spaces are linked to each other based on
interviewees‟ preferences and weekly visiting routines and how strong these links are
in each period.
4.2 Transformation of Hamam Culture within the Urban Modernization

Process in Turkey
I argue that queered hamam culture is part of urban queer culture in Turkey and the
simultaneous evolution of these two cultures has been directly and/or indirectly
affected by various urban, social and political aspects of urban modernization
process in Turkey from the mid-19th century until today. There are significant
climaxes in this process, which affected the traditional hamam culture negatively.
Until the mid-19th century, the social organization of Ottoman-Turkish urban life was
predominantly based on a gendered division of space. In accordance with the Islamic
moral-legal codes ruled not only by the religious law schools, but also the hadith
collections (sayings and deeds of the Prophet Muhammad), men and women have to
spend their daily lives in relatively separate spheres. Women‟s domains consist
mainly of the house and the neighborhood, while the workplace, the coffeehouse, the
market, the mosque and the street are typically men‟s domains. Ludwig Ammann, a
scholar of Islamic Studies, explains this divided spatial organization as follows:
97
This organization of urban space reflects, and in fact strengthens, solidarity
groups by controlling the movement of bodies. Enclosed, secluded spaces
ranging from family home to gated quarter create much more private, semi-
private and semi-public space – space not freely accessible by everyone in a
concentric system of relative privacy – than exists in occidental cities.205
Within this sexually divided spatial organization, in almost every closed quarter or
neighborhood (mahalle), there existed a neighborhood hamam (mahalle hamamı)
which was used and accessed primarily by the female residents of the relevant
quarter and functioned as an extension of their private domestic life. Although the
spatial and functional segregation of a typical hamam into almost identical men‟s and
women‟s sections seems to follow the domestic gendered division of space (harem
and selamlık); contrary to the house where women‟s privacy (harem) may be
controlled and intruded by male members of the family, the women‟s section of a
hamam remains a female domain at all times, since there is no way for a male to
enter the women‟s section of a hamam. Moreover, in the 16th century, as Ergin
(2009, no page) underlines, “women reserved the right to visit the hamam at least
once every two weeks, a right that was confirmed by Ebussuud Efendi, the chief
jurisprudent of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent (r. 1520-66).”206 Although this right
was mainly provided for bathing activities, the hamams over time turned into spaces
peculiar to female privacy and sociability. Hence, the hamam, as the most private of
public female domains, projects a contradictory situation with the male-dominated
domestic privacy, creating a form of homosociality among women.
205
Ludwig Ammann, “Private and Public in Muslim Civilization” in Ludwig Ammann and
Nilüfer Göle (ed.) Islam in Public: Turkey, Iran and Europe, (Istanbul: Bilgi University
Press, 2006), 102.
206
Nina Ergin, “Architecture and Sociability in Turkish Hamams”, unpublished paper
presented in Fürdö, Hamam, Sauna Symposium, 25-26 April 2009, (İstanbul: Koç
University Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations), 7 (retrieved from the author).
98
After the declarations of the Tanzimat Regulations in 1839, and the Islahat Fermanı
in 1856, this homosociality turned into heterosociality as new public spaces such as
waterfronts, sea baths, parks, etc. where men and women could socialize together,
emerged in Ottoman cities. The Turkish historian İlbeyi Özer considers the
emergence of these public spaces as a signifier of Westernization in urban social life,
particulary in İstanbul, as women started to be more visible in those public venues.207
I claim that this heterosocial Westernization in public space is one of the reasons for
the decline in the use of hamams as homosocial spaces after the mid-19th century.
Not only the emergence of these heterosocial public venues, but also changes in the
bathing habits and facilities affected hamam culture. For instance, the emergence of
thermal baths (kaplıca) in the form of modern buildings located by hot springs is
particularly significant as alternative communal bathing venues to hamams. In the
early 20th century, we see many newspaper articles that promote the thermal baths in
Yalova and Bursa as physical treatment centers.208
Another significant point in the transformation of bathing habits was the emergence
of sea baths (deniz hamamı) on the Bosphorus shores in the early 20th century,
initially used for bathing and hydrotheraphy. Simultaneously with the increasing
popularity of sea baths, some doctors produced articles on the benefits of sea water
and bathing in the sea.209 Exploring the benefits of the sea for human health and
207
İlbeyi Özer, Avrupa Yolunda Batılaşma ya da Batılılaşma, İstanbul’da Sosyal Değişimler,
(İstanbul: Truva Yayınları, 2005).
208
See the following articles retrieved from the Milli Kütüphane Archives: “Yalova Dag
Hamamlarında Bir Tenezzuh”, Servet-i Fünun, vol. 29, no: 741, (6 July 1905): 200, (1956
SB 501), and “Yalova Hamamlarını Ziyaret”, Servet-i Fünun, vol. 29, no: 742, (13 July
1905): 210-212, (1956 SB 501). There are also a series of articles in Cumhuriyet
Newspaper in October 1929 when the Yalova Thermal Baths were reconstructed with the
order of the President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (retrieved from Cumhuriyet Newspaper
Archives http://www.cumhuriyetarsivi.com/monitor/index.xhtml on 04.02.2012).
209
A doctor from Adana, Ahmet Şükrü, explains which age groups can bathe by the sea
water and what the effects of hot and cold salt water are on the body as well as the benefits
of sea baths for the nervous, stressed and anaemic, as well as those suffering from ear
discharges and skin diseases. Ahmet Şükrü, Sea Baths, Types and Benefits: Who Can Swim
in the Sea? (Deniz hamamları, envai, menafii: Denize Kimler Girebilir?), (İstanbul, 1906).
Similarly, the Kurdish doctor Selahaddin Ali explains in detail the benefits of sea air and
bathing for the body, for which diseases it is beneficial and how sea bathing should be
carried out. Selahaddin Ali, Baths, Sea Baths and Bathing in the Sea (Hamamlar, Deniz
Hamamları ve Denizde Banyo, (İstanbul: Ayyıldız Matbaası, 1918).
99
using the sea for bathing provided those who could not swim with a reason to „take a
sea bath (deniz banyosu almak)‟. According to Ekrem Işın, “the most obvious
difference between the neighbohood hamam and the sea bath was the comprehension
of society in order to differentiate between bathing and swimming.”210
In the 1920s, the distance between the sea baths of men and women became less and
were connected with structures serving as cafeterias, clubs, etc. “While the concept
of „sea bath‟ was replaced with „sea sports‟ and „sea entertainment‟, the concept of a
bathing space became limited to the boundaries of the modern house.”211 In the
1930s, as the architectural historian Meltem Gürel mentions, “Western-style
bathroom concepts and fixtures, which were incorporated into the domestic plans of
Republican architects, became more recognisable and applicable.”212 As a result, the
existing historic hamams were either demolished due to age, dysfunction, etc. or
being restored to serve as modern communal bathing venues for tourists.
The restoration and maintenance facilities of hamams, which started in the early 20th
century, accelarated in 1936 when the operating of hamams under the vakf
endowments ended and hamams started operating under the private ownership of
individuals and not the state‟s. With the foundation of the Eski Eserler ve Anıtlar
Yüksek Kurulu in 1951 for the preservation of historic monuments, even the hamams
under private ownership started to be restored and preserved. By looking at various-
dated records over a 60-year period, we can figure out a considerable decrease in the
number of operating hamams in İstanbul. Municipal statistics dated 1943 recorded
that only 86 hamams were operating in İstanbul. In 1966, there was a considerable
210
Ekrem Işın, “Hamam‟dan Banyo‟ya Peştemaldan Mayoya Türk Deniz Kültürü”,
İstanbul’da Gündelik Hayat, (İstanbul: Yapı Kredi Kültür Sanat Yayıncılık, 1999), 216.
211
Burkay Pasin, “The Sea Baths of İstanbul: The Spatial Evolution of Gender Norms in the
Process of Ottoman-Turkish Modernization (1820-1920)”, paper presented in 5T
International Conference: Gendered Perspectives in Design / Turkish and Global Context,
9-10 May 2013, organized by Yaşar University, İzmir
212
Meltem Gürel, “Bathroom as Modern Space”, The Journal of Architecture, vol. 13, issue:
3 (June 2008): 219.
100
decrease in the number of those previously operating hamams. 213 The historian
Mehmet Nermi Haskan, recorded only 60 operating hamams in İstanbul in 1995,214
while Orhan Yılmazkaya recorded only 57 in 2005.215
As most of the historic hamams in cities lost their popularity, especially for
heterosexual users and families, the still-existing ones became exposed to regular
controls in terms of employment conditions, cleanliness, public health and morality.
The popular belief that hamams are unhygienic places dates back to the late 19th
century. In an article entitled „Hamamlar‟ by the physician Ş. Kamil, dated 1887,
hamams were described as unhealthy spaces where many contagious illnesses are
transmitted by means of towels, shaving blades and peştamals.216
In state, police and municipal law orders of the early 20th century, the issues of same-
sex prostitution by young tellaks and their bodily hygiene were two basic concerns.
The Book of Orders (Emirname), written by the police in 1908, regulated the internal
organization of the guild of hamam attendants, particularly the tellaks, with the
following orders:
(1) The minimum age of tellaks is raised to twenty years; younger employees are
to be let go at once. (2) Prostitution is strictly forbidden; hamam managers who
continue to perpetrate this offense will be punished according to the penal code.
(3) Tellaks need to acquire a license if they want to work in an area under the
guild‟s jurisdiction; before a license is issued, they need to be examined for their
physical condition and health and for compliance with the regulations. (4)
Tellaks have to undergo a health check every two months; if they are sick they
213
Süheyl Ünver, “Türk Hamamı”, Belleten, vol: XXXVIII, no: 145, (Ayrı Basım, Ankara:
Türk Tarih Kurumu Basimevi, Ocak 1973): 92
214
Mehmet Mermi Haskan, İstanbul Hamamları, (İstanbul: TURENG Yayınları, 1995).
215
Orhan Yılmazkaya, A Light onto a Tradition and Culture: Turkish Baths. (İstanbul:
Çitlembik Yayınları, 2005).
216
Ş. Kamil, “Hamamlar”, Maarif, vol. 2, no: 39, (21 April 1892): 197-198, retrieved from
Milli Kütüphane Archives (1956 SA 288 Hamamlar) and transcribed by the author.
101
need to leave their workplace. (5) Every tellak needs to carry a document stating
his physical condition (muayene defteri), which he has to show to the guild‟s
inspector or to the customers, if he wishes. (6) Hamam managers who employ
tellaks forced into this job by violent means have to close down their hamams
immediately. (7) Tellaks are allowed to sleep in their workplace, the hamam,
only with permission of the police.217
Another book of regulations entitled „Hamamcılar Esnafı Cemiyeti Nizamname-i

Dahilisi (Internal Book of Bylaws of the Association of the Guild of Hamam
Managers)‟ dated 1919, comprises thirty-eight points, some of which are “about the
duties and rights of the guild members, both hamam managers and employees.”218
These regulations continued in the mid-20th century under the control of the
municipal authorities, in terms of the hygiene of not only the hamam attendants but
also the hamam interiors. The Municipal Order (Belediye Zabıta Talimatnamesi)
dated 1945 covered the following guidelines regarding the cleanliness of the hamams
in İstanbul:
(1) The hamams‟ external doors should be double. (2) The beds in the disrobing
rooms should be easily removable for cleaning and the cloths on them should be
made of cotton, in white or light colours. (3) The floors of the disrobing room,
the corridors and stairs should be covered with marble, ceramic tiling, mosaic,
plastic membrane or screed. (4) The temperature of the disrobing rooms should
not be below 20 degrees. (5) The walls and ceilings of the hamams should be
painted in light colour which is required to be renewed at least every six months.
(6) The floors of the bathing chambers and toilets should be covered with
marble, ceramic tiling or mosaic, on which there should be louvred-holes for the
drainage of the waste water. The walls of the bathing chambers and toilets
217
Nina Cichocki, The Life Story of Çemberlitaş Hamam: From bath to tourist attraction,
PhD dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of
Minnesota, 2005, 236.
218
Ibid., 237.
102
should be covered with marble, or tiling; up to 75 cm. in the bathing chambers
and up to 1 m. in the toilets. (7) The walls and floors of the bathing chambers
and toilets as well as the kurnas should be washed regularly. (8) The shaving
blades should be sterilized before being given to customers. (9) The hamam
accessories should be clean and used ones should be washed with soap and soda
in boiling water. (10) The waste should be placed in metal containers. (11) There
should be showers in hamams. (12) The clean and dirty accessories should be
kept separate. (13) There should be a first-aid kit in hamams. (14) The hamam
attendants should keep a health report showing that they are physically
appropriate for such a job. (15) Allowing the survival of insects, mice and dogs
in the hamams as well as eating food in bathing chambers are strictly
forbidden.219
In addition to bodily health and hygiene in the hamams, the police and municipal
authorities had to deal with another issue in the 1950s: same-sex relations among the
customers. There are several records showing how these relations occured in some of
the hamams in cities. For instance, according to a newspaper report dated 1954, an
adult in his 40s was arrested for molesting a 15-year-old child in a hamam in
Eminönü.220 The police controls seem to have become more regular and strict after
the Military Coup in 1980. For instance, the Polis Vazife ve Selahiyetleri Law of
1981 prohibited the usage of hamams by transvestites and homosexuals.221 However,
these controls seem to have relatively decreased between 1983 and 1989. For
instance, a newspaper article dated 1987 mentions the dirty and crummy hamams in
Beyoğlu district of İstanbul as “rescued areas of homosexuality”.222
219
İstanbul Hamamcılar Cemiyeti: İstanbul Şehir Meclisi tarafından kabul ve tasdik edilen
[Belediye Zabıta Talimatnamesi]nden Her nevi yıkanma müesseselerini alakadar eden
maddeler, (İstanbul: Marifet Basımevi, 1945).
220
A newspaper report dated 22.11.1954, retrieved from http://gazetearsivi.milliyet.com.tr/
on 06.02.2012.
221
See a newspaper article by Emin Çölaşan, dated 13.07.1981, retrieved from
http://gazetearsivi.milliyet.com.tr/ on 07.02.2012.
222
A newspaper report dated 14.04.1987, retrieved from http://gazetearsivi.milliyet.com.tr/
on 07.02.2012.
103
The police controls increased again in the early 21st century. A 43-year old bisexual
man from Ankara relates this increase with the empowerment of the current
government which threatened and closed down many queer spaces in Ankara,
including hamams.223 According to a newspaper report dated 2004, three hamams in
Izmir, where purportedly same-sex relations occured, were raided by the police and
closed for a month. In simultaneous raids in Ankara, a hamam frequented by
homosexual men was closed down as well.224 Yet, the oral history data show that
these controls were conducted in the name of providing public health and hygiene,
but the actual aim was to prevent illegal casual sex in hamams.225
It is significant that in these reports and articles, neither the names nor the addresses
of these hamams were publicized due to confidentiality, except for some websites
introducing them by nicknames. Thus, writing a more detailed urban queer history of
the hamam necessitates a multi-faceted analysis of the knowledge derived from
personal testimonies and experiences of the queer subjects who have frequented
these hamams since their youth.
4.3 The Hamam as Part of Urban Queer Culture in Turkey
In this section, in order to understand how Ottoman-Turkish hamams became part of

urban queer culture in Turkey, I analyze them within a larger context in relation to
the evolution of other urban queer spaces in Turkey from the 1970s to the present.
The oral history data reveal various phenomenal developments in this 40-year period.
In the 1970s, some of the urban spaces such as public parks and cinemas formerly
occupied only by heterosexual men and women, became cruising spots and meeting
223
Oral History Interview 1, 14.02.2012, Ankara.
224
“In Izmir, three hamams where same-sex relations purportedly occured were raided by the
police and closed for one month. In simultaneous raids in Ankara, a hamam was raided.” A
newspaper report dated 09.01.2004, retrieved from
http://hurarsiv.hurriyet.com.tr/goster/ShowNew.aspx?id=194656 on 13.02.2012.
225
See Oral History Interview 1, 14.02.2012, Ankara; OHI 3, 16.04.2012, Izmir; OHI 5,
15.06.2012, Izmir; OHI 6, 02.09.2012, Istanbul and OHI 9, 02.12.2012, İzmir.
104
venues for queer subjects. In the same years, bars, clubs and beerhouses where queer
subjects entertain and socialize emerged in İstanbul, Ankara and İzmir. After the 12
September 1980 military coup, most of these venues went under routine control of
the police forces and transsexuals, transvestites and effeminate gay men visiting
these venues were raided as they were forbidden to be visible in public space. The
emergence of the Internet and public centers for LGBT activism in the 1990s, were
the other significant developments that affected urban queer culture in Turkey by
providing queer subjects with alternative venues for same-sex pleasure and
socializing.
The Turkish sociologist Tarık Bereket, in his thesis entitled “Camouflaged Liaisons:
The Social Organization of Turkish Male Sexual Minorities”226, analyzes the public
parks, the cinemas showing pornographic movies, the hamams, the bars and clubs as
well as the Internet as certain locales where men engage in same-sex relations by
communicating their sex-role preferences. Juxtaposing Bereket‟s list of spaces with
the ones that are prominent in the oral history interviews, I have focused on bars,
parks, cinemas, beerhouses, hamams, activist centers and the Internet as primary
spaces of the urban queer culture in Turkey, frequented for the past 40 years.
While in most European and American cities, there exist particular guiding maps of
the urban queer scene,227 the visual concealment of queer spaces in Turkey for same-
sex pleasure and homosociality against the police and homophobic threats leads to
the fact that these spaces are closeted and appropriated by means of an anonymous
226
Tarık Bereket, Camouflaged Liaisons: The Social Organization of Turkish Male Sexual
Minorities, Master of Arts, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of
Windsor, Ontario, Canada (2003), 120-128.
227
See, for instance, some online gay guides that list gay bars, pubs, night clubs, gay friendly
cafes, restaurants, hotels and shopping malls as well as gay gyms, saunas and cinemas
located in central districts of London (http://london.gaycities.com); New York
(http://newyork.gaycities.com); Amsterdam (http://amsterdam.gaycities.com); Barcelona
(http://barcelona.gaycities.com). Even though there are also similar websites for İstanbul,
İzmir and Ankara (http://www.turkeygay.net), they either do not openly indicate the names
of queer spaces or present out-of-date informaton.
105
information network among the queer subjects. In order to find out how this network
has been constructed over the past 40 years, I refer to the data derived from both the
oral history interviews and a questionnaire survey conducted with gay, bisexual male
and transsexual male users of queer spaces in the three Turkish cities of İzmir,
Ankara and İstanbul (See section 2.5 for details). In this section, I analyze these data
and present them as urban queer maps of these cities, which are cognitive in nature
rather than geographical.
The data gathered from the questionnaire survey have been analyzed in various
dimensions. First, by analyzing the weekly visiting routine of the respondents with
different gender identities, the ages of whom change between 25 and 39, we can
figure out the usage percentage of various urban queer spaces in each city from the
1990s to the present, as seen in Figure 4.1. It can be seen from the chart that queer
bars and clubs as well as cinemas showing adult movies have been the most
preferred queer spaces in all the three cities for the past 20 years, whereas hamams
and public parks are the least preferred. Even though not as much as bars and
cinemas, the LGBT centers, especially in Ankara and İstanbul, seem to have a
considerable frequency of usage by the respondents.
Figure 4.1: Charts showing usage percentages of various urban queer spaces in Ankara, İzmir
and İstanbul after the 1990s.
106
A further analysis of the data demonstrates interrelations among the same queer
spaces based on their usage frequency by the same respondent. By doing so, I have
formed cognitive queer maps of the three cities, as seen in Figure 4.2, to investigate
which queer spaces are linked to each other within the weekly visiting routine of the
respondents and how strong these links are relatively. Figure 4.2 presents that the
links that public parks and cinemas (visited on weekdays) form with bars (visited on
weekend nights) are stronger than their links to hamams, especially in Ankara and
İzmir. Furthermore, LGBT centers (visited on weekdays) occur as a fourth link to
this triangle of „bar, cinema and park‟. Even though these queer spaces have different
functions and hours of operation, they are common as dating and socializing venues
rather than closets for casual sex.
Figure 4.2: Cognitive queer maps of Ankara, İzmir and İstanbul after the 1990s (Ba: Bar, Ce:
Center, Ci: Cinema, H: Hamam, I: Internet, P: Park)
The oral history data contribute to the formation of these cognitive maps by revealing
that the Internet has also served as a virtual dating venue for the last 20 years. A 43-
year-old bisexual man states that, “[W]ith the emergence of the Internet, people,
particulary homosexuals are closeting themselves at home since they have suffered
107
so much as being used and knocked out.”228 The following quotes from oral history
interviews further present how the Internet has become a virtual dating space
alternative to physical spaces in the urban cognitive maps of some Turkish queer
subjects:
People do not visit parks, bars and cinemas as much as they used to […] Or they
spend less time there. The Internet has a significant effect [...] In the early 2000s,
there were one or two internet cafes in Ankara, frequented by homosexuals as
venues of homosociality.229
Nowadays, people can control everything via the websites at their home. Job,
shopping […] There are known websites in Turkey where people can reveal
their gender identities, upload photos and do video chatting quite easy. Hence,
they mostly find sex partners via the Internet.230
Nowadays, people wouldn‟t go to a park to find a sex partner because they are
doing this more easily by searching via lots of websites on the Internet. Also,
they are more self-confident in virtual communication, as they can express many
things which they cannot in real dating. It is a place where people live their
unconscious without being known.231
Using the oral history data on spatial testimonies and experiences of men who are
approximately 20 years older than the questionnaire respondents (See tables 2.2 and
2.3), we can figure out the usage percentage of various urban queer spaces in each
city between the 1970s and the 1990s, as seen in Figure 4.3. It can be seen from the
figure that the Ottoman-Turkish hamams, public parks and cinemas showing adult
movies are the most preferred queer spaces in all three cities, whereas bars and
228
Oral History Interview 1, 14.02.2012, Ankara
229
Pilot Oral History Interview 1, 10.01.2012, Ankara
230
OHI 5, 15.06.2012, Izmir
231
OHI 12, 25.02.2013, Kuşadası
108
beerhouses are the least. It is interesting to see that beerhouses as alternative local
venues to western-type queer bars and clubs were frequented more.
Figure 4.3: Charts showing usage percentages of various urban queer spaces in Ankara, İzmir
and İstanbul between the 1970s and the 1990s.
Hamams, parks, cinemas and beerhouses with their strong linkage seem to have
formed a particular group in the cognitive queer maps of these cities until the 1990s.
In other words, there used to be an organic continuity throughout the visits to those
queer spaces. A 48-year-old Turkish gay man from Ankara shares: “After we went
out to a bar, we weren‟t willing to go home directly, especially if we were drunk. In
order to recover from drinking, we went to a hamam which was open that early in the
morning.”232 Another interviewee, a 38-year-old Turkish gay man from Ankara
explains this bar-hamam relation: “The bar was closing at 4 am and the .….. Hamam
[A1] was also opening at 4 am. So, we directly went to the hamam after the bar.”233
Using the oral history data, I have also formed the same cognitive queer maps for the
same cities regarding the 20-year period between the 1970s and the 1990s to find out
232
OHI 7, 20.07.2012, Ankara
233
Pilot OHI 1, 10.01.2012, Ankara
109
how the visiting routines and links between those spaces have changed since then
(Figure 4.4).
Figure 4.4: A comparison of cognitive queer maps of Ankara, İzmir and İstanbul between
1970s-1990s (Ba: Bar, Be: Beerhouse, Ci: Cinema, H: Hamam, P: Park)
There used to be more queered hamams, public parks for cruising, and cinemas
showing adult movies, especially in Ankara and İzmir, before the 1990s which were
visited more frequently than gay bars. A 67-year-old Turkish gay man from İzmir
states: “I have been visiting the parks, cinemas and the hamams since I was 18.
Because there were less tools of communication like the Internet, but rather face-to-
face relations. So, people were finding each other in those spaces.”234 A 43-year-old
bisexual man from Ankara shares: “According to what I have heard, people have
been engaging in same-sex relations in .….. Hamam [A1] for 30, maybe 50 years.”235
The same interviewee emphasizes the significance of open public areas for queer
culture as follows:
234
OHI 5, 15.06.2012, Izmir
235
OHI 1, 14.02.2012, Ankara
110
Go to the central district of any city in Turkey. Find the Atatürk Park or Atatürk
Street. Sit just in front of the Atatürk Statue there. You may find someone. This
is valid for all cities in Turkey.236
However, due to the (un)official harassment strategies of governmental, municipal

and police authorities, these queer spaces started to disappear either because they
were closed down or because they lost their characteristics as safe closets.
Consequently, the users of these spaces have explored similar spaces in other
locations of the city to allow queer culture to survive. Thus, it can be noted that there
has been an ongoing struggle between authoritative confinement and queer resistance
peculiar to these urban closets and their cognitive mapping. For instance, a 64-year-
old Turkish transsexual shares: “In the 1980s, a cinema in İstanbul was busted by the
officers from the governership and the people inside were beaten up quite
violently.”237
In the last 10 years, there is an increasing political confinement on gay spaces in

Ankara. A big gay club has been closed, the cruising spots have been destroyed,
as well as the cinemas and hamams have been under great pressure by the police
and the municipal authorities. For instance, the Güvenpark that used to furnction
as the biggest cruising spot before the 90s was first divided into two areas. Then,
regular police control started. They ended the cruising function of the
Güvenpark, like the Gençlik Park. A cinema showing porn movies nearby the
Güvenpark was also closed as a result of police confinement. Other cinemas
such as B……, M…., etc. were closed with similar tactics.238
In the mid-2000s, public areas like parks were restored and illuminated during
nighttime as well primarily for the use of heterosexuals, thus pushing out
236
Ibid.
237
OHI 4, 10.05.2012, Ankara
238
OHI 1, 14.02.2012, Ankara
111
homosexuals. However, that cruising culture may be still surviving in the
Gençlik Park and the Güvenpark.239
There is a cinema in İzmir. It is the only cinema showing adult movies. Years
ago [in the 1990s], people were quite comfortable there. But in recent years,
undercover policemen have been trying to find and catch people engaging in
homosexual acts.240
As an interviewee highlights, the disappearance of these queer spaces is not only due
to the authoritative power struggles, but also a recent transformation of queer culture
from the traditional to the modern, from closetedness to visibility:
Homosexuals no longer need to visit those spaces [parks, cinemas, etc] for same-
sex pleasure since they are more visible in public... For instance, they can kiss
each other in a gay bar even though they may be kicked out of the place.241
In the 1970s, gay bars were not only less frequently visited, but also fewer in
number. Queer bars, specifically in the form of Western night clubs or discos, started
to occur only in the early 1990s. Interviewees from the lower socio-economic class
in Ankara and Izmir indicated that they used to gather in „beerhouses‟ (birahane) and
„coffeehouses (kahvehane)‟, which were also open during daytime, rather than bars
and night clubs. A 38-year-old gay man shares: “There used to be a few coffeehouses
in Ulus within that queer scene, where the socializing in parks continued.”242 A 57-
year-old bisexual man describes the beerhouse culture in Izmir as such:
In the 1980s, the beerhouse culture was very widespread in Izmir as a part of the
queer scene... There used to be two well-known beerhouses; one in Alsancak and
239
240
OHI 3, 16.04.2012, Izmir
241
242
Ibid.
112
the other in Hatay. When you find someone from these spaces, the best place to
go for sex was the hamam. This mutual use of these spaces continued for a while
until the police oppression increased.243
On the contrary, interviewees from the higher economic classes in İstanbul indicated
that “they prefered to visit special clubs and pubs (gazino), such as VAT 69 and
Ceylan Pub, where they both listened to live music and find partners.”244
Most of the interviewees stated that this confinement against queer visibility had
reached a peak after the 1980 Military Coup in Turkey. In that period, the Ministry of
Internal Affairs, by the order of the President, announced that “transsexuals and
transvestites are prohibited from visiting bars and clubs, and artists with feminine
appearance are prohibited from working there.”245 This state-regulated confinement
also gave way to public homophobia, as experienced by an interviewee:
For instance, I saw in the Gençlik Park a young gay man being beaten by
another man, just because he stared at him. Because these governmental
confinements turned into street violence later on. The „latent homosexuals‟ who
do not accept their gender identity can be more homophobic than others, as a
result of the traditions, morality norms and family values. But from where does
their self-confidence derive? From the state, of course.246
In this chapter, I have discussed how hamam culture became part of the urban queer
culture in Turkey. I have analyzed the simultaneous historical development of these
two cultures in two different periods. In the first section, based on various records
243
OHI 3, 16.04.2012, Izmir
244
OHI 5, 15.06.2012, Izmir
245
OHI 4, 10.05.2012, Ankara and OHI 5, 15.06.2012, Izmir
246
OHI 5, 15.06.2012, Izmir
113
and newspaper articles, I have written a brief history of the hamam within the context
of various political, architectural and urban dynamics throughout the urban
modernization process in Turkey since the mid-19th century. I have found that there
are significant transformations in this process, which affected traditional hamam
culture negatively: the transformation of urban public space in Turkey from
homosocial to heterosocial with the emergence of new public spaces alternative to
hamams, such as waterfronts and parks where men and women socialize together;
changes in bathing habits with the emergence of thermal baths, sea baths and private
bathrooms in apartments; and the decrease in the number of operating hamams as
well as their restoration, maintenance and form of operation.
I have also argued that as most of the hamams lost their popularity due to these
transformations, and the still-existing ones became exposed to regular controls in
terms of employment conditions, cleanliness, public health and morality. I have
supported this argument by looking at law orders, regulations and newspaper articles:
the orders in the first half of the 20th century concerning the issues of same-sex
prostitution by young tellaks, their bodily hygiene, and the hygiene of hamam
interiors; the regulations to prevent same-sex relations in hamams; and newspaper
records regarding police raids in hamams in the second half of the 20th century. Here,
it is significant to note that issues of spatial and bodily hygiene in a hamam certainly
show whether it has a potential to become part of the urban queer culture of not. As
further analyzed in Chapter 5, the cleanest hamams in Turkey, which mainly serve
for traditional bathing rituals and as tourist attraction, are less likely to be queered,
while the managers, attendants and users of queered hamams do not pay much
attention to hygiene.
In the second section, based on the data gathered from the questionnaire survey and
the oral history interviews, I have focused on queer bars, public parks, cinemas
showing adult movies, beerhouses, Ottoman-Turkish hamams, LGBT activist centers
and the Internet as primary spaces of urban queer culture in Turkey, frequented by
queer subjects over the last 40 years. I have analyzed these data and presented them
as cognitive queer maps of the three Turkish cities, İzmir, Ankara and İstanbul in two
114
periods: Between the 1970s and the 1990s, and from the 1990s to the present. The
analyses have primarily shown which of these queer spaces are visited more than
others in all three cities. In the first period, hamams, parks and cinemas were the
most preferred spaces, whereas bars and beerhouses were the least. In the second
period, bars and cinemas are the most preferred spaces, whereas hamams and parks
are the least. Particularly the decline in the use of hamams over the past 20 years can
be interpreted as a result of not only a general decline in the number of still-existing
and operating hamams in cities, but also oppressive regulations, controls and raids by
state, police and municipal authorities. However, the police threats also led to the
queering of some hamams, first, as an urban closet analyzed in Chapter 3, where
their managers and attendants developed control mechanisms and spatial strategies
for the survival of their establishment; second, as a homosocial space analyzed in
Chapter 5, where the users developed safety and security networks against these
threats.
The analyses of the cognitive queer maps have also shown which queer spaces are
linked to each other based on users‟ preferences and weekly visiting routines and
how strong these links are relatively in each period. Until the 1990s, hamams, parks,
cinemas and beerhouses with their strong linkage seemed to have formed a particular
group in the cognitive queer maps of Ankara, İzmir and İstanbul. After the 1990s,
with a decrease in hamam visits and an increase in bar visits of the queer subjects, a
similar linkage seem to have been constructed this time between bars, parks and
cinemas. Furthermore, LGBT centers occur as a fourth link to this triangle of „bar,
cinema and park‟ and the Internet has also served as a virtual dating venue for the
last 20 years. A comparison between the urban queer maps of the two periods shows
that the preference of queer spaces in the three cities has changed from seemingly
more traditional closets such as hamams and beerhouses to more modern meeting,
entertainment and socializing venues such as bars, activist centers and the Internet. In
other words, hamams are not queered independently from other spaces of urban
queer culture, but within a homosocial network of common desire, as analyzed in
Chapter 7.
115
116
CHAPTER 5
THE HAMAM AS AN URBAN CLOSET
5.1 Introduction: Closetedness
Closet
(noun) (1) A private repository of valuables or curiosities; a cabinet; a small side-
room or recess for storing utensils, provisions, etc.; a cupboard247
(2) The confining state of being secretive about one‟s homosexuality248
(verb) to isolate, hide, or confine something
(adj) secrecy, covertness249
The term „closet‟ has been referred to in queer theory and activism in various
metaphorical forms from the 1990s on. The American literary critic Eve Kosofsky
Sedgwick considers the closet as a „rhetorical metaphor‟, by defining it as “a publicly
intelligible signifier for gay-related epistemological issues.”250 For Sedgwick, the
closet is “the defining structure for gay oppression in this century.”251
247
Oxford English Dictionary definitions as quoted in Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, The
Epistemology of the Closet, (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press,
1990), 65.
248
The Gay Almanac, compiled by the National Museum and Archive of Lesbian and Gay
History (New York: Berkley Trade, 1996), 84.
249
Michael P. Brown, Closet Space: Geographies of metaphor from the body to the globe,
(Routledge: London, 2000), 5.
250
Sedgwick, The Epistemology of the Closet, 14.
251
Ibid., 71.
117
Closetedness is a performance initiated by the speech act of a silence – not a
particular silence, but a silence that accrues particularity by fits and starts, in
relation to the discourse that surrounds and differentially constitutes it.252
Following this approach, the American journalist and activist Michael Signorile and
the Danish author, activist and community organizer Torie Osborn refer to the closet
merely as a rhetorical device or a literary expression to signify the oppression of
queer subjects and publish „coming-out‟ guides for them.253 According to the
American critical geographer Michael P. Brown, the closet as such a rhetorical
device has recently become “a dead metaphor […] so widespread and popular that
the newness, novelty, or oddity is largely forgotten.”254 He criticizes this literal
signification of the closet by reorienting “a tendency in queer theory to conceptualize
the closet as an aspatial force” in which “the spatialization of the closet remains
largely unexplored.”255
In contrast to this aspatial signification of the closet, Brown emphasizes the

„materiality of the closet‟ with reference to the increased recognition of spatiality and
its significance to understand the effect of complex social, cultural and political
processes in space. In his epistemological framework, the closet metaphor has not
just been treated simply through language as a discourse of silence but as a „spatial
metaphor‟ that signifies „the materialization of homophobic and heteronormative
power/knowledge/discourse in space‟.
Brown discusses the spatiality of the closet with reference to three theories of
metaphor: (1) Comparison Theory, (2) Interaction Theory, (3) Post-structuralism. In
Comparison Theory, the closet is considered the marginal space of homosexuality in
252
Ibid., 3.
253
See Michael Signorile, Outing Yourself, (New York: Fireside, Simon and Schuster, 1995)
and Torie Osborn, Coming Home: A Roadmap to Gay and Lesbian Enpowerment (New
York: St. Martin‟s Press, 1996).
254
Ibid., 6.
255
Brown, Closet Space: Geographies of metaphor from the body to the globe, 3.
118
relation to the room of heterosexual normalcy within which it is located. It is “a
space within the private sphere that has a limiting property: a space that is not open
to just anybody.”256 The British cultural geographer Nancy Duncan notes that “[T]he
spatial metaphor of the closet is particularly telling one in context of domestic space
where gays may not be „out‟ even to their own families within their home.”257 In this
context, Brown discusses that “there is mobility between closet and room” and the
epistemology of the closet in Comparison Theory “tropes on meanings of
concealment, elsewhereness-yet-proximity, darkness and isolation, with the potential
for movement or escape.”258 A follower of this theoretical approach is the American
architectural historian Henry Urbach, who compares the two distinct but related
meanings of the closet: “a space where things are stored” and “gay identity.”259
These two closets are not as different as they might appear. Taken together, they
present a related way of defining and ascribing meaning to space. They both
describe sites of storage that are separated from, and connected to, space of
display. Each space excludes but also needs the other. The non-room, the closet,
houses things that threaten to soil the room. Likewise, in a social order that
ascribes normalcy to heterosexuality, the closet helps heterosexuality to present
itself with authority.260
In Interaction Theory, the closet space metaphor works twofold. While its „surface
meaning‟ (vehicle) is “a dark, small and confined space”, its underlying idea (tenor)
addresses “the concealment, erasure, and denial of homosexuality in a broader
punitive context of heteronormativity.”261 This twofold closet metaphor signifies that
“the spatial interaction between closet and room stands for the social interaction
256
Gaston Bachelard, The Poetics of Space (Boston: Beacon Press, 1997), 78.
257
Nancy Duncan, „Renegotiating gender and sexuality in public and private spaces‟, in N.
Duncan (ed.) Bodyspace (London: Routledge, 1996), 7.
258
259
Henry Urbach, “Closets, Clothes, disClosure”, Assemblage, no: 30, (August 1996): 63.
260
Ibid.
261
119
between public and private spheres.”262 A follower of this approach is the American
historian George Chauncey, who reconstructs a gay urban culture in New York City
between 1890 and 1940, in his book Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the
Making of the Gay Male World, 1890-1930.263 His argument “pivots on a metonymic
substitution based on both location and spatial scale, where gay life is not like a
closet [vehicle], but is like a world [tenor].”264
The “gay world” actually consisted of multiple social worlds, or social networks,
many of them overlapping but some quite distinct and segregated from others
along lines of race, ethnicity, class, gay cultural style, and/or sexual practices. I
have nonetheless referred to the making of “a” gay world because all the men in
those networks conceived of themselves as linked to the others in their common
“queerness” and their membership in a single gay world, no matter how much
they regretted it.265
The post-structuralists criticize the oversimplification of the closet metaphor in

Comparison and Interaction Theories. In Post-structuralism, the closet metaphor has
rather instable and ironic meanings against repressive strategies of homophobia and
heteropatriarchy. Brown, for instance, discusses an ironic geography of identity
politics by the literary theoretician Diane Fuss, who claims that “the first coming out
was simultaneously a closeting.”266 According to Brown, “[T]o come out, […], one
must still build a closet.”267 In other words, the closet‟s uniqueness rests on its
capacity to subvert the secretness of secrecy by means of an irony that closet is
actually, in Sedgwick‟s words, an “open secret”, a “knowing by not knowing.”268
262
Ibid.
263
George Chauncey, Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay
Male World, 1890-1930, (New York: Basic Books, 1994).
264
265
Chauncey, Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male
World, 1890-1930, 3.
266
Diane Fuss, Inside/Out: Lesbian Theories, Gay Theories (New York: Routledge, 1991), 4.
267
268
120
In contrast to Comparison and Interaction Theories, where the closet works to trap,
hide, and confine the queer body by normalizing the homophobic power that
oppresses and marginalizes the closeted subject, Post-structuralist theory signifies the
closet as “a place of safety or individual privacy to be respected”, as well as “a place
for excitement and excellence.”269 This means that being closeted is not necessarily
an inevitable result of homophobic oppression, but the conscious preference of the
queer subject to claim space by going unseen and unknown.
In this dissertation, based on a post-structuralist approach, closetedness is neither

signified as a domestic concealment within the boundaries of the room (as referred
by Urbach), nor as a gay world in a wider public scale (as referred by Chauncey), but
a spatial condition that queers and privatizes certain venues of the urban environment
spontaneously and temporarily. This chapter analyzes the still-existing Ottoman-
Turkish hamams as urban closets and examines how the hamam closet is built,
appropriated and preserved by the urban queer culture in Turkey. In the first section,
I discuss how certain public spaces work as urban closets for queer subjects by
means of both spatial and bodily (in)visibilities. I also discuss how the police and
homophobia as well as public morality norms in Turkey threaten the survival of these
closets. In the second section, based on the experiences and testimonies derived from
the oral history interviews, I present how queer subjects construct the hamam as an
urban closet in a number of stages: exploration, access, commodification, facing and
coping with threats, and claiming space.
5.2 Queer Space as an Urban Closet
In order to understand how certain public spaces function as urban closets for queer
subjects, I initially refer to the American architect and critic Aaron Betsky‟s
theorization of queer space in a Lacanian approach. Betsky claims that queer space is
269
121
built up out of three elements: “Out of the recesses of the self (closet) it constructs a
mirror in which you appear, then dissolves into orgasm.”270
What I am calling queer space is that which appropriates certain aspects of the
material world in which all we live, composes them into an unreal or artificial
space, and uses this counterconstruction to create the free space of orgasm that
dissolves the material world.271
This three-staged materialistic evolution of queer space can be further examined

through the French Marxist philosopher and sociologist Henri Lefebvre‟s work, The
Production of Space272. In this work, Lefebvre introduces the concept of „abstract
space‟, produced by capitalism, heterosexism and modernity, and questions how
capitalism and heterosexuality intertwine to fragment the body in abstract space, so
that it becomes objectified and commodified. As an aspect of this commodified
construction of abstract space, he brings forward „the optical (or visual) formant‟ that
imposes on us our sexual desires through visual signs and scopic regimes, with an
over-reliance on visuality as an epistemological guarantee and that conceals personal,
intimate and other (non-visual) sensual dimensions of sexuality.
In the course of the process whereby the visual gains the upper hand over the
other senses, all impressions derived from taste, smell, touch, and even hearing
first lose clarity, then fade away all together, leaving the field to line, color, and
light. In this way a part of the object and what it offers comes to be taken for the
whole.... Finally by assimilation, or perhaps by simulation, all of social life
becomes the mere decipherment of messages by the eyes, the mere reading of
texts.273
270
Betsky, Queer Space: Architecture and Same-Sex Desire, 18.
271
Ibid., 18.
272
Henri Lefebvre, The Production of Space, (Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1991).
273
Ibid., 287.
122
Considering the closet as a material facet of the urban landscape, Brown argues the
significance of spatial and bodily (in)visibility in a twofold manner. On the one hand,
in the Lefebvrian perspective, he considers that the body is visually fragmented into
pieces, commodified and made socially visible in the city by producing gestures,
traces and marks in abstract space, “not merely for the stimulation and satisfaction of
desire but also for potential profit.”274 On the other hand, referring to Sedgwick‟s
conceptualization of the closet as an open secret, he considers that the invisibility of
the queer subject contributes to the closeting, appropriation and commodification of
queer spaces in the urban landscape in a paradoxical way.
As a production of space, the closet can also be largely or completely unknown,

if knowing is so epistemologically based in vision…. Men who have sex with
men ironically rely on the importance of vision in sexualized space to go
unseen.275
Accordingly, Brown makes a comparison that while the visual presence of straight
venues normalizes male heterosexuality in the city by an over-reliance on bodily
gestures, images and signs, the urban closets of queer cultures are visually
inconspicuous and invisible from the streetscape, as they rarely use corporeal traces
or marks indicating same-sex pleasure.276 He does not consider the closet‟s
production in the urban landscape simply as an “external effect imposed upon queers
by homophobic society”, stating that “men who have sex with men, as owners and
clientele, actively produce the closet themselves through these venues in reaction to
heteronormative structures.”277
Enclosed queer spaces such as adult cinemas, video rooms, bathhouses, saunas,
massage parlors, gay bars and clubs function as urban closets which are sexually
274
275
Ibid., 79.
276
Ibid., 69-72.
277
Ibid., 78.
123
commodified because of their visual concealment among other spaces in the urban
landscape. Instead of external traces and marks (used in straight venues of sexuality),
owners and patrons of these queer spaces use internal spatial strategies to attract their
potential users, and therefore to sustain these establishments as urban closets, as
exemplified by a 43-year old Turkish bisexual man:
Let me briefly explain the evolution of a gay bar, for instance. It was initially a
space fully enclosed all around…. When people realized that they could behave
as freely as possible inside this space, they started visiting the bar more
frequently. As the number of gay bars increased, a rivalry amongst them
occurred. So, the managements started offering additional facilities such as a
huge bed placed on the second floor or small confined dark rooms arranged
alongside.278
In order to survive, queer spaces in Turkey have to be closeted due to two major
threats: the police and homophobia. The policing of same-sex activities in queer
spaces is legally problematic and unclear. Tarık Bereket presents several provisions
of the Penal Code (Articles 419, 547 and 576)279 which do not specifically
criminalize homosexuality, but are used against sexual minorities such as effeminate
gay men, transvestites and transsexuals. An interviewee confirms the contradictory
278
OHI 1, 14.02.2012, Ankara
279
Article 419: “Whoever acts indecently in public shall be imprisoned for 15 days to 2
months, and whoever so engages in sexual intercourse shall be imprisoned for 6 months
to 1 year and in this case a heavy fine shall be imposed.”
Article 547: “Whoever intemperately or in a shameful manner openly hurts or disturbs
another shall be punished by light imprisonment for not more than 15 days or by a light
fine.”
Article 576: “Whoever in a lewd manner exposes himself or a private part of his/her body
to the public, or through lewd words or songs, or in another manner, violates public
decency shall suffer light imprisonment for not more thn 1 month or a light fine.”
Kürşad Kahramanoğlu, Equality for Lesbian and Gay Men – A Recent Issue in the EU
Accession Process, (Brussels: ILGA-Europe, 2001), 76-79 and ILGA, “The International
Lesbian and Gay Association: World Legal – Turkey”, (2002), Last updated: 05.12.1999,
at http://www.ilga.org/Information/legal_survey/europe/turkey.htm, quoted in Bereket,
Camouflaged Liaisons: The Social Organization of Turkish Male Sexual Minorities, 81.
124
application of these provisions against those minorities by stating that “having a
sexual contact with someone in an adult movie theater is considered illegal simply
because it happens in a public space, not because it is a same-sex relation.”280 In a
sense, the police authorities refer to a sort of legal justification to control homosexual
activities which are not believed to conform to norms to public morality.
The closetedness of these queer spaces is very much based on the morality norms of
the cultural geographies within which they are allocated. According to Bereket,
homophobic threats against queer spaces in Turkey are rooted in the following norms
and conceptions regulating public morality: Islamic doctrine, hegemonic masculinity
and institutionalization of reproductive sexuality. With reference to various
researchers such as Hüseyin Tapınç (1992: 45), Maarten Schild (1992), Bruce W.
Dunne (1990) and Ali Kemal Yılmaz (1998: 129-130), Bereket discusses how
homosexuality is forbidden by Islam:
[…] engaging in homosexual acts (livata) is likened to adultery (zina), which

disrupts the social fabric and causes disorder.... same-sex relations in Islam are
regarded as „the most sinful of sins‟ as the participants in such acts are being
offensive to God‟s will; thus, Islam directs the offenders to be punished by
death.281
Hegemonic masculinity is another homophobic norm in Turkish society‟s traditional

gender-role structure (masculine male/feminine female; male father/female mother)
that marginalizes and subordinates queer subjects who are viewed as threats to this
structure since their outlooks, behaviors and lifestyles do not conform to it. Actually,
queer subjects who conform to the norms of hegemonic masculinity in Turkey have
been less exposed to threats than effeminate ones,282 as indicated by a 48-year old
masculine-looking Turkish gay man in the following quote:
280
OHI 1, 14.02.2012, Ankara
281
Bereket, Camouflaged Liaisons: The Social Organization of Turkish Male Sexual
Minorities, 55.
282
It interesting to note that “masculine „gay‟ men are generally exempted from
prosecution.” Bereket, 81.
125
In the 1980s, transsexuals and transvestites were very few in number. It was not
merely that they were invisible in public space; they actually could not be seen.
There used to be only gays and bisexuals [...] Gender-change surgeries and
cross-dressing practices started after the 1990s. I personally did not have any
trouble, even during the governing period after the Military Coup.283
Bereket not only links the norm of hegemonic masculinity to the Islamic doctrine
that opposes same-sex activities among men, but also discusses how this norm is
normalized and institutionalized by intimidating effeminate gay men; first, on the
streets; second, in the school setting; and third, in the family.284 Hence, enclosed
queer spaces in Turkish cities such as cinemas, bars and hamams are closeted as
venues alternative to the street, the school and the family where queer visibility is
considered a threat to reproductive sexuality.
While those queer spaces are closeted to become places safer than other public
environments, their users and managers have to develop strategies to cope not only
with external threats such as the police, but also internal homophobic power
struggles. Hence, the closetedness of queer subjects does not end when they leave
their heteronormative environments (home, school, etc.), but they continuously
construct „closets within closets‟ in public space to provide invisibility and to sustain
same-sex activities.
5.3 Constructing the Hamam Closet
Based on the oral history data, I have found that there are four main reasons why
some of the hamams in Turkish cities, which were originally built as public bathing
venues, have also been functioning as a closet for the urban queer culture over the
past 40 years. First, by means of the hamam closet, same-sex activities among men
283
OHI 7, 20.07.2012, Ankara
284
Bereket, 64-73.
126
are, as a 57-years old Turkish bisexual man highlights, “kept out of sight” and “do
not occur in odd corners of parks, woods, highways, etc.”285 This is not only due to
the fact that hamams, in general, are buildings fully enclosed but also that the
queered hamams particularly studied in this dissertation (Iz1, Iz2, A1, Is1 and Is2)
are both small and relatively far away from the city centers. Thus, they are less
visible and accessible for anyone in the heteronormative public domain than for a
queer subject who has explored them.
Second, the characteristics of the district where a hamam is located is another factor
indicative of its closetedness. A 59-year old Turkish bisexual man who has been
visiting the same hamam in Turgutlu, a relatively conservative and small town of the
city of Manisa, since he was a child, highlights that he has never experienced a same-
sex relation in that hamam:
It is a small district so everybody knows each other, so there is no way such a

relation occurs in that hamam [...] No. I cannot even imagine [...] Moreover, that
hamam has a particular customer profile. Not everyone goes there. The bathers
are quite familiar people in the neighborhood.286
However, most of the queered hamams studied in this dissertation (Iz1, Iz2, Is1 and
Is2) are located in commercial districts, while only A1 is located in-between a
residential and a central business district. Thus, they do not serve mainly the
inhabitants of a particular neighborhood who are likely to know each other outside
the hamam, but a heterogeneous population composed of users of various ages,
gender identities, socio-economic levels and even nationalities, most of whom see
each other only during their hamam visits. A 38-year old Turkish gay man indicates
that “hamam users are mostly elderly people” but “the ones who define themselves
as „gay‟ in a modern sense visit a hamam if they have learned that it is a queer
285
OHI 3, 16.04.2012, Izmir
286
OHI 8, 18.11.2012, Izmir
127
space,” and for him, “this forms a fictional user profile in the hamam.”287 The
manager of the hamam Is2 explains the user profile in his hamam as follows:
People from nearly all districts of İstanbul visit my hamam. Even many visitors
from other cities […] Both old and young […] Young people have been visiting
for the last two years […] Also tourists, especially in the summer time […] They
find information about my hamam via the Internet. But they are mostly middle-
income people. Very rich people go to hotel hamams. In addition, the non-
Muslims living in İstanbul […]288
Third, while the access paths to those hamams may be quite dangerous due to the
characteristics of the districts where they are located, as discussed in section 5.3.2,
their interiors originally designed for communal bathing provide the users also with
„a relatively safe and clean environment for casual sex‟, which is less likely to occur
in other closed, semi-closed or open urban queer spaces, such as streets, parks,
cinemas, bars and clubs, as explained in the following quotes from oral history
interviews with two hamam users and the former manager of the hamam Iz1:
[...] it [the hamam] is quite a safe place. Not like the park, street, hotel, etc. […]
As you enter, your personal belongings are locked. You only have a piece of
cloth while entering the main chamber. There is no way someone may access
your belongings [...] There are no such risks […] In case of any trouble, there are
lots of people that you can call.289
In my opinion, it [the hamam] is the healthiest and the cleanest place. You may
meet and chat with someone in a park. But you cannot go beyond that unless you
have an appropriate enclosed space. I have been to a few cinemas in İzmir,
287
288
OHI 15, 29.06.2013, İstanbul
289
OHI 12, 25.02.2013, Kuşadası
128
İstanbul and Eskişehir in order to confirm what I heard about them [...] I saw
that the customers are having casual sex there. However, it is an extremely
unhygienic place. So, in my opinion, the hamam is the best place if you do not
have your own place where you can take someone.290
In a hamam, you may bathe and have a scrubbing, as well as fuck a guy whom
you like, relax and then leave […] It is enough that there is hot water, a place to
lock your belongings and a place to keep your clothes. After all, it has a cost,
doesn‟t it? Willing buyer, willing seller […] I told this to the policemen as well.
You shouldn‟t oppress these bathers that much. This is also a need […]
Otherwise, where will they fuck each other? In a park? Under a bridge? Here,
they at least pay and do whatever they want. They don‟t hurt anyone.291
The closetedness of same-sex relations in the hamam does not only make it a safer
space against external police and homophobic threats, but also internal threats
against the users‟ personal safety and privacy, as discussed in section 5.3.4. If the
users do not have any other personal, social and cultural ties to the hamam and its
attendants, they seemingly play the role of a naked bather – without any indication of
their socio-economic status – while looking for same-sex pleasure. Moreover, this
dual customer role does not have to be continued outside, where the same users
return to their heteronormative closets. A 58-year old, well-educated Turkish gay
man indicates that “there is no one with whom I have met in the hamam and
continued my relation outside”, since for him “whatever happens inside the hamam
stays there.”292 A 38-year old Turkish gay man confirms this by indicating that
“rather than taking somone home, you can have sex with him inside the hamam and
leave the place easily […] as you do not have to know each other by name.”293 By
means of such a closetedness, actually, a hamam user can construct a hybrid gender
290
OHI 3, 16.04.2012, İzmir
291
OHI 16, 09.08.2013, İzmir
292
OHI 12, 25.02.2013, Kuşadası
293
129
identity: a queer self mirrored inside and a heterosexual self conforming to the norms
of reproductive sexuality outside, as explained in detail in the following quotes from
oral history interviews:
A man [in Turkey] can easily create a social environment by drinking and
sightseeing with his male friends. Why do you think he needs such an enclosed
space? Actually, the users of a hamam are mainly local people, not travelers […]
For instance, let‟s think about two publicly well-known shop owners in various
neighborhoods of Ankara such as Samanpazarı, Çıkrıkçılar Yokuşu, Rüzgarlı
Sokak, Eski At Pazarı and Hamamönü... If they are willing to have a sexual
relation, they visit the …… hamam [A1] and behave there as they want [...]
while they have to reflect a certain identity [masculine heterosexual male] in
public, they can be themselves in the hamam since they have no other place to
do that […] However, they have to behave as careful as possible to sustain their
images outside.294
It [having sexual contact] is easier there [in the hamam] because when people
get naked for bathing, they become more attractive [...] And since people
visiting a queered hamam have similar gender identities [gays and bisexuals] and
expectations, they do not regard as odd, ostracize, or react negatively to each
other, but act courageously. Those who occasionally find a sex partner inside the
hamam do not recognize each other outside; or if they meet outside and go to a
hamam, they may ask for two different cabins and then come together inside [in
the sıcaklık].295
Fourth, the fact that a hamam is a convenient closet for same-sex relations is very
much based on the tolerance and attitude of the hamam manager towards queer
culture and groups. A 57-year old Turkish bisexual man asserts that “the hamam
managers permit such relations in order not to lose their customers.”296 Furthermore,
294
OHI 1, 14.02.2012, Ankara
295
OHI 5, 15.06.2012, İzmir
296
OHI 3, 16.04.2012, İzmir
130
as explained in the following quotes from the oral history interviews, the hamam
may function as a commodified closet not only for its customers, but also its manager
and attendants.
I think that the managers of some hamams are either gays or bisexuals, even
though they do not accept this. They run the hamam for themselves; to mask
their actual gender identities. Yet, some of them may be transformed into queer
spaces by the customers. If the manager reacts negatively, he loses those
customers. So, he either bankrupts his management or accepts the condition. But
he has to draw the limits of the relations inside. If he does not accept the
condition, it is because of police threat or the municipal authorities. Otherwise, if
he wants to earn money, he has to accept the customer profile and should not
care whether they are gays or not.297
I think some of the hamam managers are homosexuals. By running such

managements, they both make money and satisfy themselves. I don‟t think a
heterosexual would permit such relations in his management due to the values he
believes in. However, the hamam is quite a convenient place to work for the
attendants who show homosexual tendencies […] especially for married ones
[...] Because, they can easily find sex partners while giving a scrub or massage
without causing someone to suspect anything […] in such a space where such
relations occur and finish at once.298
The former manager of the hamam Iz1, who managed the establishment for nearly 15
years until 2008, explains how he separated his family life and social life outside the
hamam and his private life inside the hamam as follows:
297
OHI 1, 14.02.2012, Ankara
298
OHI 5, 15.06.2012, İzmir
131
The neighborhood in K…….., where I live, is a more conservative place. I can‟t
engage in gay relations there. No way. I have got a family and children. That‟s
why the hamam was also my private world…. They weren‟t much interested
[…] How would they know? I also don‟t tell them about my job. They don‟t ask
either […]299
I further question whether all traditional Ottoman-Turkish hamams may potentially

serve as closet spaces for urban queer culture and what architectural and/or spatial
characteristics are indicative of such a spatiality. The oral history data show variety
in regard to this question. A 38-year old Turkish gay man claims that “we cannot
know if a hamam is queer or not since there may not be any clue of what is to be
experienced inside.”300 Yet, in addition to its location, safety and user profile, the
closetedness of a hamam seems to be also dependent on how satisfactory its actual
services (namely, bathing, body hygiene and treatment, scrubbing and massage) are,
how qualified the materials used are, as well as how clean its interiors are kept. Some
of the interviewees observed that traditional hamams satisfying all these criteria are
less likely to function as closets for urban queer culture:
I had heard about the good reputation of the hamams in Kayseri. Once, I went to
one nearby my hotel. I bathed there, had a scrub and massage. After that, I went
into my clothing cabin, had some refreshments and smoked. Then, I went out
and returned to my hotel. Everything was quite normal. Or I hadn‟t realized
anything abnormal […] In most of the traditional Ottoman hamams in İstanbul I
have been to, the interiors are quite clean, covered with high-quality marble, and
open enough not to enable any invisible sexual act. In other words, the actual
function of those hamams are only bathing and cleaning. The attendants giving
you a scrub and massage, those holding the towels and drying your body have
learned what their actual duties are and how to behave with the customers. I
299
OHI 16, 09.08.2013, İzmir
300
132
haven‟t come across any attendant having a sexual contact with any of the
customers, even though the customers may demand this.301
Constructing the hamam as an urban closet is not simply a condition of creating an

invisible and safe enclosure for the queer subject. I hypothesize that it is rather a
multi-staged process through which the queer subject constructs the hamam closet by
first exploring and accessing it; second, by commodifying it for casual sex; and third,
by struggling with internal and external homophobic threats and then claiming space
inside it. Obviously, not all the subjects complete this process; some get involved in
or leave this process at any stage they want. Based on the testimonies and
experiences of the oral history interviewees, this section analyzes how these subjects
experience these stages in detail.
5.3.1 Exploring the Hamam
However concealed it is, a queered hamam falls into disrepute within a few
days.302
In order to construct the hamam as an urban closet, the queer subject initially has to
explore which hamams in the city are more appropriate and safer for same-sex
pleasure and finding partners. Since there are no external marks on the hamam
buildings indicating whether they are queer spaces, this exploration may be realized
in various ways: through close friends, through a communication network of urban
queer culture or through personal curiosity. A 64-year old Turkish transsexual who
used to frequent the men‟s section of queered hamams before she underwent gender-
change surgery, indicates: “Through friends in your social environment, you may
find at least one person who has been to a queered hamam.”303
301
OHI 9, 02.12.2012, İzmir
302
OHI 1, 14.02.2012, Ankara
303
OHI 8, 18.12.2012, İzmir
133
Once the queer subject explores a particular queered hamam, he may visit other
hamams in different neighborhoods or cities by anticipating if he can have similar
experiences inside them, as shared in the following quotes from oral history
interviews:
The first time I went to a queered hamam [A1] was when I was a university
student […] It was in the Hamamönü neighborhood of the district of Ulus in
Ankara […] The first time I went to a traditional Ottoman hamam was in the
company of an Italian friend of mine in İstanbul. He was older than me and
working in the Italian Consulate in İstanbul [...] He told me that he was going to
take me to a marvelous place […] It was the first historical hamam I had seen in
my life […] Then I went to that hamam myself and enjoyed it very much.
Whenever I later went to İstanbul, I definitely visited it. Once I visited those
hamams, I had the strong feeling that I might encounter a same-sex relation in
any hamam in Turkey. Since my first visit, I realized that the hamam was quite
an appropriate place for such relations. So, I continued visiting hamams and had
similar experiences in others in Anatolia.304
The first time I went to a hamam, my initial aim was to clean myself. However, I
realized later that same-sex relations could possibly occur there [...] I started
choosing the hamams with dressing and bathing cabins where you can both
bathe and have sex comfortably.305
With the emergence of the Internet after the 1990s, most of the queer subjects started
referring to websites which publish the names and addresses of queered hamams in a
particular city or chatting sites to learn more about these hamams. The following
quotes give an idea about how these sites are referred for such purpose.
304
OHI 12, 25.02.2013, Kuşadası
305
OHI 3, 16.04.2012, İzmir
134
Recently, there have been websites to find friends and sex partners. If I am to
travel to a particular city, first I contact people living there. For instance, if I am
to travel to Antalya, I contact gays from Antalya who indicate their locations
online. First, I chat with them. Then I tell them that I will be visiting Antalya in
a few days and ask them: “Which queer spaces can I visit in Antalya? Are there
any hamams or parks?” They tell me the names of these spaces. Then, I search
these names via the web and learn their approximate locations or addresses.306
Via the Internet […] A friend of mine from İstanbul, with whom I had been in
online contact for a while, had told me which queered hamam I could visit in
İzmir and where it was [...] I spent my whole day to find that hamam but I found
it at last.307
The names of most of the queered hamams studied in this dissertation were
discovered on several websites in the early 1990s when the Internet was quite a new
domain for queer subjects in search of alternative ways and venues for same-sex
relations. In the 2000s, due to secrecy and confidentiality, the managers of those
hamams asked their hamams to be excluded from the lists showing potential gay
venues in the cities of Izmir, Ankara and İstanbul. Hence, communication networks
among friends and personal curiosity are recently the most widely used ways of
exploring a queered hamam in a particular city.
5.3.2 Access to the Hamam
Once he explores a hamam where he can closet himself, the queer subject faces
another challenging stage: how to access the hamam. In this stage, even though the
very first visit to that hamam may be together with a friend who knows the place and
queer rituals specific to it, most users prefer visiting the hamam alone. This reflects
306
OHI 6, 02.09.2012, İstanbul
307
OHI 7, 20.07.2012, Ankara
135
the particular experience of closetedness in a hamam: users are willing to utilize and
commodify the space for same-sex activities which they are not able to realize
outside, rather than socialize with friends. A 43-year old bisexual man from Ankara
states that “if you visit a hamam with a group of friends, it is for entertainment;
whereas if you visit alone, it is for a private reason.”308
As supported by the following quotes from oral history interviews, visiting a queered
hamam alone not only decreases competition amongst the users, but also provides
each user with the freedom to do whatever he wants, with whomever he prefers.
Alone… Because, when people are alone, they feel more comfortable; but not
safer maybe. They think and behave more independently about such affairs.
They are more selective when there is no one that governs them. Because a
friend that accompanies you may also impose on you to do or not to do certain
things.309
I prefer going alone. Because problems may occur among friends… since they
may become jealous about you [...] My aim is quite clear when I go there alone.
I both clean myself and have sexual satisfaction.310
Why would I go with someone? If I want to have such relations, there are better
places to go, my house, for instance [...] As far as I have seen, most people were
visiting the hamam alone. I was staying inside for three hours. I have never seen
people coming in groups of two or more.311
The queer subject is faced with another challenge on the way to a queered hamam.
The route to the hamam may be considered a threshold from one closet (home, street)
308
OHI 1, 14.02.2012, Ankara
309
OHI 5, 15.06.2012, İzmir
310
OHI 7, 20.07.2012, Ankara
311
OHI 11, 02.02.2013, İzmir
136
to another, where the queer subject is out of all his closets for a short period of time.
If they are not driving or taking a taxi but using public transportation, in order to
access all of the queered hamams studied in this dissertation, the users have to walk a
distance, ranging from 9 to 16 minutes, from an urban public center to the district
where any of these hamams is located (See Figure 5.1).
Figure 5.1. Schematic maps showing how to access the selected queered hamams from the public
centers by walking
137
Depending on the visibility of the hamam, the socio-economic status and the type of
the district where it is located, or the visiting hours, this walking path may be quite
risky and enervating. For instance, as seen in the Figure 5.1, while walking to the
hamams A1, Is2, Iz1 and Iz2, the users transit from a relatively secure central district
where there are public facilities such as transportation, recreation and shopping into a
residential or a commercial district with which they may be unfamiliar.
The following quotes from the oral history interviews depict how risky, threatening
and uncomfortable these walking paths may be, both for the frequent hamam users
and the newcomers:
The ……Hamam [Iz1], I think, is not a dangerous place. But the street that goes
there… the narrow streets or the salesmen on those streets […] may be very
scary for a person who is not familiar with the district [of the hamam Iz1] […]
There are actually more dangerous districts in Ankara such as the route to
Mamak which is a squatter area […] For instance, you cannot compare a hamam
in Kadifekale with the one in K…….. [Iz1], in terms of the danger potential both
inside and outside the hamam [...] The ….. Hamam [A1] is located in a
neighborhood out of sight […] There is a car park just across from the hamam
and you can reach it from the upper street as well [...] It was actually always a
hidden gay hamam, not an obvious one […] Transvestites were also allowed to
enter the men‟s section, until a certain time when they were excluded [...] In any
case, it is not an easy route that goes there. If you go by bus, after you take off,
you have to walk all the way alongside the opera and climb upwards the
street.312
Of course, I get scared in K…….., especially after a certain time in the evening.
I have to either drive to that hamam [Iz1] or take a taxi. It is difficult to reach on
312
138
foot [...] Anything can happen […] Besides, there are people from very low
socio-economic classes in the back streets of K……... It is quite likely that you
come across workers, forgers, and even murderers there.313
[...] in front of the entrance door of the hamam [Iz1], there were people seated
and watching those entering and exiting the hamam. They might have been
either shop owners in K…….. or unemployed men. And some were looking in a
passionate and some in an insulting manner. This bothered me too much.314
While such a walking path to a queered hamam is challenging even for its frequent
users, it may be advantageous for the management of a hamam building, in order not
to be visible and accessible to everyone, as explained by the former manager of the
hamam Is1 as follows:
For instance, there were many people who called me and asked “How can we
come to your hamam?” I even remember taking some of them from the mosque
nearby. Of course, it would not be nice that everyone knew about my hamam if
it has a more central location. But I had routine customers. They knew about
it.315
Yet, the access stage is not completed at the entrance of the hamam. From the
moment when the queer subject enters the hamam, until he reaches its most private
sections, he has a mixture of various feelings such as anxiety, insecurity, curiosity
and repulsion. Newcomers have such negative feelings, first, due to the contradicting
architectural qualities between the external image of the hamam building and its
internal spaces. Especially in the hamams Iz1, Iz2, Is1 and Is2, this contradiction is
quite clear. As explained in section 2.5 and justified by their managers, the exterior
313
314
OHI 9, 02.12.2012, İzmir
315
OHI 16, 09.08.2013, İzmir
139
facades of all these hamams have gone through various renovations and
modifications, having been either plastered, painted or partially cladded, and
therefore they considerably differ from their original states. In contrast to the hamam
A1 which has recently been restored by revealing its original stone-masonry
structure, these hamams have a ruin-like or damp appearance. This architectural
inferiority can be seen in the soğukluk or even sıcaklık sections of some of those
hamams, as explained by a 62-year-old Turkish bisexual man:
This is all about my expectations. The first time I went to the hamam here [Iz1],
I wanted to leave as soon as possible due to the external physical appearance of
the hamam building […] as I entered the hamam, I felt really uncomfortable
with the appearance of the entrance hall. But I said to myself: “You have come
thus far, so you have to enter.”316
According to the managers of those hamams, as indicated in the following oral

history interviews, these contradicting architectural qualities in their buildings derive
from various reasons:
As far as I know, this hamam was constructed in 1430 by the Greeks […] It was
initially constructed on masonry walls. The exteriors were re-built with
reinforced concrete after the C……. Fire. There have been cracks over time.
But, for instance, the göbektaşı is original […] Actually, we cannot modify it too
much. The Council of Monuments does not allow us to do so. My uncle had
those ceramic tiles added 10 years ago. And we had to paint the exterior walls.
The wooden roof decayed due to rain. The marbles, kurnas inside are all original
[…] The Council wants us to keep it as it is but many places decayed due to
moisture. However, the municipal police fined us for uncleanliness. Later, we
hardly got permission. We plastered the exterior walls and cladded them with
ceramic tiles […] We did those after we got the touristic management permit.317
316
OHI 9, 02.12.2012, İzmir
317
OHI 15, 29.06.2013, İstanbul
140
It is a small building. The exterior plasters are durable, but the neighboring plots
were covered with trees and bushes over time […] At the end of every summer, I
had the ceilings and walls painted. You have to do this since the walls peel off
due to moisture […] Once, there was a fire in the storage. We renewed it. It cost
too much […] Other than this, there wasn‟t much change […] I had a particular
customer profile. A pair of slippers, a clean peştamal and hot water is enough for
them. After all, it is obvious why they visit. In any case, I wasn‟t earning enough
to completely renew the interiors like they do in other hamams. If you don‟t like
it, you won‟t visit. It is that simple.318
Second, newcomers may also feel uncomfortable since they have no idea whether the
manager, the attendants, or the customers in the hamam can be trusted. The same
interviewee explains this as follows: “I also felt really insecure while handing over
my wallet and other belongings. I was not sure if I would get them back or not. I
even counted the money I had with me.”319
Third, newcomers may feel anxious due to the fact that they have no idea about
bathing rituals, behavior patterns and sexual acts in a queered hamam. However, as
they learn about these issues, their anxiety turns into enjoyment. A 38-year-old
Turkish gay man depicts his first visit to the queered hamam Iz1 and how his feelings
and behaviours have changed over time, as follows:
My first gay hamam visit was in Izmir, and it was one of the most interesting
days in my life. I had been to a gay bar on Saturday night. On Sunday morning,
a friend of mine staying nearby called me and offered to meet at noon and go to
the hamam [Iz1] […] As we entered that hamam, I felt very scared and asked
myself “Why am I here?” Because I knew nothing about the place […] Anyway,
my friend helped me a lot. They gave us peştamals to wrap and we entered [the
318
OHI 16, 09.08.2013, İzmir
319
OHI 9, 02.12.2012, İzmir
141
sıcaklık]. The entrances of the halvets [in the sıcaklık] were closed with cloth
used as curtains. But if you look from the side, you can see what happens inside.
It was obvious that people were having sex there. Before we went there, he had
warned me, saying “Do not clothe and behave in a feminine manner”[…] Inside,
everybody was behaving in a strange manner. Some were playing def and
dancing. I found it the most enjoyable event of a Sunday […] I had met with a
few people [...] I did not know what would happen.320
The same interviewee also observed in another queered hamam how the behaviours
of other users may change in time:
I had a very interesting experience in a hamam in the shopping district of

Antalya, called „.……… Hamam‟[…] There were 8 or 10 people inside. I
realized that everyone wanted to do something but they weren‟t courageous
enough to do so. There was such a problem […] You have to indicate your
tendency somehow. Otherwise, nobody comes and asks you to have sex. There
is nothing like that […] But in 15-20 minutes, the people became more
comfortable and got involved in various sexual acts. You can‟t do that in a place
where there are all heterosexuals.321
These depictions exemplify that the queering of a hamam is a spontaneous and

temporal condition based on not only the subjective intention of each user, but also
their common expectations. The ones who explore the hamam as a closet space but
feel anxious and confused in their first visits may become courageous depending on
the acts and bahaviours of others. In this context, the functional appropriateness of
the hamam space for homosexual and homosocial relations, in time, surpasses its
architectural inferiority. This also contributes to the identity construction process of
320
321
Ibid.
142
the queer subjects in such a way that, while they closet themselves physically in the
hamam space, they may come out of their personal closets for a while.
The feeling of anxiety seems to be greater for a foreigner who is not only unfamiliar
with the bathing rituals in a hamam, but also the queer sub-culture in Turkey as well
as the language, manners of dress and behavior patterns. A 36-year-old Swiss gay
man describes his first visit to the hamam Iz2 as follows:
It was a bit scary because none of us knew how it worked [...] We were three
foreigners, a Greek, an Estonian and me. I think we all had this vision that this
place is an erotic place, even though these two other guys were straight [...] And
we went first into the changing rooms. You can either change two and two or
one and one. So, there was this general confusion when we got there: How many
people can we get inside? We didn‟t know. We had no idea [...] when we got in
there they pointed us to the locker rooms [...] And all three of us went into the
same one. And it was only for two and there was this general confusion that one
would go out […] Also a general confusion of what you wear. So, one of the
guys wore underwear.322
5.3.3 Commodification of Sex in the Hamam
As the time passes and the hamam visits become a routine for the queer subject, his
initial feelings yield to pleasure, addiction and belonging to that hamam. Most of the
interviewees commonly indicate that a typical bathing ritual in a hamam, which is
comprised of perspiration, scrubbing, massage and resting, takes about two hours at
most. However, those who stay longer or shorter in a hamam – either taking the
traditional bathing ritual or not – are willing to spend their visit as efficiently as
possible by finding as many sex partners as they can. A 38-year-old Turkish gay man
explains that in his three-hour stay in a hamam, he gets scrubbing for 30 minutes,
baths himself for another 30 minutes, and spends the remaining time for finding a sex
322
Pilot OHI 2, 18.01.2012, İzmir
143
partner.323 A 57-year-old Turkish bisexual man, for instance, realized that bathers
taking the top (aktif) role in sexual relations stay only 15-20 minutes, as he explains
in following quote:
[…] you go inside and wait. You search for a sex partner either among those
inside or those just entering. If there is no one who attracts you or is interested in
you, you just bathe quickly, get dressed and leave.324
On the contrary, the bottom (pasif) bathers may stay nearly half a day in order to find
as many sex partners and sexually satisfy themselves as much as possible, as
depicted in the following quotes from the oral history interviews:
There are people coming to the hamam early in the morning and staying until
late evening. It is obvious that they visit the hamam for sex. Generally, these
people are pasif in sex role and prefer multiple partners. However, an aktif
person only stays half an hour and leaves after he has quick casual sex. It is
advantageous for the hamam manager that the pasif bathers stay that long.325
Well, whenever I go to a hamam […] Let me say, I arrive there at 9:00; I do not
leave until 13:00 or 14:00. If I go there at 12:00, I stay until 17:00. After I dry
my body, I lie down naked in my private dressing cabin by placing a cloth on
me. And I search for sex partners until 17:00.326
Actually, using the dressing cabins in the soyunmalık section for same-sex relations
is not a preferred act, at least in the hamams studied in this dissertation. Rather, the
soyunmalık section is the space where the users spend the least amount of time in a
typical visit to a hamam, whether queered or not. Especially in the hamams A1, Iz1,
323
324
OHI 3, 16.04.2012, İzmir
325
OHI 3, 16.04.2012, İzmir
326
OHI 7, 20.07.2012, Ankara
144
Iz2 and Is1, this section, having a direct connection to the exterior public area with a
single door, can be considered a semi-public area where not only the newcomers feel
uncomfortable, as discussed in the previous section, but also where the patrons pay
attention to their appearance, behavior, and speech. As they enter, most of the users
tend to lock their belongings and undress immediately so that they can reach the
more private sections, namely the ılıklık and sıcaklık, where they are fully closeted.
It is significant that the hamam as an urban closet also functions as an unofficial and
illegal brothel, where not only the customers but also the tellaks engage in same-sex
relations and work like male prostitutes. In the hamam Is2, for instance, there are
young masseurs who engage in same-sex relations as part of the massage service
given in a private chamber. Even though the manager of the hamam Is2 claims that
their “entrance fee is below the amount specified by the chamber [the Chamber of
Hamam Attendants] for hamams having a touristic management permit,”327 neither
the amount of the entrance fee nor of the scrubbing and massage fee is a criterion for
most users (of various socio-economic statuses) who mainly visit the hamam for
casual sex. The interviewees explain why the amount of the entrance fee is not a
problem for many users:
The prices of all gay spaces are more than the usual [...] The managers have the
excuse that they provide people with such an appropriate space for same-sex
pleasure. Give the money and enter. It is like renting that space. They may be
right but the prices may sometimes be extreme. You may have to pay 5 TL for a
drink which is 1 TL elsewhere [...] You take a low-quality service for a high
price. This is valid for all gay venues [...] If a normal hamam is 10 TL, a gay
hamam is 20 or 25 TL. However, even though it is 50 TL, those people
definitely find that money and go there.328
327
OHI 15, 29.06.2013, İstanbul
328
OHI 1, 14.02.2012, Ankara
145
Actually, it is not a high price if you lie down and rest on the göbektaşı, bathe
yourself, and stay some more time for casual sex. The last time I went, I paid 13
TL. But, it may be high for some people [...] However, if you get scrubbing and
massage, you have to pay at least 30 TL.329
The following quotes from oral history interviews present why the tellaks may have
the potential to engage in a same-sex relation with their customers:
Let‟s assume that you are a tellak. You touch the bodies of hundreds of people
every day [...] You give them scrubbing and massage service. And for these
services, you are paid a certain amount of money. If you are paid extra, it is
possible that you also give them a sexual service.330
I did have a situation in Istanbul. The guy giving me the massage, at the end,
also offered me sex. First, I wasn‟t interested. Second, I didn‟t want to get into a
problematic situation where he may be also looking for money. So, I decided
that particularly because I was a foreigner [...] I didn‟t want to complicate the
payment. At the end, if I had discovered that he wanted me to pay first [...] in
Turkey, in the hamams, I am always very careful because of those people
looking for money [...] It wasn‟t a gay hamam. There weren‟t any other
gentlemen showing me his erect penis. I don‟t know about the gay life there. I
was there just for the hamam experience. I wasn‟t interested in anything else.331
The following quote from the interview with the tellak of the hamam A1 supports
those experiences of the users by explaining how a routine scrub or a massage
service he is giving may turn into a commodified sexual activity at a customer‟s
request.
329
OHI 3, 16.04.2012, İzmir
330
331
OHI 2, 26.02.2012, İzmir
146
[…] I have routine gay customers. I have a close communication with most of
them. They don‟t tell openly but I understand […] For instance, you pay 30 liras
for a typical scrubbing, but they pay almost 50 liras. I don‟t directly say “Pay
that much”. After all, they are my routine customers. If they are satisfied, then
there is no problem.332
I have mentioned above that the cleanliness of a hamam‟s interior may indicate
whether it functions as a closet space for queer subjects. Even though it is not
possible to make a generalization, most interviewees indicated that the queered
hamams they visited are extremely dirty; this does not seem to be a problem for those
who commodify the space for casual sex. A 60-year-old Turkish bisexual man claims
that “most of the hamams are not kept clean because their managers do not care
about it considering that their customers do not either.”333 Another interviewee, a 67-
year-old Turkish gay man shares his experiences about how dirty queered hamams
can be:
I have seen that most of the hamams are unclean. Unfortunately people were
shaving themselves not in specified sections but in the main bathing chamber.
Thus, their bodily hair stayed there and was even smudged on the soaps.
However, there are specified spaces in the hamam for shaving. These spaces,
called traşlık, exist both in men‟s and women‟s sections and people can clean
the genital parts of their bodies [...] In some hamams, I have even seen body
fluids such as phlegm, saliva, slime, semen, etc.334
The uncleanliness of the hamams may also be questioned in the context of the recent
status of hamams in Turkey. While there is a considerable decrease in hamam culture
due to the various factors discussed in Chapter 4, the still existing and functioning
332
OHI 17, 14.09.2013, Ankara
333
OHI 11, 02.02.2013, İzmir
334
OHI 5, 15.06.2012, İzmir
147
traditional hamams mainly serving as tourist attraction, especially in the cities of
İstanbul, Bursa and Eskişehir, are kept cleaner and are paid more attention than the
hamams functioning as closets for the urban queer culture.
[...] hamams are not frequented as much as they used to be. They are not
maintained and cleaned as they used to be [...] recently, the managements of all
queered hamams are having financial concerns. In İzmir, for instance, there are 2
or 3 queered hamams, all of which are worse than the others. The owners do not
need to maintain them. Their only concern is making money. Nothing else.
However, the hamams in cities like Eskişehir and Bursa are still kept clean and
paid utmost care. They are 400 or 500 years old, but they are quite clean and
well-kept as if built recently.335
It is worse now. In the past, the managers were more respectful and thoughtful
about the quality of the services and their behavior to the customers. They were
worried if they could satisfy them or not. Nowadays, they just take the entrance
fee and allow you in. But how are the interiors?... Awful […] Today […] When
you enter the hamam, you are immediately given a room, a shampoo and
anything you need [...]After you finish bathing, they dry you, take you to the
room and stare at you to see if you are going to leave or not. As they understand
that you are to leave, they ask you if you are going to drink something […] It is
completely commodified. But it was not like that in the past [...] You were able
to stay longer. For instance, I have been to the ………. Hamam in İstanbul [Is1]
a few times. It was either 9:00 or 10:00 in the morning when I entered. I bathed
for about 2 hours and had a scrub for 1.5 hours. Then, I lied down in my cabin
until 18.00. Nobody asked me why I stayed in the hamam and rested in my cabin
such a long time; and nobody forced me to leave.336
335
OHI 3, 16.04.2012, İzmir
336
OHI 7, 20.07.2012, Ankara
148
Even for users from higher socio-economic status who pay more attention to their
personal hygiene, the cleanliness of the hamam does not seem to be a primary
criterion, compared to the convenience of the space for casual sex, as an interviewee
testified about one of the dirtiest queered hamams in Izmir:
Once in the hamam in K…….. [Iz1], I had come across high-quality people [...]
Two elderly men entered while I was lying down on the göbektaşı. By looking at
their bodies, haircuts, hands, nails, etc., you were able to understand that they
were from a high socio-cultural class. They immediately entered one of the
halvets. They closed its entrance with a peştamal […] It was obvious that they
had been visiting the hamam frequently for such a relation.337
However, keeping the cleanliness and the architectural quality of a hamam at a

certain level may also be a tactic that its manager follows in order to control the
customer profile of his management at a high level. In my field observations, I have
found out that the queered hamams having a touristic management permit (A1, Is2)
are cleaner than the others (Iz1, Iz2 and Is1), as explained in the following interviews
with two hamam users and the manager of the hamam Is2:
….. Hamam [A1] had always been a clean place. It was restorated in order to
change its customer profile actually [...] I was quite shocked in both of my visits
to the ……. Hamam [Iz1] in Izmir and the ……. Hamam in İstanbul [Is1]. They
were extremely dirty. How dirty can a hamam be?.... In this regard, ….. Hamam
[A1] is different from the others.338
The ………. Hamam [in İstanbul] is three times more expensive than here. And
when you get in there, it is for tourists, completely [...] I had this industrial
feeling that you can‟t stay as much as you want. They make you leave just very
337
OHI 9, 02.12.2012, İzmir
338
149
quickly out of there [...] It was not full. They also put blankets on the floor,
which I found very funny. When you go inside, there is the room with wash
basins. You sit there and you splash water on yourself... and they put cloths
everywhere on this place. So, it was sort of funny because you can‟t sit on the
ground [...] It was a bad experience. I think my friends thought it was OK since
they hadn‟t been to any other hamam to compare with [...] in some way they
were disappointed because they were hoping for having more erotic feelings.339
After all, you have to give good service to the guys. The interiors of the hamam
should be clean. They should look clean. For instance, some customers say
“Your hamam looks like a barn from the outside but the interiors are quite
luxurious”. First, the visitors had doubts about it. They didn‟t want to enter. As
they saw the interior, they became routine customers.340
While the commodification of a hamam for same-sex pleasure is an inevitable stage

throughout its construction as an urban closet, some of the interviewees who are
against having casual sex in such a commodified form do not consider the hamam as
a proper closet for same-sex activities. A 60-year-old Turkish bisexual man states
that “I have never had sex in a hamam because I don‟t like casual relations. For me,
it should take longer and take place in a safe place. I should enjoy it.”341
5.3.4 Threats inside the Hamam
Once the queer subject appropriates the hamam as a closet for commodified casual
sex, he has to cope with two main threats directed towards queer spaces in Turkey, as
I have discussed previously: the police and homophobia. Due to legally problematic
339
340
OHI 15, 29.06.2013, İstanbul
341
OHI 11, 02.02.2013, İzmir
150
and unclear policing of same-sex activities in the hamam, the police have developed
alternative strategies to punish people engaging in those activities:
The ….. Hamam [A1] was well-known as a queered hamam for the last 30 years,
or maybe 40. The police raids embittered its owner at last. Even though not only
the owner, the manager and the attendants but also the police know that people
have sex there, the municipal authorities fine the management for uncleanliness.
The actual reason is, of course, different. Due to such punishments, the
management has started to oppress the customers […] I have heard that a
policeman once visited the hamam for bathing, not for routine control. One of
the customers solicited him. The policeman refused. This is what they told. But
another friend of mine told me the actual story. One of the tellaks offered that
policeman sexual services [...] Then, the hamam was closed down.342
The police threats and punishment strategies do not necessarily have a negative
effect on every queer subject, as the closetedness of the hamam space is different
from its counterparts in Europe and the US, namely saunas and bathhouses, where it
is only required to provide visual concealment during same-sex activities. What
makes the hamam an exciting closet for the queer subject is the continuous interplay
of homophobic confinement and queer resistance to it, and the challenges to queer
the norms of morality. A 43-year-old Irish gay man has depicted this dual, ironic and
contradictory character of the hamam closet as follows:
[...] I suppose you can inhabit two worlds at the same time. And you can have
this kind of mysterious and half-way thing. It is sort of, what I consider [...] an
interesting sexuality in relation to oppression. I think a lot of the gay hamam
experience is related to repression. And […] the excitement related to a kind of
getting past that repression.343
342
OHI 1, 14.02.2012, Ankara
343
OHI 2, 26.02.2012, İzmir
151
The queer subjects not only struggle with the external police threats in the hamam,
but also with internal homophobic threats and confinement strategies by the users
and the management. Some users may threaten those engaging in same-sex relations
with a financial expectation or due to their negative attitude against homosexuality,
as experienced by the following interviewees:
[...] for instance, in the ….. Hamam [A1], a man harassed me by showing his
penis... and I had him kicked out. We were able to do that. But I didn‟t do it
instantly. I warned him several times. But he continued doing that [...] I also had
another person kicked out. His dressing cabin was next to mine. He jumped into
my cabin […] and took my wallet and mobile phone. This was an exceptional
case [...] The tellaks beat the guy. Meanwhile, one of the gay customers
presumed that the guy was being beaten because of being a homosexual and
called the police [...] The guy, I and the tellaks went to the police station near the
Gençlik Park. The policemen in that station were quite familiar with same-sex
relations in that hamam. They asked me why I had been in that hamam. And I
snapped at them [...] there is no relation between being gay and being robbed
[...] if I had not explained the actual case, the tellaks would have been stuck in a
difficult situation. So, I and the tellaks became close friends.344
Of course I had such fears like being threatened while exiting the hamam. I
didn‟t experience this but thought about it. Some people may go there for
blackmailing or robbing gays. Those people may have seen what you did inside.
They may chase you and put you in trouble by threatening you, saying “I will
take you to the police.”345
344
345
OHI 5, 15.06.2012, İzmir
152
As experienced by some of the interviewees, in order to cope with these threats, the
managers and attendants of queered hamams have developed control mechanisms
and spatial strategies for the survival of their establishment.
Some of the hamam attendants permit same-sex activities, but some have been
advised not to do so [...] I experienced that in a hamam in the Basmane district
of İzmir, a guy seduced one of the tellaks, so the tellak beat him with the
bowl.346
I remember visiting the hamams in the Kızılcahamam district of Ankara [...]

There were also such threats about gays. That‟s why: even the dressing cabins
had no doors. Initially there were doors but they were all removed. And they
were giving each user a very small locker in which it is impossible to fit his
belongings. You had to leave your shoes unlocked […] I didn‟t know where to
place my wallet or my bag […] Generally, the tellaks warn people, not the
manager. The manager always plays [the role of three monkeys] by saying “I
haven‟t seen, known or heard anything. This is a place for families. No such
relations can occur” [...] At times when there was extreme oppression against the
hamams, I experienced that they were beating and kicking out gays. Because, in
the course of a raid, the police can also take you if they catch you in a sexual act.
If you don‟t care about their warnings, the tellaks can kick you out.347
The former manager of the hamam Iz1, for instance, explains how he referred to
issues of visibility and functionality to differentiate a frequent user from a newcomer
or a police, who might have possibly created a threatening situation inside his
hamam, as follows:
346
OHI 5, 15.06.2012, İzmir
347
OHI 1, 14.02.2012, Ankara
153
You cannot say to any customer “Don‟t come. I don‟t know you”. But you
should be careful. For instance, I remember something I told to the lubunyas
[effeminate homosexuals] visiting the hamam. There are two entrances to the
hamam. The side entrance opens to the car park and is not used very frequently.
I suppose, they have closed it lately. Anyway. I was saying to them “Use the
side entrance” […] since everyone sees the main entrance opening to the street.
Both the paparons [policemen] and kezbans [foolish newcomers] use that
entrance [...]348
5.3.5 Claiming Space in the Hamam
The queer subject does not only struggle with various homophobic threats in the
hamam, but also engages in power struggles with other users who become rivals to
him while claiming space for sex. Especially some effeminate gay users, called
lubunya, compete with others to use the most convenient chambers for casual sex
and to seduce the most preferred candidates as sex partners. As presented in the
following quotes, these users may be quite disturbing as they dominate the space
with their presence.
There are hyperactive, snobbish and creepy people, called lubunya, who stop by
every chamber or corner of the hamam. They are also quite selfish so that they
give no chance to others to have sex with the aktif guys in the hamam. It is
interesting that when you come across such people outside the hamam, they do
not recognize you.349
Especially when those effeminate people enter the hamam, there occurs a
commotion or extreme noise. So, the other customers rightfully complain about
them. Because tourists staying nearby the hamam may have visited there without
348
OHI 16, 09.08.2013, İzmir
349
OHI 1, 14.02.2012, Ankara
154
knowing about the same-sex relations inside […] people were more careful
about those issues 20 or 25 years ago. But, recently, they have gone to extremes
[...] 1.5 years ago, I saw 4 guys having group sex on the göbektaşı while there
were other users inside […] 4 years ago, I witnessed an extreme case in the
hamam in K…….. [Iz1]. A student in his 20s came to that hamam. It was
obvious that he was a gay. He entered one of the corner halvets. He had casual
sex with more than 10 people there, without giving a break. And it didn‟t even
take an hour. How healthy can such a sexual act be?350
I have noticed that [...] a group of friends like 2-3 or 4, they would literally claim
a space for themselves when they go in. If there is a specific area that can be
private, they would actually take it over and not allow anybody else in. If they
find somebody, they would individually bring them in. I have noticed that there
is this sort of territoriality and they don‟t allow others to go in.351
Claiming space in the hamam reaches its peak especially when it is crowded. This is
a favorable situation for some users, since the more people there are in a hamam, the
more likely they find an appropriate sex partner. However, the crowd also decreases
the duration of sex among partners. A 43-year-old bisexual Turkish man indicates
that “the crowd is risky because rivalry starts as the possibilities decrease. You may
have to spend less time for a sexual relation than you expect.”352 A 38-year-old
Turkish gay man explains in detail the advantages and disadvantages of a crowded
hamam as follow:
When the ….. Hamam [A1] was functioning as a gay hamam, you had to wait in
a queue outside. You might wait even for 10 people exiting [...] Such a crowd is
positive, on the one hand, but can lead to commotion, on the other [...] if you are
350
OHI 3, 16.04.2012, İzmir
351
OHI 2, 26.02.2012, İzmir
352
OHI 1, 14.02.2012, Ankara
155
interested in elderly people, it is more advantageous for you to go there at a
younger age, because hamam users are generally old people [...] you may easily
find a partner among them [...] the people who label themselves as “modern
gays” visit a hamam if they have learned about it later [...] This can form a
speculative and mixed-age user profile [...] this is more inviting for me.353
In the hamams Iz1, Iz2, Is1 and Is2, the interior spaces appropriate for same-sex
relations (halvets, saunas, toilets, showers, etc., as analyzed in Chapter 6) are either
too few to serve a crowd of users, especially on weekends, or too small to house
more than two people at once. The former manager of the hamam Iz1, for instance,
explains how the use of corner halvets in his hamam was an issue of rivalry among
the users, as follows:
The fronts of the corners were like a bank queue on the weekends. Once a person
was in, he wouldn‟t leave easily. They were all arguing with each other, saying
“It is my turn. Why have you entered?” Actually, they are right. They go there
once a week. They want to experience it to the end. But there were times I
couldn‟t stand that. I had to enter and force those who had come early in the
morning to leave.354
In this chapter, based on a post-structural critical reading of the closet space, I have
hypothesized that closetedness is a privatization on a public scale and that queer
subjects closet themselves in certain public spaces not merely as a result of
homophobic oppression, but for their own invisibility, safety and privacy. In the first
section, I have discussed how certain public spaces work as urban closets by means
of both spatial and bodily (in)visibilities. Accordingly, I have highlighted that the
353
354
OHI 16, 09.08.2013, İzmir
156
closeting of these spaces are realized by means of internal spatial strategies rather
than external traces. I have further discussed the police threats and homophobic
threats as major factors that affect the closetedness of queer spaces in Turkey.
In the second section, based on the oral history interviews, I have analyzed the
selected Ottoman-Turkish hamams as urban closets. I have initially explained the
main reasons why these hamams function as closets for some men: (1) smallness as
well as invisibility and inaccessibility for everyone, (2) the characteristics of the
hamam‟s district, (3) safety and cleanliness, (4) tolerance of the hamam manager. In
the sub-sections of the same section, I have presented how queer subjects construct
these hamams as urban closets in a number of stages: exploring and accessing them,
commodifying them for casual sex, struggling with internal and external homophobic
threats, as well as claiming space. However, the analyses of the oral history data have
shown that the reasons for the closetedness of these hamams and their construction
stages may differ for each man depending on his sexual identity, his position within
urban queer culture as well as his expectations from the hamam closet.
It can be concluded that this multi-staged construction process of the hamam as an

urban closet is quite challenging for the queer subject, as it requires various mental,
visual and social barriers to be surpassed. Due to the visual concealment of these
queered hamams, most of the men seem to explore them through a communication
network through friends and personal curiosity. In Chapter 4, I analyzed the linkage
of queered hamams to parks, cinemas, beerhouses, bars and the Internet as cognitive
queer maps of Ankara, İzmir and İstanbul. If the queer self decides to become part of
a group identity, he visits these spaces to join homosocial networks and to make
friends with whom he explores and accesses other queer spaces. If not, he refers to
these networks, and mostly the Internet, only to learn about potential queer spaces in
a particular city, which he visits alone and experiences how safely closeted they are.
Even though the access paths to some of the selected hamams are quite risky, most of
the men seem to visit them alone, feeling anxious and insecure, but also curious
about what will be happening in their most private sections.
157
As he surpasses the visual barriers of a queered hamam and realizes how sexual
pleasure may be easily commodified, he becomes addicted to these hamams and may
not care about their cleanliness and architectural qualities. Interestingly, this is not
only valid for subjects from lower socio-economic classes possessing traditional
sexual identities (aktif, pasif, lubunya, balamoz, laço, etc.), but also for subjects from
higher socio-economic classes who define themselves as gay in modern sense. In
other words, in search for a safe closet for same-sex pleasure, the queer subject may
take any sex role, as further analyzed in section 6.4, to easily surpass the barriers of
social hierarchy and sexual norms to which he conforms outside the hamam. Yet, for
the survival of this pleasure, he also has to surpass other barriers in the hamams such
as external police threats, internal homophobic threats as well as rivalry for claiming
space. In order to cope with these threats, he engages in various forms of
homosociality such as male-specific rituals, communication and safety networks, as
further analyzed in Chapter 7.
158
CHAPTER 6
THE HAMAM AS A PERFORMANCE STAGE
6.1 Introduction: Queer Performativity
I did not ask you if you were gay. Because there is no need for it. It is
obvious.355
Judith Butler‟s Gender Trouble356 has made a profound contribution to the field of
queer theory, most notably with her theory of performativity in understanding the
construction of the gendered body. In this theorization, Butler does not consider
gender identities as roles one can adopt at will, but as the result of social scripts to
which we actively conform or which we reject. She re-describes the gendered body
as a construction “through a series of exclusions and denials, signifying absences.”357
The body is gendered by means of “acts, gestures, and enactments” which are
“performative in the sense that the essence or identities that they otherwise purport to
express are fabrications manufactured and sustained though corporeal signs and other
discursive means.”358
That the gendered body is performative suggests that it has no ontological status
apart from the various acts which constitute its reality [...] if that reality is
fabricated as an interior essence, that very interiority is an effect and function of
355
OHI 1, 14.02.2012, Ankara
356
Judith Butler, Gender Trouble. Feminism and the Subversion of Identity, (New York:
Routledge, 1990).
357
Butler, Gender Trouble. Feminism and the Subversion of Identity, 184.
358
Ibid., 185.
159
a decidedly public and social discourse, the public regulation of fantasy through
the surface politics of the body […] acts and gestures, articulated and enacted
desires create the illusion of an interior and organizing gender core, an illusion
discursively maintained for the purposes of the regulation of sexuality within the
obligatory frame of reproductive heterosexuality […] If the inner truth of gender
is a fabrication and if a true gender is a fantasy instituted and inscribed on the
surface of bodies, then it seems that genders can be neither true nor false, but are
only produced as the truth effects of a discourse of primary and stable
identity.359
Butler also highlights the significance of repetition in performative bodily acts, by

describing performativity as “a repetition and a ritual, which achieves its effects
through its naturalization in the context of the body […] as a culturally sustained
temporal duration.”360 In her article Critically Queer, she further theorizes such
repeated acts as “a nexus of power and discourse that repeats or mimes the discursive
gestures of power.”361
If a performative provisionally succeeds, then it is not because an intention

successfully governs the action of speech, but only because that action echoes a
prior action, and accumulates the force of authority through the repetition or
citation of a prior, authoritative set of practices. What this means, then, is that a
performative „works‟ to the extent that it draws on and covers over the
constitutive conventions by which it is mobilized.362
If gender is a performance constructed to regulate and sustain heteronormative

power, then, it is inevitably subject to subversion, manipulation and de-construction.
359
Ibid., 185-186.
360
Ibid., xv.
361
Judith Butler, “Critically Queer”, in Shane Phelan (ed.) Playing with Fire: Queer Politics,
Queer Theories, (New York: Routledge, 1997): 156.
362
Ibid., 157.
160
With reference to Butler, I consider „queerness‟ or „queering‟ as „a mode of
subversive performance‟, rather than a stable identity category, that questions “the
status of force and opposition, of stability and variability, within performativity.”363
If the performative operates as the sanction that performs the heterosexualization

of the social bond, perhaps it also comes into play precisely as the shaming
taboo which „queers‟ those who resist or oppose that social form as well as those
who occupy it without hegemonic social sanction.”364
There are various queer performances, functioning as strategies of the queer body
which are developed both to subvert the heterosexual norms and behaviours for
same-sex pleasure and adapt to these norms to enable the survival of this pleasure.
Queer performativity has such a binary character: “an in-betweenness enacted
through an ongoing interplay of revealment/concealment, inclusion/exclusion and
denial/acceptance of certain bodily acts, gestures and behaviours”. The meanings that
these performances signify change over time, place and culture. The following
quotes selected from the oral history interviews, for instance, present how certain
performances peculiar to Turkish queer culture have changed over the last few
decades.
[...] In the past, there was something like that. For instance, you go to a park.
The park is a good example. Because cruising in a park is not like hiding in the
darkness of a cinema or closeting yourself in a hamam. You are clothed the way
you walk on the street. But, your body language, your look and speech reveal
your identity.365
363
Ibid., 156.
364
Ibid.
365
OHI 1, 14.02.2012, Ankara.
161
There have always been indications of gender identity. Give me your hand, for
instance. In the past, doing this [caressing the palm of the hand] while shaking
hands was a sign of “I liked you”. Then, people started wearing scarves, bags
carried either on the right or the left, earrings, tight pants […]366
Based on his experiences during his 3-month visit to İzmir, a 36-year old Swedish
gay man depicts in detail some of the behavioral and discursive queer performances
in Turkey and how strange he found them as a foreigner:
Behavior codes [...] aktif/pasif narrative. We went to A…. [a gay bar in İzmir]
once […] there was a guy whom I liked […] we started dancing with each other
[…] I wanted him to dance in front of me. But he kept pushing me to the front
all the time. Then, I realized that this was a sign of what he was […] I have seen
other ones [...] the girls kissing in D…. Cafe [a gay-friendly cafe in Izmir]. And
they don‟t get told off. But, it could be because the owner hadn‟t been there
much at the same time. I think it is based on the owner. Then, another thing is
that when you walk on the street here, you walk arm-in-arm and this is not a
problem. This depends on how you hold each other. For example, I went arm-in-
arm with a Turkish guy who was very feminine on Kıbrıs Şehitleri [Street]. It
was night time […] and people started screaming at us [...] it also depends on
how you hold each other and where you are... When my boyfriend was here last
weekend, we walked arm-in-arm in Alsancak. There was no problem. Then we
took the boat to Bostanlı. People were staring at us in another way there. On the
boat outside [...] In Istanbul [...] in Beyoğlu I didn‟t have anything like that [...]
And we also went to Foça and walked arm-in-arm there. I didn‟t have the same
feeling there (Pilot Interview 2, p. 8). I met some younger guys, performing in a
feminine way. But they were clearly saying that they were not pasif, trying to
challenge this narrative […] I don‟t know what they are [...] at least they are
trying to challenge this narrative though they are effeminite.367
366
OHI 4, 10.05.2012, Ankara.
367
Pilot OHI 2, 18.01.2012, İzmir.
162
The sociologist Tarık Bereket, in his Camouflaged Liaisons: The Social
Organization of Turkish Male Sexual Minorities368 analyzes how same-sex desire is
structured in Turkish society. He introduces various performances peculiar to
Turkish male sexual minorities, defining them as “scripts employed by men who
engage in same-sex relations in order to communicate their sex-role preference in
possible sexual encounters.”369 He considers „language use‟ and „the look‟ as the
most common scripts repetitively used for same-sex desire among men in certain
locations. He states that “the way in which men talk with each other also gives clues
in relation to who is (or wants to be) aktif or pasif”370 in the sex role.
[...] if a person begins to include sexual jokes or any other reference to sex
during a conversation, then the chances that he is homosexual, hence willing to
be penetrated, are high. Also, including expressions such as „ay‟ and „ayol‟ in a
conversation, which are feminine characteristics, and laughing out loud in a
womanly manner also display pasif tendencies.371
The ways of looking (and not looking), are also significant as being globally refered
queer performances by men in search for same-sex pleasure. “The Look”, as claimed
by Badruddin Khan, is “the universal coup d’oeil that men give other men once they
sexually desire them.”372
[...] Look spans continents and cultures, and time stands still when there lurks
the possibility of wandering with its radiance [...] we find its magic revealed to
us in stages, with experience. Investigating the Look requires emprical practice.
368
Tarık Bereket, Camouflaged Liaisons: The Social Organization of Turkish Male Sexual
Minorities, Master of Arts, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of
Windsor, Ontario, Canada (2003).
369
Minorities, 120.
370
Ibid., 125-126.
371
Ibid., 126.
372
Badruddin Khan, Sex, Longing & Not Belonging, (Oakland: Floating Lotus Books, 1997),
55.
163
The Look is part visual contact, part stance, and part the projection of
presence.373
Bereket further categorizes the sex roles of Turkish male sexual minorities in
accordance with the way they look at each other in certain locales: a „seductive look‟
signals the pasif role in sex, whereas a „cool look‟ signals the aktif one. Heterosexual
men, however, are not believed to make lenghty eye contact with other men.374
Cruising is another queer performance globally embraced by men seeking same-sex

pleasure. Betsky describes cruising as an urban performance: “network of routes for
queer men acting as ephemeral counterspaces to the emerging transactional space of
the middle-class city.”375 According to Betsky, there are four basic characteristics of
cruising: (1) taking place at night, (2) emerging in unused and labyrinthine spaces,
(3) finding the edges of the city, and (4) being parallel but not similar to public
spaces of the city.376 He gives as examples various public spaces, such as dark alleys,
parks, cracks, unlit corners, unused buildings, bathhouses, public toilets, etc. which
are being sexed by “the continual appropriation of cruising.”377 He considers cruising
as a “loneliness that is aware of its own space” rather than “a mere separation.”378
It is the continually reenacted search for connection, the revelation of anonymity

in the most intimate knowledge of the space of the body, the darkness of the
unused city, and the liveliness of disconnected orgasms [...] a loneliness that is
the natural opposite of the walls of separation, fear, and distance that are meant
to create community within their confines. By revealing the fallacy of such
devices, cruising opens up the space of emptiness in the modern city and sings it
alive through the actions of the queer body.379
373
Ibid.
374
Bereket, 127.
375
Betsky, 148.
376
Ibid., 141.
377
Ibid.
378
Ibid., 149.
379
Ibid.
164
Here, it is significant that even though speaking, looking and cruising seem to be the
three major queer performances most commonly utilized by men seeking same-sex
pleasure, the way they are enacted varies in accordance with the character and
subversive capacity of the performing subjects, the repeatability of those
performances, as well as the limits and characteristics of the space where they are
enacted. In this chapter, I discuss the queering of the hamam space in terms of these
variables. In the first section, I re-conceptualize queer space as analoguos to a
performance stage and its users as performers in light of their experiences in certain
public venues in Turkey: the park, the cinema and the hamam. In the following
sections, I particularly analyze performativity in the hamam in terms of performers‟
profiles, their permanent or temporary gender roles, the niches and the decor of the
stage as well as various multi-sensory performances acted out on this stage.
6.2 Queer Space as a Performance Stage
Having considered queer performativity as “a repeated set of subversive bodily acts,

gestures and behaviors”, queer space can be defined as “the stage where those
performances potentially occur”. However, this stage is not a classical theatre stage
having a fixed angle of view for the audience seated opposite, but an interaction
domain with blurred boundaries where the users act both like the audience and the
performer. Moreover, there is no pre-defined text and duration for the performances
to take place on this stage; as queer space implies an ambivalent and ephemeral
condition; in other words, „the improvisation of queer performativity‟. This means
that it cannot be easily determined what performances will occur in queer space,
where exactly they will take place and how long they will last.
How a space becomes a stage on which orders of daily life are subverted and
appropriated by queer performativity can be best understood through a discussion of
a reciprocal relation between performativity and functionality in that space. Spaces
like public parks, cinemas and hamams in Turkey function within the public norms
of heterosexuality, so they are freely accessible by every segment of society.
Although this heterogeneity is challenging for those who are willing to appropriate
165
these spaces for same-sex pleasure, their actual functions are also refered to as masks
to conceal queer performances when necessary. In other words, there are two
different plays to be performed on this stage: the normative and the queer. However,
as a 67-year-old Turkish gay man indicates, these plays do not always have to be
performed simultaneously: “Gays generally prefer quiet spaces and hours when there
are fewer people around.”380
Betsky describes queer space as “a satyric scene... that functions as a

counterarchitecture, appropriating, subverting, mirroring, choreographing the orders
of daily life in new and liberating ways.”381 In contrast to gay bars, saunas,
bathhouses and video clubs in Europe and US, which have been particulary designed
as venues of both regulated same-sex pleasure and socialising among gay
communities, public parks, adult cinemas showing pornographic movies and
traditional Ottoman-Turkish hamams are spaces queered by means of momentary,
mostly invisible and uncontrolled performances. The difference between these two
queer spatialities can be best understood through the comparison of a gay sauna with
a hamam by two Turkish gay males who have visited both spaces:
[...] a gay sauna is a place that people visit only for sex. This is known both by
the users and the management. So, neither complains about it. It provides you
freedom. But, on the other hand, the hamam is quite a mysterious place.382
Those in Europe are not hamams but saunas. They are very different. People go
there not for bathing but for sexual satisfaction. They are like health centers
including steam rooms and gyms. They do not offer massage service there.
There are no tellaks. In addition, they are open 24 hours a day.383
380
OHI 5, 15.06.2012, İzmir
381
Betsky, 26.
382
383
OHI 1, 14.02.2012, Ankara.
166
Two foreigners (a 36-year-old Swedish gay man and a 43-year-old Irish gay man)
who experienced both a gay sauna in their home country and a hamam in Turkey
make a similar comparative interpretation:
The sauna in Sweden is different [...] Because in the sauna we are having a beer,
and we go out and roll in the snow. It depends on whether it is winter or summer
[…] for me, the sauna is more like a social space […] Even though I also think it
can be a social space here, for me, it is more erotic. Because if there is someone
touching you when doing a massage, that makes a difference […] I think here it
is more sexual [...] mainly due to the lack of social spaces. In Sweden, for
instance, there is always a space to meet or to go. Here, most of the time people
don‟t have a place to go. That makes it more desperate in a way [...] desperate
but more sexual.384
I call for sex in those spaces […] It is nice that it is clean. That‟s always a
criterion. I do like the fact that they do have a sort of relaxation area, a sauna or
jacuzzi [...] it is equivalent to going to a sort of a relaxation spa […] The last
time I was in London, there was a sauna that I went to, and it was quite nice
because they serve dinners, a guy will give you a massage [...] they had a very
nice sitting area. So, I think strategy for a lot of people would be as they go in,
they would do the initial cruise, and if there wasn‟t anything that they hooked up
with, they would sit and read newspaper... and spend some time there […] like a
mini spa in which you can spend the whole afternoon [...] I do like going to the
hamams. I don‟t go to the hamams here for sex because I like the experience.
What is interesting here is that the whole experience is much formalized; from
the moment you go in to the moment you leave. Sometimes, I would like to go
into the changing area and lie down for half an hour and then go back again. But,
they don‟t really allow you to do that. Once you leave the hot room, they wrap
you and sit you there.385
384
385
OHI 2, 26.02.2012, İzmir
167
What makes public parks, adult cinemas and hamams particular spaces for queer
performativity is that they provide the performers with ambivalent and unexpected
spatial conditions that require continuous exploration and experimentation. A 43-
year-old Turkish bisexual man depicts how the labyrinthine spatial arrangement of a
hamam enables this:
Ottoman hamams have always been convenient for same-sex relations. I believe
they are constructed for that purpose. Let me put it this way... If a space provides
the users with a certain privacy and enables them to stay alone and out of sight
even for 2 seconds by means of its corners, turning points, it is quite convenient
to become a queer space […] Such spaces are always prefered […] The more
labyrinthine its spatial layout is, the more queered the space is [...] As you turn a
corner, you may find your favourite sex partner [...] It is necessary to increase
and satisfy the expectations. Because if the space is completely open, you see the
movements of everybody at once. Users may realize in 5 minutes that they are
attracted to each other. If they don‟t, they wait for others. But, even though you
see who enters, if you don‟t see his body movements, body language and bathing
style, he may still attract you. While trying to explore, you get attached to that
space.386
As discussed in section 5.3.3, the soyunmalık section of a hamam is the space where
the users spend the least amount of time, only for dressing, undressing, locking their
personal belongings, resting and paying the hamam fee. Therefore, this section is
obviously not part of the labyrinthine arrangement suitable for the users to spend
more time for cruising and engaging in visual and/or tactile sexual performances. In
most of the queered hamams studied in this dissertation (Iz1, Iz2, Is1 and A1), the
main bathing chambers (soğukluk=usually the dressing room, ılıklık, sıcaklık) and
additional spaces (WCs, showers, saunas) are arranged so close to each other or even
386
OHI 1, 14.02.2012, Ankara
168
interlocked that they also function as a bigger unified space that is convenient for
continuous cruising. Only the hamam Is2 seems to function as a disorderly
distributed labyrinth to which the soyunmalık section is attached as well (Figure 6.1).
Figure 6.1 Plan layouts of the queered hamams studied in this dissertation, showing the
labyrinthine arrangement of the main bathing chambers and additional spaces (Top Left:
Hamam A1, Top Middle: Hamam Is1, Top Right: Hamam Is2, Bottom Left: Hamam Iz1,
Bottom Right: Hamam Iz2)
6.3 Performers on the Hamam Stage
The hamam, at first sight, seems to be a safe and fully enclosed closet space for
queer subjects (as conceptualized in Chapter 5), functioning as a mask to conceal
169
same-sex performances that occur within its boundaries. However, similar to the park
and the cinema, not only the sexual identity of its users (based on sex role, age and
socio-cultural level) vary, but also their reasons of visiting. Actually, the term
“Turkish male sexual minorities” used by Bereket does not properly signify the
sexual identity of hamam users, for two reasons. First, it is not predictable which
users may engage in same-sex relations in the hamams. Second, heterosexual users
who do not consider themselves as part of queer culture may also engage in those
relations, though not as frequently as others. Some men, for instance, who have been
used to the traditional bathing ritual since their childhood, visit the hamams
functioning only for that ritual. A 59-year-old Turkish bisexual man describes how
consistent he is in visiting the same hamam for more than 50 years, where there is no
way that any same-sex activity can occur:
I was born in 1954. The first time I had been to a hamam was in 1960, when I
was 6 years old [...] In Manisa, Turgutlu [...] It was serving women two days a
week. On other days, it serves men. My father was taking me there every 15
days [...] I am still going to the same hamam. It is a historical hamam, called .…
Hamam [...] It is a small district so everybody knows each other, so there is no
way such a relation occurs in that hamam [...] I had thought about such relations
but I haven‟t come across any. They generally occur in the hamams located in
big cities. I have heard about a gay hamam in İ………. [Iz2] but I have never
been there.387
A 38-year-old Turkish gay man who was similarly used to visiting the hamam with
his father when he was a child, also had an interest in same-sex pleasure which he
could only practice in the form of voyeurism. In his later life, his childhood interest
in his own sex seems to have turned into a queer performance in the hamam:
387
OHI 8, 18.11.2012, İzmir
170
When I was a child, I used to go to a hamam, called Ç…... In those days, we
used to live in Sivas since my parents were working there. My father was taking
me to that hamam [...] it was a tradition to go there every week [...] The men in
that hamam were getting undressed on an elevated platform made up of timber
that drains waste water. I was mostly watching them stealthily in order to see
their private parts […] Then, I explored the hamam in İzmir [Iz1], I started going
there every Sunday. I became addicted to it [...] I was going there every
weekend, even in summer, if I am not in Çeşme. Of course, in winter […]388
Even a 43-year-old Irish gay man who has visited the hamam Iz1, which is well-
known for same-sex activities, seems to have been attracted more by the traditional
bathing ritual in that hamam, rather than by these activities.
I don‟t go to the hamams here for sex bacause I like the experience [...] Soap
massage always adds considerably to the experience. When I visit the gay
hamam here, I always get the soap massage. I really like that. Very much like
the whole sensuality of that. And, again the sort of architecture as well.389
Some men visit the hamam both for bathing and engaging in same-sex relations.
However, either of these functions may have priority in accordance with both the
visitor‟s intention and the availability of the space. A 48-year-old Turkish gay man,
for instance, sounds quite clear in his aim of visiting the hamam A1: “I was
particularly telling [to the manager] that „I came here not only for bathing but also
for finding a sex partner‟. He first rejected but later on I convinced him.”390
Some of these men who visit the hamams for both purposes prefer going to a
different hamam for each purpose, differentiating them by labels of „gay hamam‟ and
388
OHI 6, 02.09.2012, İstanbul.
389
OHI 2, 26.02.2012, İzmir
390
OHI 7, 20.07.2012, Ankara
171
„normal hamam‟. A 38-year old Turkish gay man compares the .….. Hamam [A1]
with another Ottoman Hamam in another hamam in Ankara, the .…….. Hamam, by
stating that “I visited the .…….. only for bathing.”391
The hamam is a unique space among other queer spaces in Turkey discussed in the
previous section: the park and the cinema. It can be gathered from the oral history
data that one of the significant aspects of the hamam is that common performances
like language use, eye contact and cruising can be acted out in various ways within
its boundaries and can easily turn into casual sex. For this reason, not only gay but
also bisexual and heterosexual men who realize the existence of certain queer
performances in this bathing venue have had their first same-sex experiences in the
hamam. The following quote presents how a 57-year-old Turkish bisexual man has
learned about particular behaviour codes and performances which were strange to
him in his very first visit to a hamam in Bursa:
I was at a hamam in Bursa [...] a historical Ottoman hamam [...] I realized that
some of the bathers inside were having very strange eye contact with each other
and were disappearing suddenly [...] I found out in time that these behaviours
were signals of certain gay relations that occur in that hamam [...] Initially, I did
not pay attention to those behaviours, such as calling each other with eye
movements and directing them to other chambers. But in my following visits, I
saw some people sitting differently than others, uncovering their peştamals
partially and caressing their legs and chests softly.392
One of the major characteristics of queer performativity is the repeatability and

sustainability of certain acts, if the performer intends to do so. Each repetition
enables both the justification of a prior act and the possibility of exploring a new act.
In this way, the performers also construct their gender identities through role-
391
392
OHI 3, 16.04.2012, İzmir
172
playing. As the above interviewee was attracted by the acts and performances he
witnessed in the hamam in Bursa, he visited the same stage again and again and
started constructing a particular gender identity by means of personally engaging in
various sexual performances at each visit:
It was either 1987 or 88 [...] During my next visit to Bursa, I immediately

checked into my hotel and went to that hamam. It was an evening. There were
10 or 15 bathers inside. I realized again people making strange eye contact with
each other and entering others‟ cabins. As I entered into a cabin to bathe, its
curtain was opened by a guy who asked me if he may enter into my cabin. I
didn‟t answer him. He entered [...] He started caressing my body without saying
anything. Then, we took off our peştamals and had casual sex.393
A learned and repeated performance never ends, but changes its form and stage.
Once the same interviewee became an active performer in the play, he started
exploring new acts with new performers in other hamams:
The first time I took a pasif role in casual sex was in a hamam in Eskişehir. It
was a Sunday morning. I left my hotel and went to a hamam [...] In my previous
same-sex relations, I hadn‟t gone further than ejaculating my partners or giving
them a blowjob. There were 3 other bathers in the hamam; two young guys and
an old guy. I realized that they [the young ones] were looking very carefully at
him [the old one] while he was bathing. I became sexually aroused [...] I also
looked at the young guys. Then I entered a cabin. In 2 or 3 minutes, one of the
guys asked me if he could enter as well. As he entered, he took his peştamal off.
I gave him a blowjob. After 3 minutes, his friend came and I gave him a blowjob
as well. Then we had anal intercourse. It was my first time.394
393
Ibid.
394
Ibid.
173
The repeatability of queer performances is more crucial for some performers than it
is for others, if they have no convenient place other than the hamam to sexually
satisfy themselves. As observed by a 43-year-old bisexual Turkish man, over time
these people turn repetition into addiction, behaving as the major actor in the play
and disallowing others to perform.
They enter all the cabins. They think that the more people they have sex with,
the better it is for them… But I can understand them. Some of them are married
and have children. It is the only time that they are free for a couple of hours. So,
they are willing to fully satisfy themselves sexually.395
If a performer does not intend to repeat a performance due to anxiety, he either

becomes a secondary actor with an indirect role in the play or takes part in the
audience, as an observer who only satisfies himself mentally. The hamam
experiences of a 62-year-old Turkish bisexual man exemplify this case best:
In my first visit to the hamam in İ………. [Iz2], I had no sexual intercourse [...]
In my second visit, I sat down inside one of the halvets and started waiting in a
position where I was able to be seen from the outside. But I could say nothing to
the ones staring at me nor did they [...] Then, a thin and dark-skinned young guy,
probably an Easterner, who was cruising around the göbektaşı with his penis
erect, stared at me several times while passing by. Then, he entered and sat next
to me. He held my penis and I touched his. He ejaculated and went out. That‟s
all. Then I continued bathing... In that hamam, there was a halvet chamber.
There, I saw someone giving another person a blowjob. They did not care about
me. As they went out, I entered into that chamber. While I was sitting there,
someone came in, stared at me but we couldn‟t talk to each other […] Hence, I
couldn‟t have any casual sex there [...] As I told before, I cannot move to a
further stage in such relations.396
395
OHI 1, 14.02.2012, Ankara.
396
OHI 9, 02.12.2012, İzmir.
174
Some performers visit hamams in order to satisfy their curiosity about the
performances of other performers and prefer either to be present there, or at most to
participate visually or verbally but not physically in the play. The same interviewee
states that his primary aim in visiting a queered hamam is “to enjoy himself only by
sitting there and trying to observe whatever happens inside.”397 Another interviewee,
a 43-year-old Turkish bisexual man depicts such performers as follows:
Not for bathing but being present there. This is quite important. You don‟t have
to bathe there since you can at home. But, you would definitely want to see that
environment […] We went to the hamam in K…….. [Iz1] on a week day [...]
with a friend of ours, who was quite curious about that hamam [...] We went
there to see how people behave. For instance, I am very pedantic and observing.
As I enter such spaces, I observe who is staring at whom, who is looking for
what and who is doing what. I am very experienced in analyzing such
behaviours in a short time […] I am interested in people who sit there
embarrassed with their heads dropped down, but trying to scan the surroundings
[...] people willing to do something but not courageous enough to do so. I am
quite interested in these characters. Whether I like or not, I talk to everyone, any
gender, everywhere. It doesn‟t matter […] and I was always trying to make them
communicate. A person, for instance, being seated on the göbektaşı, who doesn‟t
dare to look at others since he may have personal problems.398
Some men visit the hamam to experience only visual and verbal communication,
which function for them as rehearsals of a casual sex act that they rarely perform.
For instance, the hamam itself is very erotic for me. The way it is constructed as
a queer space [...] for me, this is more important than casual sex. It is sexually
more satisfactory […] the path you follow on the way to casual sex [...] Like the
397
Ibid.
398
OHI 1, 14.02.2012, Ankara
175
path to revolution but not the revolution itself […] In addition […] what could
happen is uncertain […] a free space […] into which you desire that a new
person comes [...] not the same guys [...]399
Consequently, it can be said that there is quite a large scale of male performers on the
same hamam stage, not only in terms of their sexual identities (gay, heterosexual,
bisexual, etc.) but also their reasons of visit (bathing and/or casual sex), their
intentions in taking part in various sexual performances, the ways they communicate
as well as the roles they take on the hamam stage.
6.4 Roles Taken on the Hamam Stage
The performances employed by the Turkish male sexual minorities introduced by

Tarık Bereket, such as walking, speaking, sitting style, as well as eye contact and
cruising have already been discussed in section 6.1. Even though these performances
can be considered stereotypical roles played in any queer space in Turkey, they are
adapted to the hamam space uniquely, through the limited dress (peştamal) as well as
the bodily potentials and characteristics of the performers. For a 57-year-old Turkish
bisexual man, “the peştamal itself is an indicator that sexually attracts many users”400
in the hamam. An aktif bather, for instance, indicates his sex-role by “playing,
caressing or showing his penis,”401 underneath the wet peştamal by “creating a
curiosity about the size of the penis.”402 Whereas “effeminate behaviours and
voices”403 as well as “the [short] size of the peştamal and the way it is wrapped in an
exaggarated manner that derives from transvestite culture”404 are employed mainly
by pasif bathers. The following interpretations by two different interviewees depict
399
400
OHI 3, 16.04.2012, İzmir
401
OHI 5, 15.06.2012, İzmir
402
OHI 3, 16.04.2012, İzmir
403
OHI 5, 15.06.2012, İzmir
404
176
in detail how stereotypically the performers indicate their sex-role preference on the
hamam stage.
They cruise around the göbektaşı for a while. If a guy is playing with his penis,
it is quite likely that he is an aktif [...] For instance, while you are lying on the
göbektaşı, if he lies next to you and touches your body with his arm, foot or leg,
this means he is interested in you […] Or, you can identify if a guy is aktif or
pasif by the way he behaves inside a cabin. If he tries to show his butt, he is
most probably a pasif. But, if he shows his penis to you or masturbates across
you, he is an aktif. This is the same everywhere.405
An aktif bather can be easily distinguished from the others. He either erects his
penis underneath his peştamals or plays with it inside the cabin. If you want to
have sex with him, you either go and sit next to him or show your butt by
partially unwrapping your peştamal […] There is very little verbal
communication in the hamam, but rather bodily movements [...]406
However, these behaviour codes can also be misleading to understand the actual sex-
role preference of a performer, especially if his appearance signifies another sex-role
outside the hamam stage, as described by the two interviewees in the following
quotes:
A person who walks in a feminine manner or laughs loudly and naughtily, he

does not need to say anything [about his sex role preference]. But, a masculine
and stern person, like a truck driver or a wrestler, called “bear”, can even be the
same [pasif in sex role] [...] It is not always the appearance or behaviour [that
indicates sex role].407
405
406
Online OHI 11, 02.02.2013, İzmir
407
OHI 4, 10.05.2012, Ankara
177
7 or 8 months ago […] I took a friend of mine there [the hamam Iz1] It was noon
time on a weekday [...] I told him not to be scared and to stay calm […] While I
was with a guy in a cabin, my friend was sitting in the chamber where people
smoke and cool down [ılıklık]. I went next to him. He was sitting by a corner,
astonished. I asked him what happened. He showed me a hairy guy who had told
him that he was a truck driver. It was quite striking that he had wrapped his
peştamal like a mini skirt [...] You wouldn‟t believe this if you didn‟t see it. I
have seen lots of such old hairy guys wearing g-strings [...] They behave very
differently in the hamam, taking another role.408
Hence, it can be interpreteted that however stereotypically certain bodily

performances and behaviour codes identify with certain sex-role preferences, the
roles taken in the hamam are not that straightforward. Here, the hamam differs from
other queer spaces in terms of the performative potentials it offers to the performers.
Considering the reciprocal relation between performativity and functionality by
which the bathing function masks certain sexual performances (as discussed in
section 6.2), it is significant to analyze how various bathing chambers, features and
furnishings in a queered hamam re-function as niches for same-sex performances.
6.5 Performance Niches in the Hamam
A queered hamam offers its performers not a single stage but a myriad of open, semi-
open and closed chambers and niches where lots of different performances may take
place simultaneously. In this section, I analyze the chambers of sıcaklık, soğukluk
and soyunmalık as well as the architectural features of göbektaşı, halvet, seki and
clothing cubicles as the primary performance niches which exist in the original
layout of the selected queered hamams, while sauna, steam room, pool, massage
room, showers and toilets as the secondary and additional performance niches.
408
178
The Sıcaklık
Nearly in all the queered hamams studied in this dissertation, where these
performances take place, the sıcaklık section is the chamber most prefered by the
performers. Its central layout, with a belly stone (göbektaşı) in the center surrounded
by symmetrically arranged semi-open or closed bathing cubicles (halvet), as well as
marble seatings (seki), is a very appropriate stage that provides each performer with
multiple directions of view, opportunities for continuous cruising, verbal
communication and private niches for casual sex (Figure 6.2).
Figure 6.2 Partial plan layouts of the queered hamams studied in this dissertation, showing the
symmetrical arrangement of the sıcaklık section (Legend= göbektaşı, spatial voids, seki),
(Top Left: Hamam A1, Top Middle: Hamam Is1, Top Right: Hamam Is2, Bottom Left: Hamam
Iz1, Bottom Right: Hamam Iz2)
The göbektaşı, for instance, is a convenient spot for a performer to observe other
performers bathing, cruising, sitting or entering simultaneously with wide angles of
179
view. A 38-year-old Turkish gay man highlights the importance of the typical central
layout of a historical hamam by comparing it with the layout of a contemporary
hamam in Ankara which is also visited for same-sex pleasure.
Y….. is not an original but a fake hamam in the basement of an apartment

building. The spatial layout does not enable you to make eye contact. The
göbektaşı, for instance, is placed in between two or three columns. Those
columns inevitably close the corners in your angle of view. Both in .….. [A1] or
.……. [Iz1], when you are in the center, you can see all around.409
As an exposed central spot, the göbektaşı offers the performers a stage on which
limited performances such as lying, resting, sitting, chatting, having a massage and
observing others can take place, but not casual sex. A 38-year-old Turkish gay man
indicates that “the göbektaşı in the Ş….. Hamam [A1] was the only place they give a
scrub and massage to the customers. So, it was not used for any sexual
performance.”410
The halvets of the hamam, which are originally meant as cubicles for individual
bathing, also function as private niches for intimate performances to attract others
sexually, such as masturbating, displaying private parts to indicate sex-role
preference, calling for sex with eye contact, voyeurism as well as casual sex. In this
regard, the halvet does not only function as a performance niche but also as a „closet
wihin a closet‟ for queer subjects who demand to be partially or fully invisible to the
other users in the sıcaklık. Due to being less visible and wider than the lateral ones,
the halvets placed in the four corners of the sıcaklık section in the hamams Iz1 and
Iz2, are the most convenient niches for those same-sex performances (See Figure
6.2) However, the halvets (if left in their original state) do not have doors to be
409
410
Ibid.
180
closed during a performance. Hence, they are mostly left open or partially closed by
hanging a peştamal over their entrance when appropriate.
It is very rude to open the curtain of a cabin when it is fully closed. If you hang a
peştamal over the curtain, it means the cabin is not available [...] But, you may
also leave the curtain slightly open and show your naked body while seated. This
is a typical behaviour code.411
In the queered hamams Iz1 and Iz2, not only the corner halvets but also the lateral
ones across the göbektaşı can be used to engage in same-sex relations. However,
since they are smaller and more visible than the corner ones, they are primarily used
for individual bathing. The former manager of the hamam Iz1 explains why they are
inconvenient as a performance niche for casual sex, as follows:
They [the lateral halvets] are small. For a single person only […] You just bathe
there […] Before, there were iron bars over their entrance. You could have seen
them. There were people hanging a peştamal over them and having sex inside.
But you were able to see them if you look underneath […] People had gone
crazy […] In those days, police were coming frequently. They were checking
inside. They asked “What are these bars for?” I said “Customers are hanging
peştamal over them while bathing.” They said “No. Remove these”. There
weren‟t enough cabins for bathing. Everyone was having sex inside. At least, we
opened those lateral cabins. The ones who only want to bathe were using them.
The corners were for having sex. Otherwise, the hamam could have completely
turned into a brothel. I wouldn‟t like this.412
Especially in the sıcaklık sections of the hamams Iz1 and Iz2, the corner halvets are
not only large enough for two users to have casual sex inside, but also for a single
411
Ibid.
412
OHI 16, 09.08.2013, İzmir
181
user to lie down, bathe or masturbate comfortably. However, the users seem to have
developed certain strategies to enforce the limits of these niches and to use them as
profitably as possible for various visual and tactile bodily performances. The
following quotes from the oral history interviews present what sort of performances
may take place in the halvets and how commonly experienced they are:
The architecture of a hamam is particularly significant [...] its corners, chambers,

etc. For instance, I was once in a hamam in İstanbul [Is1], one of the still
existing gay hamams on the European side. There was a gigantic hall having two
belly stones. There were small cabins in the corners, having no doors.413
In the gay hamam in K…….., İzmir [Iz1], there are four cabins in the corners.
Customers initially prefer those cabins as they enter. The one on the left-hand
side as you enter [the sıcaklık] is the biggest one. If you step on the water pipes
and look around, you can see all the cabins quite easily.414
When you enter a cabin for bathing, somebody can follow you and enter the
same cabin on purpose. Or he can open the curtain slightly. Or, he can suddenly
enter as if he doesn‟t know you are inside. Then, he apologizes. But, if you like
the guy, you may let him inside.415
In the sıcaklık sections of the queered hamams studied in this dissertation, there are
also marble seats elevated from the ground, called seki, on which marble sinks,
called kurna, which are used for individual bathing by collecting clean water, are
placed. The sekis are placed adjacent to the side walls of the sıcaklık and/or the
partition walls of the halvets. Figure 6.2 shows that in the hamams A1, Is1 and Is2,
the sekis and halvets are symmetrically organized around the göbektaşı, while in the
413
OHI 1, 14.02.2012, Ankara
414
OHI 3, 16.04.2012, İzmir
415
182
hamams Iz1 and Iz2, the sekis are placed adjacent to the wall of the sıcaklık, where
there are no halvets. Compared to a bather sitting and lying on, or standing by the
göbektaşı, a bather sitting by a kurna on a seki can visually trace a larger area in the
sıcaklık (Figure 6.3).
Figure 6.3 Left: Schematic section showing viewpoints of users in various positions in the
sıcaklık section, Right: Schematic section showing adjacent halvets with low partition walls
The height of the partition walls between the halvets is also critical for the existence
of queer performances (See Figure 6.3). As a 38-year old interviewee mentions, “the
cabins of the queered hamam in Ankara [A1] used to be low enough to enable the
users to look to the next cabin from above and to make eye contact with others.”416 A
60-year-old Turkish bisexual man mentions that “it is not possible to have casual sex
inside the cabins of the hamam in İ………. [Iz2] because the height of the partitions
is very low […] while standing, you can see the person bathing in the next cabin.”417
In this regard, a 43-year old Turkish bisexual man claims that “a hamam in which
416
417
183
there are no partitions between the cabins or the partitions are at the waist level
cannot become a gay hamam…. even the heterosexuals rarely visit such hamams.”418
The Ilıklık
The ılıklık section of a hamam, which is originally used by bathers to cool down after
bathing in the sıcaklık, also functions as a niche for other queer performances such as
waiting for newcomers as potential sex partners, meeting and chatting with others as
well as resting after having casual sex in the sıcaklık. In the ılıklık sections of the
hamams A1, Iz1 and Iz2, there are also marble counters, higher than sekis, placed
adjacent to a wall and used for temporary sitting and cooling down. These counters
face the doors opening into both the sıcaklık and the ılıklık. Hence, when the users sit
on them they can see not only those cruising between these two sections but also the
newcomers (See Figure 6.4). The following descriptions of two hamam users and the
ex-manager of the hamam Iz1 present why the ılıklık section is a particular stage for
such queer performances:
My favourite space in a hamam is the chamber between the hot and the cold
section […] It has a specific meaning for me. I like watching people. The bathers
who have already satisfied themselves sexually go to that section in order to
watch who is coming or leaving. If a person who attracts them arrives, they
follow him [towards the sıcaklık].419
I occasionally go out from the sıcaklık to the resting area, which is actually the
core space where same-sex relations start with meeting and chatting. Some
people may have relations in this section even without entering the sıcaklık.420
418
OHI 1, 14.02.2012, Ankara
419
Ibid.
420
OHI 3, 16.04.2012, İzmir
184
People have much gullüm (fun) there […] the ones who have finished having sex
sit there and relax. They chat with each other. And lubunyas (effeminate
homosexuals) look through the opening in the door in order to see if there is any
manti (young male) coming. Some of them were seated there for hours without
bathing.421
arrangement of the ılıklık section (Legend= marble counter, spatial voids, seki), (Top
Left: Hamam A1, Top Middle: Hamam Is1, Top Right: Hamam Is2, Bottom Left: Hamam Iz1,
Bottom Right: Hamam Iz2)
The soyunmalık
The soyunmalık section, which is originally used by bathers for dressing and
undressing, is the stage with the least possibility of enabling queer performances due
to two basic reasons. First, it is the chamber of the hamam building closest to the
421
OHI 16, 09.08.2013, İzmir
185
public space outside. Thus, any same-sex activity can be seen or noticed easily by an
outsider or a visitor. Second, the only niches where two performers may engage in a
same-sex activity in the soyunmalık are the clothing cubicles. A 57-year old Turkish
bisexual man indicates that “the bathing cabins are large enough to be used by two
customers, but the changing rooms may be used by two or three customers.”422
However, the hamam manager does not generally allow two visitors to use the same
cubicle unless they are relatives or friends, in order to prevent such an activity. The
former manager of the hamam Iz1 explains in the following quote why the
soyunmalık section in his hamam was not a convenient place for same-sex relations:
People go in. They hand over their wallets to be locked. They get their keys.
Then, we give them a clean peştamal. They undress and enter […] The cabins
there do not have doors. Whatever you do can be noticed or heard. After all,
paparons (policemen) were coming frequently. I couldn‟t have permitted such a
thing [a same-sex relation inside the dressing cabins]. But as you undress and
enter, you can do whatever you want inside [the sıcaklık]423
Actually, there are two types of clothing cubicles in the Ottoman hamams. Some of
the cubicles have been formed by additional partition walls which did not exist in the
original layout of the hamam building and which are closed by curtains, while some
of them have been originally built as enclosed chambers, and are still in use, yet
reconstructed or maintained partially (Figure 6.5).
422
OHI 3, 16.04.2012, İzmir
423
OHI 16, 09.08.2013, İzmir
186
arrangement of the soyunmalık section (Legend= bed or sofa, spatial voids, counter),
(Top Left: Hamam A1, Top Middle: Hamam Is1, Top Right: Hamam Iz2, Bottom Left: Hamam
Is2, Bottom Right: Hamam Iz1)
Compared to the former type which is completely open at the top, the latter type
which is partially open at the top and has a door to be locked, may function more
easily as a private niche for queer performances. For instance, as a 38-year old
interviewee mentions, “[I]n the past, the clothing cabins in .….. Hamam [A1] were
more open at the top [...] if you stepped on the bed, you would have been able to see
into the next cabin. It was difficult to jump over but not impossible.”424 Another
interviewee compares the clothing cabins of the hamams Iz1 and Iz2 as follows:
424
187
The hamam in İ……… [Iz2] is architecturally more qualified and functional as
well as cleaner than the hamam in K…….. [Iz1]. There are orderly arranged
private clothing rooms which have doors to be locked. The customers may also
have casual sex there.425
In some hamams, the soyunmalık section is a two-storey space with a mezzanine

floor which is also surrounded with private cubicles. Even though these cubicles are
mostly assigned to a single user, thoseout of sight may also be appropriate for same-
sex activities, as experienced by an interviewee in the hamam A1 that he used to visit
frequently.
I was quite comfortable myself in terms of sexual relations. Whenever I went

there, I was able to attract someone, without having any problems. They were
giving a private dressing room to each customer. I was closing the window of
my room with a towel on purpose. I was calling the person I was interested in, as
if I was going to talk something with him. Nobody was aware of what we were
doing inside […] That room was the most private part of the hamam for me.426
Additional niches
Apart from the sıcaklık, the ılıklık, the soyunmalık as well as traditional architectural
features and furnishings (göbektaşı, halvet, seki, kurna, marble counter, dressing
cabin) inside these sections, there are other performance niches in the hamam where
the performers may have the chance to engage in same-sex activities. In order to
attract a target group with a wider user profile, some of the hamam owners have
added Western-type cooling, bathing and perspiration chambers in their hamams
(such as sauna, steam room, pool, massage room and shower) none of which
originally exist in a classical Ottoman hamam building. A 43-year-old Turkish
425
OHI 9, 02.12.2012, İzmir
426
OHI 7, 20.09.2012, Ankara
188
bisexual man gives as an example, a restored Ottoman hamam on İtfaiye Square in
Ankara, where there are occasional gay relations, by stating that “they have enlarged
the hamam by adding a cold swimming pool inside.”427
Among the queered hamams studied in this dissertation, the hamams A1 and Is2 are
the two hamams which have more additional niches than the others. In the hamam
A1, two halvets in the sıcaklık section were turned into saunas, and a longitudinal
chamber including a marble counter (peyke) for massage, a steam room (previously a
pool) and four shower units, were added in-between the ılıklık and the sıcaklık. In the
hamam Is2, there are additional niches such as a resting room, a sauna, a massage
room, a bar and two shower units, which are distributed among the soyunmalık, the
soğukluk and the ılıklık (Figure 6.6).
Figure 6.6 Partial plan layouts of the queered hamams A1 and Is2, showing additional niches,
(Legend= peyke, spatial voids, seating or seki)
427
OHI 1, 14.02.2012, Ankara
189
The manager of the hamam Is2 explains the significance of these additional niches as
follows:
[…] previously, there were dressing rooms in the place of the resting room.
Then, we separated that place with a partition and placed furniture there […]
There is also a latticed window through which you may serve tea and coffee […]
I know many hamams in Tokat, in Ankara, or in İstanbul. After all, we are trying
to give the best service here […] They [sauna, resting room] were added after we
got the touristic management permit […] We particularly serve foreign tourists.
They mostly have such demands.428
Some of the interviewees indicate that these additional chambers, especially pools
and toilet cabins, function as alternative niches for queer performativity, when the
halvets are not suitable or available.
There used to be a pool in the .….. Hamam [A1], which was turned into a steam
room. If you saw two people going to the pool section, you wouldn‟t have gone
there following them... considering that they were going to have sexual relations.
But, if you had been attracted by either of them, you would.429
Inside the pools of the hamams [A1], some relations can occur more easily and
comfortably. You may hang a peştamal at the entrance of the pool if you are
willing to have such a relation. Others may stand at the entrance as a guard while
you are having casual sex inside. Then, they also participate [laughing].430
Years ago, in the .…. Hamam near Karaköy, lots of people were having sex
quite freely inside the three cabins in the toilet area. I thought that such a hamam
couldn‟t have functioned as a gay space. It doesn‟t, anymore.431
428
OHI 15, 29.06.2013, İstanbul
429
430
OHI 5, 15.06.2012, İzmir
431
OHI 1, 14.02.2012, Ankara
190
However, these additional chambers are not considered as alternative venues for
same-sex pleasure by a 64-year-old Turkish transsexual woman and a 43-year old
Irish gay man, both of whom prefer an original Ottoman hamam where the
traditional bathing ritual is performed.
They have recently added a sauna section to the hamams. I used to stand such
hot temperature in a hamam but I can‟t anymore, as the sauna makes it hotter
[...] I don‟t like the sauna. It is depressing and uncomfortable. I cannot breathe
easily […] The göbektaşı is more spacious and cooler.432
[...] as I have always been to steam rooms and saunas in my life, I didn‟t find it a
very very strange experience. I think, more or less, the same type of experience.
But, in terms of historical value, it is very different. As well as the fact that it has
a very specific layout, with the table in the center and the dome over it. There is
a very nice sort of ceremonial aspect. It is much more like a formal experience,
and the ritual is very very nice.433
Some interviewees indicate that in a queered hamam, there should be additional

private niches or common areas to support same-sex performances and to increase
the users‟ performance in those acts, as presented in the following quotes from oral
history interviews:
I think there [in a hamam] should be common areas, such as an internet cafe, a
vitamin bar or a video room, like the ones abroad. This is quite necessary as you
enable people to give a break. Otherwise, how many times can you have sex
consecutively? If you wanted to rest after having casual sex and before having
another, where would you do that? In the existing hamams, you have to rest and
have a drink in the ılıklık section.434
432
OHI 4, 10.05.2012, Ankara
433
OHI 2, 26.02.2012, İzmir
434
OHI 1, 14.02.2012, Ankara
191
If I were to manage a hamam, I would keep it original, but I would also have an
extra area with private spaces. Cubicle areas where you can go with another
person or rest. I think that‟s important. Having public and private at the same is
possible because of the double nature of the hamams. Because when you go
there, you can quite easily just sit beside and lie there; even though you are there
mainly for sex, you can pretend that you are there because of the hamam
experience. You can disguise yourself with this sort of innocence in relation to
what is going on.435
6.6 The Decor of the Hamam Stage
Every play has a decor specifically prepared for it on stage. Depending on the
characteristics of the play, this decor does not only form a background but also
creates a multi-sensory atmosphere that the performers feel and experience as they
perform. The architecture of an Ottoman hamam provides its users with such a decor
that not only enables, but also enhances the queer performances by means of an
association of light, steam, humidity, temperature and acoustics changing during
daytime, in each chamber or via experience. The sıcaklık section of the hamam is the
stage where this multi-sensory decor can be perceived at its best. When the light
coming through the small openings on the dome (filgözü) meets with the steam rising
upwards, the naked wet bodies of the performers and their voices reflected from the
shiny marble surfaces, it creates an ambience that raises the libido of the performers.
This relation of this multi-sensory decor with sexuality is depicted by the four
interviewees as follows:
The göbektaşı, the dome […] The openings on some of the domes are closed
with colored glass. Some glasses may be covered with moss. You may croon
songs while naked. You may have very different feelings such as passion,
ambition, etc […]436
435
OHI 2, 26.02.2012, İzmir
436
OHI 4, 10.05.2012, Ankara
192
The dimmed and quiet atmosphere of the hamam makes me more courageous
[...] Humidity and temperature also have a considerable effect, creating a
convenient venue [for sexual pleasure]. 1st: Nakedness, 2nd: Water; 3rd:
Humidity [...] It is also very easy to clean and relax after casual sex, by means of
various bathing facilities. This is not possible in a park.437
Actually, in every hamam, such relations may occur […] Because any person in
any character visits those spaces. Mostly, people who are horny. Even though
you go there for bathing, your blood pressure rises due to high temperature... this
may sexually stimulate you […] The dimness, acoustic quality, sound of the
water, humidity […] creates a unique ambience. I feel like I should throw the
peştamal off and get naked.438
I remember visiting hamams very frequently, like 10 or 15 times a year [...] My

initial aim was to find a sex partner but later on I liked the relaxing atmosphere
of the hamam very much […] When the water meets with high temperature, you
feel renewed […] In addition, you are able to see many naked male bodies, any
of which can attract you. Visuality is very effective […] Then the effect of
water, temperature and light […] It is a very convenient place for such relations
[…] I like water very much. It is my routine that I have a shower twice a day
[…] After I finished my work, I was definitely going to a hamam to rest and
relax. Sexual intercourse used to occur as an extra activity […] The humid
temperature is very relaxing and enjoyable. Nowadays, they make steam rooms
in saunas. But the hamam is more natural. You body loosens in such
temperature. Marble creates a feeling of cleanliness. The water flows away. You
feel like you are refined mentally.439
437
OHI 5, 15.06.2012, İzmir
438
439
OHI 12, 25.02.2013, Kuşadası
193
The changing decor of the sıcaklık section throughout the day with natural
illumination is very crucial for the performers who do not consider it merely as a
corporeal enclosure for casual sex. The visual ambience created by the reflection of
natural light on marble surfaces and the steam rising upwards, affects the mood of
the performers positively and enables their attachment to the hamam space.
In the afternoon, a very nice light penetrates into the hamam through the small
openings on the dome [filgözü]. I like this very much. So, I prefer visiting the
hamam at 4 or 5 pm before the sunset. However strong the artificial lighting in
the afternoon is, it doesn‟t create an atmosphere as effective as the natural light.
So, I don‟t like artificial lighting in a hamam [...] As the natural light reflects
from the marble surface, it becomes yellow or orange, which creates a unique
atmosphere inside as its angle changes. Yet, this is based on the size of the dome
and the openings in it [...] I also enjoy very much the patterns that occur as a
result of the joining of the marble surfaces in various textures.440
Isn‟t it the quality of light that makes the hamam particular? [...] The natural
light penetrating the space during daytime, and touching particular surfaces. I
mostly go there for mental satisfaction [...] If I don‟t do any sexual act in the
hamam in İzmir [Iz1], I lie on the göbektaşı for daydreaming.441
I prefer natural light during daytime [...] I don‟t stay until late time in the hamam
because I hate artificial light in white color. If the interior ligthing were more
elegant in the evening, I would definitely stay there. A hamam should be
dimmed and smoky in spatial quality. It leads a person inwards and makes him
more sensitive. This is what they call „emotional‟. It takes a person away from
the realities and brings him into his inner private world. Anyway, I have never
enjoyed too much lighting in my life.442
440
OHI 3, 16.04.2012, İzmir
441
442
OHI 12, 25.02.2013, Kuşadası
194
Figure 6.7 Images showing the multi-sensory ambience of the hamam (Left: Detail from marble
surfaces; Middle and Right: Light coming through the small openings on the dome and
reflecting on marble surfaces), Source: Leonard Koren, Undesigning the Bath, (Berkeley,
California: Stone Bridge Press, 1996).
However, for some performers, this uncontrolled natural illumination depending on

the changing direction of the daylight can also be very intense and disturbing as it
obstructs eye contact with others, as explained by a 43-year old Turkish bisexual
man:
During daytime, the lights are not on since the daylight coming through the
openings in the dome is enough. Actually, the over-brightness of that daylight
creates an illusion that leads you to perceive the environment as if it is dark. This
is positive in the aspect that you can do whatever you want in the dark […] The
daylight in time may make you blind so that you cannot even identify the faces
of the bathers. This is quite disturbing.443
443
OHI 1, 14.02.2012, Ankara
195
The acoustic quality of the domed interior is another architectural dimension that
contributes to the multi-sensory decor of the sıcaklık section. For some performers,
the highly-reflected sounds created by their body movements are very impressive and
worth experimenting, as explained by a 57-year-old Turkish bisexual man:
I prefer that the sıcaklık section is large enough to create a good acoustic quality.
One of the most significant characteristics of the hamam is that any sound, even
murmuring, makes an echo. I have experienced this in many hamams. It is very
enjoyable that the sound of my clogs reflect back to me while walking.444
In addition, this acoustic quality of the sıcaklık enables some performers, especially
the feminine ones, to indicate their sex-roles by means of exaggerated talking,
behaving and even singing styles. Two interviewees describe the way they make use
of the acoustic quality of the hamam as follows:
I was singing there all the time. Being seated on the göbektaşı, I was giving lots
of concerts [...] My voice was creating an echo that attracts the bathers. They
were listening to me attentively […] Nobody was complaining […] They were
even coming next to me and participating. I was turning the hamam into a
gazino.445
I was hitting my takunyas (traditional wooden slippers) on the floor while

walking. I was doing this on purpose. In order to draw people‟s attention.
Everyone was turning their head and staring at me.446
444
OHI 3, 16.04.2012, İzmir
445
OHI 5, 15.06.2012, İzmir
446
196
6.7 Multi-Sensory Performances on the Hamam Stage
Independently of the role-specific behaviour codes introduced in section 6.4, there

are various multi-sensory performances that any user utilizes in order to indicate that
he is looking for same-sex pleasure. Based on the oral history data, I have found that
among those performances, eye contact, voyeurism, cruising and massage are the
most prefered and noteworthy ones, as analyzed in this section in more detail.
6.7.1 Eye Contact
As in many other queer spaces, ways of looking are the most preferred performances
to find sex partners. For a foreign interviewee, the hamam is “no different than a new
kind of night club where people walk around and make eye contact.”447 However, the
eye contact has a particular advantage for the performers on the hamam stage. In
comparison to verbal communication and stereotypical bodily acts like the wrapping
style of the peştemal, cruising in a feminine manner, showing parts of the body, lying
on the belly stone or touching someone‟s skin, eye contact enables the performer to
engage in same-sex relations more quickly. A 57-year-old Turkish bisexual man
states that “the relations in the hamam are not primarily based on verbal
communication, but on the movements of the eyes and the eyebrows to direct a
person to an available cabin and to have casual sex for 10 or 15 minutes.”448 Another
interviewee, a 67-year-old Turkish gay man explains the importance of eye contact in
a hamam:
First of all, the people makes their tendencies obvious by looking [...] Looking is
very important. Then, they call others by making eye movements meaning
“Let‟s go to that side” [...] if they find an appropriate space, they close it with a
peştamal and go inside. The need to have casual sex as fast as possible […]449
447
OHI 2, 26.02.2012, İzmir
448
OHI 3, 16.04.2012, İzmir
449
OHI 5, 15.06.2012, İzmir
197
However, the impact of eye contact on sensuality and sexuality is not that simple.
The Finnish architectural theorist Juhani Pallasmaa, in his groundbreaking book The
Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses450, highlights the significance of
peripheral vision that “transforms retinal gestalt into spatial and bodily experiences”,
in contrast to focused vision that is merely based on the perception of centralized
images. He argues that “peripheral vision integrates us with space, while focused
vision pushes us out of space, making us mere spectators.”451
In the queered hamams where there are no images, traces and marks that reveal the
existence of same-sex relations (as discussed in Chapter 5), looking is not only
staring at someone or somewhere but a multi-sensory peripheral experience by which
“the eye collaborates with the body and other senses.”452 This experience is
inevitably created by the decor of the hamam stage, as analyzed in section 6.6, that
associates light, steam, humidity, temperature and acoustics simultaneously in a
single space.
Eye contact may take various forms depending on its objective and the performance
niche in which it occurs. In the open shared areas of the sıcaklık, ılıklık and
soyunmalık sections of the queered hamams (göbektaşı, seki, marble counter, resting
room), which allow for a peripheral view, the users in search for a same-sex relation
may trace all the potential partners cruising and sitting inside these spaces and select
among them.
Let‟s assume that you are lying on the göbektaşı in a hamam. When you stand
up and walk towards a smaller space or a halvet, if you see someone following
you, this means he is interested in you [...] This is very typical in a hamam. If
you don‟t like him, you just leave that space. Or, you are seated by a corner. If
450
Juhani Pallasmaa, The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses, (UK: John Wiley &
Sons, 2005).
451
Pallasmaa, The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses, 13.
452
Ibid., 41.
198
someone sits across you, you may understand from the way he looks that he is
interested in you.453
When the user finds a sex partner and has an intimate tactile relation with him inside
a halvet, a toilet, a shower, a massage room, a clothing cubicle or a sauna, the
peripheral visual experience turns out to be a focused one by which the partners are
checking the entrances of these niches occasionally to see if someone is coming
inside or seeing them.
[…] I was always looking at the door in case one of the tellaks catches us in the
act. Would you call this sex? You are always on a knife edge. Are you going to
deal with your partner or check the outside? That‟s why I don‟t like having sex
in hamams.454
Eye contact does not have to be a mutual act of the two performers, but a performer
may be dominant in observing another without being seen by him. As indicated by a
43-year-old Turkish bisexual man, this layout enables some performers in order to
see as many people as possible while concealing themselves:
Eye contact is very important [...] Like you hide yourself outside, everyone
wants to see the others inside but can be seen by no one. Let me know everyone.
But let no one know me. That‟s why everyone wants to be the first to get the
corner halvets of a hamam. Because the possibility of being seen by the others
decreases. The more you are close to a corner, the bigger your angle of view is,
but you cannot be seen easily. This is a strategy mostly used in a hamam, but by
some bathers, not all.455
453
OHI 12, 25.02.2013, Kuşadası
454
455
OHI 1, 14.02.2012, Ankara
199
6.7.2 Voyeurism
The duration of eye contact is an indicator of what type of sexual relation a

performer intends to have. A short eye contact itself is a preliminary tactic to find
and attract potential sex-partners in the hamam. In other words, it is a visual
threshold that should be surpassed to end up with a tactile relation with the partner,
namely physical sex. In contrast, a longer eye contact, in the form of voyeurism, may
be enough to satisfy both the observer and the observed, without the need for
physical contact. A 62-year-old Turkish bisexual man who became the observed one
in one of his visits to the hamam Iz1 shares that “[T]here, I was not very comfortable
while lying on the marble göbektaşı. But I became seduced because I was being
scrubbed fully naked and people around were watching me.”456 Another interviewee,
a 38-year-old gay man shares his voyeuristic experience as an observer as follows:
Years ago, there was a hamam in Eyüp. I forgot its name but I was going there
very frequently. The cabins there were completely closed with panels made of
translucent glass. I was able to watch the bathers inside. It was quite an
enjoyable experience. I was able to see their bodily contact, movements, nearly
everything. The doors of the cabins were locked but I was able to see whatever
happened inside.457
In some queered hamams, there are appropriate niches to perform group sex, i.e. the
halvets and sıcaklık sections of the hamams Iz1 and Is2. During such an extreme
sexual activity, voyeurism becomes an inevitable part of the performance both for the
performers and the audience, as experienced by three different interviewees:
Some people have fantasies like being watched by others. For instance, some of
the bathers in the hamam [Iz1] leave the peştamal hung on the entrance slightly
456
OHI 9, 02.12.2012, İzmir
457
200
open to enable others to see them from the outside... this may be called
“exhibitionism” as well […] 1.5 years ago, I experienced an interesting case.
Four people were having group sex in the hamam [Is2] and more than ten people
were watching them and masturbating.458
There was a historical hamam in Sultanahmet, which was later transformed into
a touristic hamam. It was quite a favourite place. There were 4 or 5 private
bathing chambers where I participated in many group fantasies [...] There was no
cold section. A single space with a göbektaşı in the center [...] In each chamber,
there were 6 or 7 kurnas. The chambers had no doors [...] Nothing was hung at
their entrance, either. Whatever I did, I was able to be seen by others.459
Let me tell you an interesting experience of mine. Once again, I had been to the
hamam [Iz1]. There were 8 or 10 people inside. I had seen there an old friend of
mine. I was also familiar with some of the other bathers. My friend came and
asked me to take off my peştamal. I rejected because I didn‟t know some of the
bathers. He told me that they wouldn‟t care and, all of a sudden, took my
peştamal off. He laid me down on the göbektaşı and started caressing my body.
Then, he called the others and they also started caressing my chest, my legs, etc.
[…] Everyone was overwhelmed. Then, the door suddenly opened and we
scattered.460
6.7.3 Cruising
In the first section, I have introduced cruising as one of the most commonly and
globally refered queer performances, yet performed in open public space without
following a pre-decided route. Ira Tattelman, for instance, defines the act of cruising
458
OHI 3, 16.04.2012, İzmir
459
OHI 1, 14.02.2012, Ankara
460
201
in a Western bathhouse as “a constant search which takes the form of an oblique
glance, a suggestive nod, a long stare, or a quick feel.”461
Cruising is also a frequently preferred performance in the hamam. However, the

enclosed boundaries of the hamam space do not offer a stage for cruising as wide as
a street or a park. In the queered hamams studied in this dissertation, cruising is
mostly performed around the göbektaşı in the sıcaklık in the form of a continuous
rotation, or between the sıcaklık and the ılıklık. A 43-year-old bisexual man depicts
how cruising around the göbektaşı is referred as a queer performance by the
performers.
As they enter [the sıcaklık], people cruise around the göbektaşı for some time.
While cruising, they glance at each other without talking [...] Cruising around
the göbektaşı is a signal of “looking for someone”. It means “I am here but I am
getting bored. So, you are becoming more attractive for me as the time
passes.”462
It is significant that either forms of cruising, around the göbektaşı or between the
chambers, is also a multi-sensory bodily performance to relieve the suffocating effect
of the high temperature. Thus, it cannot be easily differentiated whether a cruising
person is looking for same-sex pleasure or just cooling down and relaxing his body.
It may be both as well. Here, the performers utilize cruising as a queer performance
while adapting themselves to the norms of bathing in a hamam.
Cruising around the göbektaşı is quite a funny act [...] as you have few things to
do in a hamam anyway. You either bathe and this takes 30 minutes at most, or
461
Ira Tattelman, “The Meaning at the Wall: Tracing the Gay Bathhouse”, in Gordon Brent
Ingram, Anne-Marie Bouthilette and Yolanda Ratter (ed.), Queers in Space:
Communities/Public Places/Sites of Resistance, (Seattle, Washington: Bay Press, 1997):
84.
462
OHI 1, 14.02.2012, Ankara
202
you sweat by sitting or lying on the göbektaşı. That‟s why you cruise
continuously. Because if you sit too long, you become uncomfortable with your
own sweat. While cruising around the göbektaşı, you look around. As the door
opens, all the heads turns towards it. You look who that new comer is.463
6.7.4 Massage
Scrubbing (kese) and soap massage is a significant part of the traditional bathing
ritual in an Ottoman-Turkish hamam. It is a preferred activity not only by the bathers
who cannot properly bathe themselves and need a full cleaning, but also by those
who do not want to spend extra effort to find a sex partner but content themselves
with tactile pleasure. The hamam attendant who scrubs, cleans and gives a soap
massage to the male bathers, known as tellak, may also become an actor of a queer
performativity likely to occur during these activities. A 38-year-old Turkish gay man,
for instance, mentions “a conventional type of service given by the tellak, which is
called “relaxing (rahatlatmak)”, in the form of a handjob.”464
However, the possibility of any sexual performance between the tellak and his
customer is primarily based on the tellak’s initiative and tendency rather than the
customer‟s demand. The customer may understand this from the way the tellak
touches his skin and the private parts of his body or looks at him during the
scrub/massage ritual, as experienced by a 62-year-old Turkish bisexual man in his
very first scrubbing:
He [the tellak] folded the peştamal on my perineum as I laid down on the

göbektaşı [...] obviously, this stimulated me sexually. He folded it the same way
as I lied facedown so that he could scrub my back. This seduced me as well. I let
myself free in case something happens but nothing did happen […] If the tellak
463
Ibid.
464
203
is attracted by the person he scrubs, he may touch his skin more sensitively in
order to seduce him. He may go further or not in accordance with the reaction of
the customer.465
The tellak of the hamam A1 explains how he queers a traditional scrubbing and
massage service by turning it into a multi-sensory performance, as follows:
[…] scrubbing is the same everywhere […] First, you lay the guy on his back.
You thoroughly scrub it with the glove. But the guy should first sweat properly
so that you can remove his dead skin […] Then you lay him face downwards.
You scrub his back thoroughly. Finally, his arms and his neck. But in a seated
position […] The body becomes doughy. His chest, legs may hurt a little bit. But
he gets adapted in time […] I generally get close to him while he is lying face
downward. I touch [my penis] to his face partially. In any case, they close their
eyes against soap bubbles. And there are those who become sexually aroused
when I caress their butts […] If a guy does not react negatively, you may
understand that he likes it. In other words, you seal the deal without talking and
looking.466
As much as being a traditional ritual, scrubbing may be a very awkward experience

for foreigners, especially having eye contact with the tellak while being scrubbed or
massaged. However, this experience may also be very disturbing if the tellak goes
further:
I had a strange experience with the masseur in Izmir. In one of the hamams
which isn‟t known for cruising, as far as I know, there was an elderly gentleman
massaging me […] at the end, he tried to sexually molest me. He suddenly
started grabbing my penis. And I didn‟t want him to do that. And I stopped him.
465
OHI 9, 02.12.2012, İzmir
466
OHI 17, 14.09.2013, Ankara
204
He started to put his hand up under my towel. At that stage, I was clear to him
that I wanted him to stop and finish the massage.467
A 38-year-old Turkish gay man claims that a tellak‟s tendency towards having sexual
contact is an indicator to understand whether the hamam in which he works is
appropriate for queer performances, as depicted in the following quote:
The best way to understand [whether a hamam is appropriate for same-sex

relations or not] is this: I ask the tellak to scrub me. While he is scrubbing me, I
touch to a part of his body, leg, penis, etc. If he doesn‟t give any negative
reaction, you may do whatever you want in that hamam. […] If he does not react
and allow for such relations, nobody would [...]468
A secondary criterion for the existence of sexual contact between the tellak and his
customer is the stage or niche where the scrub/massage ritual takes place in the
hamam. In most Ottoman hamams, this ritual takes place on the göbektaşı, which is
an appropriate stage even for 2 or 3 people to take the ritual simultaneously. On such
an open and central stage, where there are as many audience members as performers,
it is a small possibility that a sexual contact occurs. Yet, in some hamams, there are
special halvets with marble counters (seki) on which the bathers can take the
scrub/massage ritual comfortably. Since these chambers are much more hidden, it is
more likely that the tellak and his customer realize a queer performance.
You first choose the tellak whom you like most. Then, while he is scrubbing
your body, you realize if he has such a tendency. It happens instinctively.... But
the space should be convenient not only for scrubbing but also for such an
interaction, which may begin during scrubbing and continue later.469
467
OHI 2, 26.02.2012, İzmir
468
469
OHI 12, 25.02.2013, Kuşadası
205
In the hamam Is2, for instance, a previously open halvet with a seki inside has been
turned into an enclosed massage room where young tellaks give both private
massage service and engage in same-sex performances (See Figure 6.6).
It [the massage room] was previously a place for bathing. We were giving
massage service on the göbektaşı. Then some customers have special demands.
Especially foreigners like getting the massage while naked. Since there was no
other convenient place, we closed that room for massage […] They [masseurs]
are all young guys. They also get such demands [like having sex]. After all, they
try to satisfy all the demands.470
However, wherever one takes the scrubbing and massage service in the hamam (on
the göbektaşı, on a seki in a halvet), it is quite risky to turn it into a sexual
performance, even a momentary one. This is because one has to keep a focused
vision in order to check whether somebody is coming, as discussed in section 6.7.1.
The tellak of hamam A1 explains how uncomfortable this experience is:
On the göbektaşı. In the center […] If you are alone with the customers, you are
comfortable. But you should always check the door […] If someone demands to
have a massage there [on a peyke], we may also make it. It is large enough […]
it is at the very end. No one sees you. But you should always be careful […] If
someone is coming or not?471
In this chapter, I have analyzed the Ottoman-Turkish hamam as a performance stage,

a spatiality experienced in the sexual identity construction process of several queer
subjects who have already explored and appropriated the selected queered hamams
470
OHI 15, 29.06.2013, İstanbul
471
OHI 17, 14.09.2013, Ankara
206
(Is1, Is2, Iz1, Iz2 and A1) as urban closets. In the first section, based on Butler‟s
theory of performativity, I have considered queerness as a mode of subversive
performance. I have claimed that queer performativity has a binary character, by
which the queer body either denies and subverts heterosexual norms by revealing and
repeating visual, verbal, multi-sensory and bodily performances, or accepts and
adapts to these norms by concealing and excluding himself for the survival of same-
sex pleasure.
In the second section, I have explained how this binarism works in certain queer
spaces such as public parks, cinemas and hamams: while queer subjects appropriate
these spaces for same-sex pleasure, they also refer to the actual functions of these
spaces to mask their queer performances. I have further discussed that these spaces
are convenient for queer performances since they provide the performers with
ambivalent and unexpected spatial conditions, particularly the labyrinthine
arrangement of the hamam, that require continuous exploration and experimentation.
In the following sections, based on the oral history data, I have particulary focused
on the performers, the decor and the niches of the hamam stage as well as the multi-
sensory performances acted out on this stage. I have initially explained for what
reasons performers with various sexual identities visit the hamams: (1) only for the
traditional bathing experience (Interviewees 2 and 8), (2) both for bathing and having
sex (Pilot Interviewee 1 and Interviewees 3, 6 and 7), and (3) only for being present
there as an observer (Interviewees 1 and 9). Among the second group, several
performers (Interviewees 3, 6 and 7) have explored and engaged in same-sex
performances after several visits to queered hamams. The repetition of queer
performativity in those visits, for instance, seems to have contributed to the sexual
identity construction of Interviewee 3 as a bisexual man in terms of the roles (aktif
and pasif) he takes on the hamam stage. Second, I have discussed how certain bodily
performances and behaviour codes believed to signify certain sex-role stereotypes
may be misleading in a queered hamam which offers its performers a wide range of
performance niches where they can act unexpected roles without being seen.
207
Third, I have analyzed the primary and secondary performance niches in the main
chambers of the selected queered hamams. Especially the sıcaklık sections of
hamams A1, Iz1 and Iz2 and their niches enable the performers to execute various
performances, i.e. lying, resting, sitting, chatting, having a massage, observing others
on the göbektaşı and by the kurnas on sekis, having casual sex and observing others
in the corner halvets. This significance of the sıcaklık for queer performances has
been particularly emphasized by performers who visit the hamams both for bathing
and having sex (Pilot Interviewee 1 and Interviewees 3 and 6). Yet, the ılıklık
sections of the same hamams are convenient for less intimate performances such as
sitting, cooling down, meeting and chatting with others as well as waiting for
potential sex partners, especially for the performers who act as observers on the
hamam stage (Interviewee 1). Though being less likely than inside the halvets in the
sıcaklık, casual sex may also occur inside the dressing cabins in the soyunmalık
sections of the hamams A1 and Iz2, as emphasized by Interviewee 7. Apart from
these original niches, there are additional features in the hamams A1 and Is2 such as
a sauna, steam room, pool, massage room, toilet cabins, resting room and showers
which function as alternative niches for queer performances. Some of the performers
who visit these hamams not only for bathing (Pilot Interviewee 1 and Interviewee 1)
find the existence of these niches quite useful for temporary intimate relations.
Fourth, I have analyzed how the multi-sensory aspects of the hamam stage affect the
performers‟ expectations from a hamam. The association of light, acoustics,
humidity, water and steam in the sıcaklık section of nearly all hamams quite easily
leads some performers (Interviewees 4, 5, 11, 12 and 14) to engage in queer
performances. For the performers who visit the hamams for bathing and having sex
(Interviewees 3 and 6), this multi-sensory ambience enhances the bathing ritual.
Finally, I have analyzed in detail the most often mentioned multi-sensory

performances on the hamam stage: eye contact, voyeurism, cruising, and massage.
The eye contact, by which the performers engage in same-sex relations more quickly
than by means of verbal and bodily communication may take two forms: (1)
peripheral vision to trace other performers on the hamam stage, (2) focused vision to
208
choose potential partners among those and to provide safety and security during a
sexual act. While these forms of vision may be very short as momentary
performances, a longer eye contact in the form of voyeurism may be enough to
satisfy the performers sexually. The traditional scrubbing and soap massage is a more
formal and longer performance compared to eye contact, voyeurism and cruising.
Based on oral history data, it has been determined that the possibility of the massage
to turn into a sexual performance is based on the tellak‟s initiative rather than the
customer‟s demand, especially in hamams A1 and Is2. It is also significant that those
performers who experienced sexual intercourse during this tactile ritual are not only
sexually stimulated by the multi-sensory ambience of the hamam space (Interviewees
3 and 12), but also visit the hamam only for bathing or being present there
(Interviewees 2 and 9).
As a more general conclusion of this chapter, most of these multi-sensory

performances acted out in various niches of the hamam stage more or less reflect the
binary character of queered hamams in-between performativity and functionality.
Whether an eye contact between two performers in the sıcaklık and ılıklık sections is
a sexual signal or not is only known by them unless acted out in an openly manner or
in the form of voyeurism. Similarly, a continuous cruising around the göbektaşı or
between the sıcaklık and the ılıklık may be realized in order to decrease the
oppressive effect of the heat and humidity on the body rather than looking for a sex
partner. In comparison, the actual functions of the more enclosed and private niches
such as halvets, saunas, massage and steam rooms, pools, toilets and showers is more
likely to be replaced by queer performances, especially by those performers who visit
the hamams not only for bathing.
209
210
CHAPTER 7
THE HAMAM AS A HOMOSOCIAL SPACE
7.1 Introduction: Homosociality vs. Public/Private Dichotomy
Homosociality (n): of, relating to, or involving social relationships between

persons of the same sex and especially between men472
In Epistomology of the Closet473, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick provides an argument on

the two contradictory views of gender through which same-sex desire could be
understood: inversion and separatism. In the view of inversion, same-sex desire is
considered as a desire within which “an essential heterosexuality” is preserved so
that it “subsists in the current that runs between one male self and one female self, in
whatever sex of bodies these selves may be manifested.”474 In contrast, the separatist
view proposes that “people of the same gender [...] whose economic, institutional,
emotional, physical needs and knowledge may have so much in common” that they
naturally bond together “on the axis of sexual desire.”475 Sedgwick explains this
contradiction by highlighting that the separatist models depend on the “continuum of
male and female homosocial desire” by reassimilating to one another whereas the
“inversion models, by contrast, depend on their distinctness.”476
472
http://www.merriam-webster.com
473
Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, The Epistemology of the Closet, (Berkeley and Los Angeles:
University of California Press, 1990).
474
475
Ibid.
476
Ibid., 88.
211
Gender separatist models would thus place the woman-loving woman and the
man-loving man each at the “natural” defining center of their own gender, again
in contrast to inversion models that locate gay people – whether biologically or
culturally – at the threshold between genders.477
The separatist models suggest that same-sex desire does not simply rest on the
realization of same-sex activities by an arbitrary group of people but necessitates a
shared sociality (homosociality) among a specified group who have more
commonalities than sexual identity. I hypothesize that as much as it is an urban closet
and a performance stage for same-sex desire, as discussed in Chapters 5 and 6
respectively, queer space is homosocial locale where the users share a language (both
visual and verbal) specific to queer culture as well as build solidarity and safety
networks for the continuum of this desire. This inevitably brings forward the
question whether a queer space possessing such tropes of homosociality is a public or
a private domain.
The Canadian literary and cultural theorist Dianne Chisholm highlights the
significance of various characteristics of gay social space that are stressed by
American critical queer theorists and historians such as Allan Bérubé and George
Chauncey. Accordingly, the production of gay social space is not only based on
“anti-hierarchical gestures, improvisations, and collective exploration” of a group of
users to perform commodified “mass sex”; but also “the collapse of division between
private and public spheres” as well as “mixing of class and race.”478 In order to
understand how the public/private dichotomy is subverted in queer space, it is also
useful to refer to the American anthropologist William L. Leap‟s re-definition of
public and private as “two different interpretations of the visibility or accessibility of
a particular locale.”479
477
Ibid.
478
Dianne Chisholm, “Love at Last Sight; or, The Dialectics of Seeing in the Wake of the
Gay Bathhouse” in Queer Constellations: Subcultural Space in the Wake of the City,
(USA: University of Minnesota Press, 2004), 69.
479
William L. Leap, Public Sex/Gay Space, (US: Columbia University Press, 1999), 9.
212
[...] public identifies a location which appears to be “open”, “accessible”, and
“unrestricted”, while private suggests a location which seems more “sheltered”,
“secluded”, or [quoting Sisela Bok] “being protected from unwanted access by
others.”480
With reference to the American historian David Bell, Leap further explains how
public homosex is privatized to enact such a resistance:
In terms of the location of the sex act, then, nominally [public homosex] is
taking place in public space: the park, the public toilet, the alley, the beach, the
parking lot, the woods, the docks, the street. But in terms of the identities of the
participants, their knowledge of each other, and the “wider” public knowledge of
the activities that go on in a particular setting, [it] can be very private, only
attracting attention when the lives and loves of the rich materialize there, or
when the police or queerbashers target a particular site for their own kinds of
nocturnal activities.481
Leap reconceptualizes privacy by stating that all the realities such as “intrusion by
police,... attack by queerbashers... pervasive presence of regulatory authority...
reframe the meanings of „private‟ and „privacy‟ as they apply to sites of sexual
practice.”482
In such settings, and through various means, people may claim “protect(ion)
from unwanted access by others” [quoting Sisela Bok] or attempt to establish
“control over the access that others have to one” [quoting Richard D. Mohr], but
those efforts are always subject to the intrusion, supervision, and/or disruption of
others. In this sense, all sites of sexual practice are public locations, and any
claims to privacy which unfold there are fictional claims.483
480
Ibid.
481
Ibid., emphasis by Leap.
482
Ibid., 10-11.
483
Ibid., 11.
213
Leap considers such claims to privacy in a public setting as fictional because “... they
reference features which are not „inherent‟ in a local terrain, but are constructed,
assembled, and imposed” (1999, p. 11).
Claims to privacy within sites of sexual practice require similar acceptance of

suspended dis/belief. In fact, it is only through the suspension of dis/belief that
secluded location, “watch queen” surveillance, non-verbal communication, and
other space-constructing practices are able to surround sites of sexual practices
with the appearance of safety, security, and “controlled access by others” [citing
Bok‟s phrasing]484
Furthermore, Leap also discusses that “the fictional nature of privacy ensures a
convergence of opportunity, vulnerability, and danger”, so “assertions of privacy...
depend heavily on questions of status and privilege.”485 Accordingly, he explains
why the participants at the sites of sexual practice are “more likely to be men rather
than women”, and why “sex in public places is closely associated with male rather
than female, identities.”486 This leads us to a further discussion on the universally
accepted and normalized association of the two dichotomies in a symmetrical
manner: public/private: man/woman.
Feminist scholars of the 1970s considered this association as a causal relation

between women‟s lack of power and a greater preponderance of women in the
domestic sphere and men in extra-domestic spheres. They believed that women were
nearly universally confined to the private sphere, which prevented their access to
authority, prestige and cultural values, as explained by the American feminist
anthropologist Michelle Zimbalist Rosaldo, as prerogatives of men who competed
for these sources of power in the public sphere. She further relates this universal
484
Ibid.
485
Ibid.
486
Ibid.
214
distinction between public man and private woman as assignment of roles and spaces
based on women‟s motherhood.487 While women become absorbed primarily in
domestic activities due to their role as mothers, men are free to engage in extra-
domestic activities linking households to society at large. As a result, women are
identified with domestic life and men with public life.
This universalizing view is critically examined by the Dutch cultural anthropologist

Marjo Buitelaar who claims that “women could exert considerable informal power
within the private sphere and were also often able to influence decisions taken in the
public sphere through their husbands and sons.”488 Quite similarly, Ludwig
Ammann, a German scholar in Islamic Studies, argues that “this division of labor –
familial reproduction vs. production of society – typically, though not necessarily,
entails two asymmetries: Men and their activities are more highly valued and they
are given formal authority over women who may… exercise a good deal of informal
influence and power.” 489
In this context, I hypothesize that, particularly in Turkish daily life, homosociality

among women occurs primarily in the domestic sphere or partially through the
extention of domesticity into the public sphere (hairdressers, beauty parlors, the
women‟s section of the hamam), whereas homosociality among men occurs either in
the heteronormative public sphere (coffeehouses, workplaces, sports centers and
men‟s clubs) or in queer spaces such as gay bars, adult cinemas, public parks and the
men‟s section of a queered hamam. In this chapter, I initially present how
homosociality is realized in queer space and how it contributes to the gender
487
Michelle Z. Rosaldo, “Woman, Culture and Society” in Michelle Z. Rosaldo and Louise
Lamphere (ed.) Woman, Culture and Society, (California: Stanford University Press,
1974), 17-42.
488
Marjo Buitelaar, “Public Baths as Private Places”, in Karin Ask and Marin Tjornsland
(ed.) Women and Islamization: Contemporary Dimensions of Discourse on Gender
Relations, (Oxford, New York: Berg, 1998), 104.
489
Ludwig Ammann, “Private and Public in Muslim Civilization” in L. Ammann and N.
Göle (ed.) Islam in Public: Turkey, Iran and Europe, (Istanbul: Bilgi University Press,
2006), 111.
215
formation of the male queer subjects. In the following sub-sections, I analyze how
various forms of homosociality are enacted in hamam space through verbal
communication, cultural rituals and safety networks among users.
7.2 Queer Space as a Homosocial Space
Having been analyzed in Chapters 5 and 6, the existence of queer space both as an
urban closet and a performance stage is largely based on visual and cognitive
epistomologies addressing same-sex pleasure: being known by going unseen,
commodification, outlook, cognitive mapping, exploration, eye contact, cruising, etc.
However, in order to sustain the existence of queer space and to belong to that space,
users also develop a form of sociality and privacy peculiar to queer culture. In the
Turkish public environment, the privatization of queer spaces, especially beerhouses,
cinemas and hamams, is different from their counterparts in Europe and US, gay
bars, video rooms and bathhouses in a number of aspects.
First of all, whatever sex role they take (heterosexual male, bisexual male or gay
male), the users of these spaces play the traditional male/female sex roles indicated
by Bereket, as discussed in Chapter 6: aktif penetrator and pasif penetratee. Thus,
their relationship cannot be considered a long-term gay partnership based on fidelity
and love but rather a casual male friendship based on mutual benefits. A 38-year old
Turkish bisexual man from Ankara explains this differentiation as follows:
Such a partnership may be substituted in accordance with the identities of the

partners. This also depends on how much they are out of the closet and how
often they socialize together and [...] It is a unique kind of partnership. When
appropriate, they may also become business partners [...] Such a partnership
does not conform to the Western stereotypes [...] You can call them “lovers”.
This is something different [...] for instance, it is a hybrid relationship in which
they are both friends and sex partners [...] not a modern gay relation [...] you
216
cannot find such a relationship in a gay bar [...] in a gay bar, most partners are
lovers.490
Second, homosociality in parks, cinemas and hamams emerges as the final stage of
the sexual identity formation of some users who initially closet themselves in urban
queer space and then start performing sexual acts there. As the same interviewee
indicates, this mostly occurs as the user feels himself as part of a group.
[...] the need for sociality occurs in later stages of the construction of a gay
identity. In your initial visits to queer spaces, you aim to communicate with
people only for sex. Then, you start visiting those spaces for sociality. I didn‟t
have such a social environment in a park, but in a cinema and a hamam, where I
first visited with my friends [...] to encourage them to find other friends or
partners [...]491
A public queer space may be privatized in two ways: as a homosocial environment

and a venue for same-sex pleasure, depending on the users‟ expectations from that
space at a particular visit. A 43-year-old Turkish bisexual man from Ankara
compares these two types of privatization as follows:
People were going to a cinema or a park alone [...] When two people in our
group started dating, we asked them to keep it as private as possible. If they
reflected it to the group, they would be ostracized [...] There were lots of such
couples in our group. And being part of our group was an advantage for them.
Because if they had visited the queer spaces as a couple, there would probably
be others soliciting them which would lead to fights due to jealousy. Ours was a
more social environment […] We were going to those spaces in groups and
anyone who were to look for a partner would say goodbye and leave. None of us
complained about this.492
490
491
Ibid.
492
OHI 1, 14.02.2012, Ankara
217
Third, the visiting routine, user profile and spatial characteristics of a queer space
affect its potential for privatization and sociality substantially, as explained by a 43-
year-old Turkish bisexual man:
[…] spaces acquire their characters based on users. As areas of sociality […] For
instance, if a gay bar closes down and opens in another place, the same users
continue going there […] In the past, in the .….. Hamam [A1], I know the older
guys going there every Wednesday [...] it was a different environment of
communication than the other days […] There was an historical Ottoman hamam
in Sultanahmet district of İstanbul [...] it still exists, but in another district, Eyüp
Sultan, on a basement floor [...] Same management but different location […]
When it used to function as an Ottoman hamam, it was a space where you could
socialize and freely cruise inside, without expressing your aim of cruising [...] it
was also providing personal privacy. But in its new place, there are orderly
arranged rooms and cabins.493
The same interviewee compares the social environment of a modern gay bar with
that of a traditional Ottoman-Turkish hamam as follows:
Even though it is a place of sociality [...] the sociality in a hamam is limited to

its boundaries, creating its own privacy. But people visit a gay bar as groups of
friends. Finding a partner is more difficult there [...] but you are semi-naked in a
hamam only wearing a peştamal. You can bring your swim suit or sandals at
most [...] everyone is equalized in terms of their status. But the sociality in a gay
bar is more Westernized […] where you differentiate yourself by means of your
phone, your jeans, your hair style [...] There is no such difference in a hamam.
Sociality in a hamam is based rather on horizontal relations.494
493
494
Ibid.
218
Consequently, it is obvious that a still-existing Ottoman hamam has a unique position
among other queer spaces in terms of the homosocial environment it commits to the
subjects of urban queer culture.
7.3. Forms of Homosociality in the Hamam
In section 7.1, I have discussed the normative association of man with the public and
woman with the private sphere. Two of the queered hamams studied in this
dissertation serve both men and women: A1 as a çifte (double) hamam in separate
sections and Is2 as a single kuşluk hamam at different times of the day. The oral
history data show that the privatization in the men‟s section of a queered hamam is
more firmly constructed than in the women‟s section in terms of forms of
homosociality and privacy appropriated by both sexes. Although in the women‟s
section of the hamam the users construct particular power networks and struggles
that may be seen in a gender-specific public environment,495 this section, even in a
queered hamam, functions, traditionally, as an extention of their private domestic
environment. Thus, the women in those hamams (A1 and Is2), predominantly keep
their reproductive sexuality as mothers and wives, have traditional rituals and rarely
engage in same-sex relations. The manager of the hamam Is2 explains how women
visit his hamam in their allocated time as follows:
[…] sometimes women ask for a gelin hamamı [bride‟s bath]. So, we close the
hamam for them […] They come with the old type of bundles. They also bring
food if they want. They apply henna. They have fun […] This happened many
times. Friends, relatives, bride‟s mother, sister, etc. […] They make a
reservation, giving the number of participants and the time they will come. And
we get prepared accordingly.496
495
For more information about power networks and struggles in the women‟s hamam, see
Elif Ekin Akşit, “The women's quarters in the historical hammam”, Gender, Place &
Culture,18:02, (2011): 277-293.
496
OHI 15, 29.06.2013, İstanbul
219
However, homosociality among the users in the men‟s section of a queered hamam is
a more firmly constructed privacy as compared to that in the women‟s section.
Whether they visit the hamam for same-sex pleasure, for bathing, or for both, the
men sharply distinguish their private life outside the hamam from their social life in
the hamam. For some men, homosociality in a queered hamam has priority among
other reasons for visiting that space: closetedness and same-sex pleasure. This may
be largely due to the fact that in a queered hamam, these men meet with other men
who are from relatively similar socio-economic classes.
I wasn‟t visiting the hamam only for sex […] While I was dating with someone,
we were going there for bathing and entertainment. Because, the users of the
hamam are people whom you can chat with. In this regard [...] it creates a unique
type of sociality.497
However, some men who have less in common with other men in terms of socio-
economic class, education level and gender identity (not fitting the traditional model
of the aktif/pasif dichotomy), do not visit the hamam for homosociality but only for
same-sex pleasure.
I don‟t aim to socialize in such spaces. But the others may since they live their
private lives in Turkey secretly and in fear due to their sexual preference. They
face great oppression. For instance, I have met many married queer people who
have to sustain their marriage and family life.498
The homosocial environment in the men‟s section of a queered hamam is formed of

various male-specific rituals, ways of communication and solidarity networks which
legitimize the traditional and heteropatriarchal aktif/pasif dichotomy among men, as
analyzed in the following sections.
497
498
OHI 12, 25.02.2013, Kuşadası
220
7.3.1 Homosocial Communication in the Hamam
Apart from the strategies of looking for same-sex pleasure, analyzed in Chapters 5
and 6, one significant aspect of a queered hamam is the verbal communication
among the users and the hamam attendants. The users of this sub-culture have
developed a particular language derived from gypsy slang, which
connotatestraditional tropes of same-sex pleasure among men. Tarık Bereket
introduces the frequent use of some common words of this language as such:
“balamoz (older male), manti (younger male), laço (real man/heterosexual),
lubunya/lubun (effeminate homosexual), koli alıklama (trying to pick somebody up),
koli (sex partner), kolileşmek (to fuck), gacı (woman), gullümleşmek (to have fun),
sipet alıklama (to give a blowjob), naşlama (to run away, especially when there is a
chance of getting caught), and madi (thing/person that is bad).”499
I used that language in the 1980s. My friends who used to go to hamams had
learned that language. And I had learned from them. Like sipet alıkmak [to give
a blowjob], şugar laço [handsome man], but similya [big penis], ben laçoyla
koliye gidiyorum [I am going to have sex with a man], berdelimi sana alıkayım
[let me ejaculate into you].500
Verbal communication among users is another partner-finding strategy when others

(such as bodily gestures, eye contact, cruising) do not function efficiently. A 38-year-
old Turkish gay man mentions that “some people in the hamam use their friends as a
negotiator, asking him to talk with someone to which he is attracted.”501
Some users also develop a particular communication network with the hamam
managers and attendants. As the following quotes from the oral history interviews
499
Minorities, 125-126.
500
OHI 3, 16.04.2012, İzmir
501
221
present, this network provides those users with an advantageous position among
others and guarantees their visiting routine of the hamam not only to closet
themselves or to perform casual sex, but also to homo-socialize. In other words, this
brings the advantage of recognizability and belonging to a male-specific group
identity.
Some of the hamam managers welcome me by saying “Welcome. Give him a

room immediately. You may rest however you want and as much as you like”.
After a while, they know me by name or by face and behave towards me as a
special customer, as if I am the owner of that hamam.502
Once, I was there [hamam A1] with a rich friend of mine. The person that
accompanies you during your first visits is a good reference, especially for the
tellaks [...] Even though I was a poor student, they were behaving towards me
like a businessman.503
The former manager of the hamam Iz1, for instance, explains how he gives a
privileged status to some of his customers in terms of spatial use:
The dressing cabin next to the lockers is for single customers who are clean-
faced like you. Your clothes and shoes are safe inside. There is also a larger
cabin at the back. I was allocating it for the elderly lubunyas (effeminate
homosexuals) whom I have known for a long time. They have special
belongings. They want to be comfortable. The rest of the cabins are for poor
sluts […]504
502
OHI 7, 20.09.2012, Ankara
503
504
OHI 16, 09.08.2013, İzmir
222
The same manager seems to have built a friendship with some of his frequent
customers, especially the younger ones.
There were many laços (heterosexual men), mantis (young men), pretty boys
visiting my hamam. I knew some of them from the bar or meyhane. We were
chatting comfortably in the hamam. We were talking about nearly everything.
After all, they were all my customers. We became friends over time […] They
are all good boys. I still run into some of them when I go to Konak.505
As some of the interviewees indicate, this type of communication between user and
hamam manager is actually an opportunistic one. It can be considered a mutual
relationship by which the manager guarantees a stable customer profile, a steady
income as well as safety, while the user guarantees a secure environment where he
meets with private friends and finds new friends and partners.
The owner of that hamam [Iz] was running another hamam in Söke. I met him
there in 1986. Then, he ran another hamam in İkiçeşmelik for years. For the last
10 or 15 years, he was running that hamam in K........ [Iz1]. He had to quit this
job at the end [...] I was very close to him. Sometimes, he was calling me and
inviting me personally to the hamam [...] When there were handsome soldiers in
the hamam that he wanted to keep inside longer, he was calling me to the
hamam saying there are no gays inside. On such occasions, I wasn‟t making any
payment [...]506
[...] the attendants of the hamams had already gotten used to such relations. They
were neither warning nor interrupting [...] I had neither heard an allusive word
from any of them, nor seen any type of humiliation. I haven‟t felt something like
that.507
505
Ibid.
506
OHI 3, 16.04.2012, İzmir
507
OHI 9, 02.12.2012, İzmir
223
The communication with the hamam attendants is also crucial for such a mutual
relationship. Especially tellaks have a closer verbal and visual contact with the users
than the manager, as they regularly enter the sıcaklık section of the hamam to give a
massage, to clean the space, to collect the used peştamals, or to warn users to be
more careful while having casual sex. A 64-year-old Turkish transsexual woman
mentions that she always used to receive services from the same tellak whom she
was telling everything about her life, even her most private issues.508 However, the
tolerance of a tellak towards the customers in terms of same-sex relations is mostly
dependent on his closeness to them, as explained in the following quotes from the
oral history interviews:
I had good relations with three or four percent of the tellaks but not the rest, all
of whom were unfavorable people. They weren‟t talking about gay relations. So,
I didn‟t like them. Because I was quite open in my demands. I was purposefully
choosing the tellaks who were more tolerant to such relations. The others were
getting down with me. Whenever I had been there, I was asking if those tellaks
were inside or not.509
The manager also knows about those relations. For instance, in the hamam [A1],
the tellak was physically a very cute guy. But he was doing nothing with the
customers and warning us not to have sex too openly. In the other hamam [Iz1],
which was also frequented by foreigners, both the customers and the attendants
were quite calm. The tellaks were not usually inside [the sıcaklık], unless
someone called them [for scrubbing]. They weren‟t even making a routine
control. So we were quite comfortable.510
508
OHI 4, 10.05.2012, Ankara
509
OHI 7, 20.09.2012, Ankara
510
OHI 1, 14.02.2012, Ankara
224
7.3.2 Homosocial Rituals in the Hamam
There are mainly two types of homosocial rituals that take place in the men‟s section
of the Ottoman-Turkish hamams: traditional ceremonial occasions and queer
entertainment. Though being less regular and widespread than the ones in the
women‟s section such as the fortieth-day bath (kırk hamamı or lohusa hamamı)511,
match-making in the bath (görücü hamamı)512, the bath of the bride (gelin
hamamı)513, and the bath of oblation (adak hamamı)514, rituals celebrating important
events in mens‟ life cycle which exist in the men‟s section of the hamam: sünnet
hamamı, asker hamamı, damat hamamı and bayram hamamı.
The circumcision bath (sünnet hamamı) takes place before the boy is circumcised,
with the participation of the men in his family and his male friends. The boy is
washed and ablated by praying before eating, watching Karagöz plays, and getting
dressed in the circumcision costume in the soyunmalık section. The soldier‟s bath
(asker hamamı) takes place before a teenager leaves for military service, bathing,
511
“Babies and mothers are washed on the fortieth day after the birth of the baby. This is
traditionally the baby‟s first outing. Their washing is accompanied by special prayers, and
the washing itself follows a certain ritual order.” Ebru Boyar and Kate Fleet, “The Hamam”
in A Social History of Ottoman Istanbul, 256.
512
“The hamam is also visited by some women in order to find suitable brides for their sons
or brothers, both judging the possible candidates physically and checking out their manners
and behavior. Matchmakers sit on the divan of the bath-keeper under their veils and feraces
and carefully watch the women entering and exiting the sıcaklık. Those washing in the
hamam are aware of who they are. The matchmakers learn from the bath-keeper whether the
girls they like are married or single, and then get the addresses of the unmarried girls from
her in order to pay them a visit later.” Boyar and Fleet, 257.
513
“The hamam also plays part in wedding ceremonies. This ritual is held a few days before
the wedding by reserving the hamam for the female members of both families, together with
their relatives and neighbors. The bride is washed while singing religious hymns, traditional
folksongs and dancing. For such a ritual, the entire day might be spent in the hamam in an
endless round of washing, eating, drinking and chatting.” Tülay Taşçıoğlu, Türk Hamamı,
hazırlayan: Ali Pasiner, (İstanbul: Duran Ofset, 1998), 126.
514
“This ritual is particularly taken by women who cannot become pregnant, in hamams
having thermal water. These women sit in the hottest corners of the hamam, make regular
health cures and treatments and pray for 15-20 days. If they conceive, they reserve the
hamam for 24 hours to provide food to poor women.” Taşçıoğlu, Türk Hamamı, 126.
225
praying and chatting together with his male friends. The groom‟s bath (damat
hamamı), an equivalent ritual to the gelin hamamı, includes the communal bathing
and eating of the male members of the groom‟s family in a reserved hamam, but this
time without music and dance. Another male ritual is the bayram hamamı that takes
place either Thursday evenings or Friday mornings prior to religious feast days, with
the aim of bodily purification, communication and cooperation.515
The oral history data show that some of the men who engage in same-sex relations
have also taken part in at least one of these rituals during which they take the role of
a heterosexual man.
My friends had taken me to a hamam before I went for my military service. We

were all young. Entertainment, chatting, singing... The hamam was closed in the
evening hours to serve only for us and nobody was let in. We were going there at
about 8 pm and staying there until midnight.516
It is significant that male-specific rituals such as damat hamamı, asker hamamı or

sünnet hamamı mostly take place in non-queered hamams, or rarely in queered
hamams but at certain times. Rather, the men‟s sections of the queered hamams are
closeted for either queer privacy or homosociality in the form of a male-specific
entertainment, as explained by a 57-year-old Turkish bisexual male, the manager of
the hamam Is2 and the former manager of the hamam Iz1:
We were regular customers of the .…… Hamam in Izmir. Every Wednesday, the
manager of that hamam was closing the place at a certain time in the evening
after cleaning the interiors and hosting only us. We were taking with us
refreshments and food. We were eating, drinking, bathing and entertaining man-
to-man.517
515
Taşçıoğlu, Türk Hamamı, 124-126.
516
OHI 8, 18.11.2012, İzmir
517
OHI 3, 16.04.2012, İzmir
226
Not many occasions [groom‟s bath, soldier bath] in the men‟s section […]
Sometimes, a group of friends come for entertainment late after they leave the
bar. But I don‟t remember such an occasion for the groom.518
We were sometimes going there [the hamam Iz1]. When I was in a bar, we were
leaving the bar together. As the guys were insisting too much, I wasn‟t going to
reject them. We were going at about 3:00 or 4:00 am. They were chatting and
having sex. They were all drunken […] Songs, folk music, etc. But then I heard
that once they had drunken alcohol and smoked weed inside. Then, I didn‟t let
them do that anymore. After all, it is a management.519
It is interesting that men taking part in these occasions also use language and
gestures with sexual content, but connotating with heterosexual norms. Accordingly,
a 59-year-old Turkish bisexual man indicates that “these sexual talks were about
women, not about gays.”520 The three interviewees depict such occasions in detail as
follows:
When I was in Kütahya, there was a ritual called „the bath of the groom (damat
hamamı). The man who was going to get married, was taken to the hamam a few
days before the wedding, for entertainment. We also used to talk about sexuality.
The groom was questioned about the size of his penis and his sexual potency.
The conversations that can occasionally be had outside as well.521
When I was going to a hamam with my friends in the 1980s, we were taking off
our peştamals after a while and staying naked. But I hadn‟t thought about any
same-sex relations at those times. We were bathing and scrubbing each other in
a normal manner. I remember masturbating with them around the göbektaşı as
well.522
518
OHI 15, 29.06.2013, İstanbul
519
OHI 16, 09.08.2013, İzmir
520
OHI 8, 18.11.2012, İzmir
521
OHI 3, 16.04.2012, İzmir
522
Ibid.
227
I was to a historical Ottoman hamam in Adana [...] It was strange that there were
men lying at the entrance of the hamam. Lots of semi-naked men lying next to
each other. It was too crowded. Meanwhile, we were staring at them [...] since
all were male, they weren‟t disturbing each other [...] Their legs were placed
upwards and even their penises were visible […] Then, they realized that we
were watching them.523
Even though there exist no same-sex relations in these cases, this male-specific
heterosexual environment seems to have affected the sexual identity formation of
some users who may have an interest in same-sex pleasure. In this regards, a 62-
year-old Turkish bisexual man who used to visit a traditional neighborhood hamam
in Bursa when he was an adolescent, shares how his curiosity about men affected his
gender preference: “ […] after a while, I saw myself watching the other men
masturbating, in order to see how big and of what shaped their penises were.”524
Homosociality in a hamam is also based on the age profile of the users. As analyzed
in Chapter 5, the queered hamams in Turkey started losing their popularity after the
1990s. Hence, elderly users who have been visiting queered hamams since then may
be considered as part of a sub-culture, forming a more defined group identity based
on age and gender identity. In contrast, it can be claimed that young users of today
who define themselves as gay, visit queered hamams mainly for same-sex pleasure
rather than homosociality. A 38-year-old Turkish gay man indicates: “In the past,
there were more young people visiting the hamams, but recently the hamams seem to
have turned into spaces of bear culture, more frequented by elderly men.”525
The queer rituals in the hamam are not as formalized as the above-mentioned male-
specific rituals and occasions. Those queer subjects whose primary aims are not
523
524
OHI 9, 02.12.2012, İzmir
525
228
having sex and finding sex partners privatize the hamam for entertainment, joking,
chatting, etc. However, these occasions are generally held among close friends who
accompany each other while visiting the hamam. Even though there may be others
who are willing to participate in these entertainments, they never become an integral
part of this group. Visitors of all ages with various aims mix with each other in the
hamam space: those closeting themselves, those looking for same-sex pleasure, and
those entertaning themselves:
It is like a party or an entertainment. You both have sex and have fun with your
friends. When there are friends with you, you are more calm and comfortable.
You may at least talk to someone when you cannot find a sex partner [...] People
there hesitate to talk to someone who they are not familiar with, even though
they know his sex role.526
The first time I was to a hamam was with a friend of mine. There was a guy that
I like and we knew that he was going to the same hamam on that day […] As we
were inside, my friend started to introduce to him the hamam space and its
rituals [...] how to meet with someone, how to behave when there is a tellak
inside, etc.527
We were going there for gullüm [to have fun]. They rarely play and sing songs
in the men‟s section of a hamam. I believe that the hamams were originally built
for just one reason [same-sex relations]. Otherwise, the wives of those men
could have cleaned and scrubbed them more properly at home.528
526
527
528
OHI 1, 14.02.2012, Ankara
229
7.3.3 Homosocial Networks in the Hamam
In addition to homosocial communication and rituals, the users of a queered hamam

develop safety and security networks to provide a common defence mechanism to
the threats of the police and homophobic groups. These networks are mostly built by
the hamam manager in the form of verbal and spatial precautions; as one of the
interviewee defines, “precautions taken against the existence of any challenging and
insecure situation both for himself and the users.”529
As a verbal precaution against the presence of a policeman in the hamam, the hamam
manager warns the visitors at the entrance and the tellaks inside. If he knows the
policeman in person, he somehow shows that person to the user, asking him not to
have close contact with him. A 38-year-old Turkish gay man explains this as follows:
In .….. Hamam [A1], for instance, the customers were warned against a person
who is definitely a policeman [...] On the one hand, this is quite a usual situation.
You know, it is similar to advising a child to pay attention when you cannot
discourage him from a bad habit [...]530
Since police controls and raids are carried out mostly in secrecy, the hamam
managers and tellaks may not be able to differentiate the police from others.
However, it is possible for them that a visitor they have never seen before is a police
officer. In such a case, they not only try to decipher that person but warn the users to
be more careful with their behaviour and acts inside. For instance, a 57-year-old
Turkish bisexual man states that while entering, the hamam manager warns
customers with whom he is familiar by saying “It is too crowded inside” or “There
are suspicious people inside. Be careful.”531 In a similar vein, a 43-year-old Turkish
529
OHI 3, 16.04.2012, İzmir
530
531
OHI 3, 16.04.2012, İzmir
230
bisexual man mentions that the hamam attendants also warn the regular customers
against an unreliable person by saying: “Keep away from that person.”532
However, the level of intimacy of the relationship between the hamam manager and
the visitors is a significant criterion in terms of which visitors may be warned and
which may not. A 57-year-old Turkish bisexual man explains how the former
manager of a queered hamam in Izmir, who is also familiar with the queer scene of
the city, warns his customers:
That guy [the former manager of the hamam Iz1] knew nearly all the gays in
Izmir. Because most of them had been visiting his hamam. He was warning them
if there was an unusual situation inside. He was saying “Be careful. There are
people inside, I have never seen them before” or “Be informed that an
unpleasant event occured an hour ago.”533
Not only the newcomers to the hamam but also the users inside are warned against
police threat. This happens in the form of sending messages (haber uçurmak), either
via the tellaks or the users. As the users learn that a person who is likely to be a
police officer is coming inside the sıcaklık, they stop any sexual performance or
become more careful with their gestures, behaviour, speech and acts until that person
leaves the space. A 38-year-old Turkish gay man indicates: “if we were informed
that a paparon [police] is coming, we would stop having sex inside for a while. After
all, they only stay 10 or 15 minutes and then leave.”534 The following quotes further
present some of the networks in queered hamams, used to protect the customers
against police threats:
532
OHI 1, 14.02.2012, Ankara
533
OHI 3, 16.04.2012, İzmir
534
231
Once I was there, the hamam [Iz1] was raided by the police. Fortunately, I was
sitting in the corner, not having any sex. That hamam is so well known as a gay
hamam that the manager warns you by saying “This is a policeman. Be careful”.
Moreover, they send a message to the customers inside about the policeman‟s
profile so that everybody warns one another.535
[…] that hamam [A1] was closed down for a few months. When we were there
after it re-opened […] the tellaks warned us by saying that “we are under
prosecution, so please don‟t do anything”. It took quite a long time, like months,
for that hamam to get normalized. Naturally, there weren‟t as many customers as
there used to be. Few people were going there. Then, they started using the
method of “sending a message” inside. When there was a strange person, likely
to be a policeman, everybody was bathing quietly... after he left, they were
continuing to have sex again […] You know, there are guys warning the
peddlers that the city police are coming. So, all the peddlers disappear suddenly.
It is very similar […] There was a warning mechanism in the hamam against a
suspicious person. Not only the manager or the attendants but also a customers
can issue such a warning.536
The tellak of the hamam A1, describes how they warned the bathers inside the
hamam in the course of a police raid:
It [police raid] happened several times. It was like a raid. The boss told all of us
[…] to go and check inside. So that everyone tidies up […] Those young guys
were there as a group. We opened the curtains one by one. We made the partners
bathing inside go out. We asked those in the pool to get out. We told them to
wrap the peştamals properly. Actually, this was until they [the policemen] leave.
Then, you may relax.537
535
Ibid.
536
OHI 5, 15.06.2012, İzmir
537
OHI 17, 14.09.2013, Ankara
232
Similarly, the former manager of the hamam Iz1, explains how he prevented his
customers from being accused of same-sex relations in the course of a police raid:
I wasn‟t at the hamam. I was somewhere else. H…… was at the cash desk. He
mustn‟t have realized. He doesn‟t know the civilian policemen. The guy
[policeman] entered. People had been having sex inside. Then, he had
determined this. H…… called me saying “Come. There is madilik [bad thing]”.
He tried to take the customers [to the police station]. I stopped him. What
happened next? They took my statement. They closed the hamam for two
weeks.538
In addition to such verbal warning networks, there are also spatial and visual
precautions taken by the hamam management against police controls and threats:
The curtains of the cabins in the .….. Hamam [A1] and the …… Hamam [Is1]
were longer before they were raided. Now, they are very short. Even though this
is a precaution to prevent people from having casual sex inside the cabins, it is
quite funny that it also enables them to exhibit themselves. Because under such a
condition, you are able to see the perineum or the butt of the person bathing
inside.539
There [in the hamam Iz1] was a warning lamp that was controlled by the
manager by means of a button at his desk. When he was turning it on and off
continuously, it meant “A stranger is coming. Get back to normal”. He was
occasionally coming inside [the sıcaklık] and checking around. If there was an
unknown customer who had entered when he was not at his desk, he was
warning the other customers by showing him with eye movements.540
538
OHI 16, 09.08.2013, İzmir
539
540
OHI 3, 16.04.2012, İzmir
233
As most of the interviewees emphasize, homophobic threats and fights among the
users, hamam managers and attendants inside the space are less likely to occur than
police threats from the outside. Whatever the sexual identity, age, and socio-
economic class of the users are, each may be affected negatively by such a threat or
fight. Inevitably, each person has to obey the unwritten rules of those informal safety
and security networks and to construct positive and strong relations with the
management for the surveillance of this homosocial environment. Actually, internal
threats may occur as these networks weaken.
However heterogenous the customer profile is in the hamam, there is no mistrust

among them since everyone abstains from fighting one another. I haven‟t
experienced or heard any battle, injury or murder in a hamam [...] Because, it is
known that either the manager or the customers will definitely respond to such
an event [...] no one can affect or force the others there. After all, since the
hamam customers are generally the same people, everyone knows each other and
knows how to behave.541
A friend of mine was arrested in the .….. Hamam [A1] by the attendants.... But
it was due to the fact that he wasn‟t a known person in the hamam. Then, I said
that we were there together. The tellaks apologized, saying that “We didn‟t
know that he was your guest” […] and the matter ended [...] Even though both
the manager and the tellaks know why people go there, they can‟t help warning
them [...] In the .…… Hamam, some of the tellaks who are familiar with me
were telling the others who warn me: “It is none of your business. Let him do
whatever he wants.”542
541
542
234
In the following quote, the former manager of the hamam Iz1 explains what sort of
problems may occur among the users inside the hamam and how he copes with them
in order to sustain his management.
It [a clash] happened. There were impertinent bathers who don‟t know about my
hamam. Actually they knew but […] For instance, there were people who were
quarreling with the boys by saying “Pay my fee or I will humiliate you.” But
they are smart boys. They were coming and telling me […] “Look. That guy
asks for money”. Then I immediately kicked them out. I don‟t want any problem
inside or any case to grow. After all, I was under a persistent pressure […] I
don‟t want any clash inside. You both want to have sex and make madilik (create
a bad situation). No. You may do whatever you do outside. But you pay and
enter the hamam […] You have to behave properly.543
In this chapter, I have analyzed the Ottoman-Turkish hamam as a homosocial space:

a spatiality constructed through verbal communication, solidarity and safety
networks among subjects of the same sex, particulary men, who have already
closeted themselves inside the hamams and become actors of queer performativity.
Following the separatist view proposed by Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, I have
considered homosociality a further stage in the sexual identity construction process
of these men who need more commonalities than sexual identity in order to secure
their closetedness and sustain same-sex performances in the hamam space.
In the introductory section, I have critically argued the phenomenon of homosociality

in reference to the spatial construction of public/private dichotomy. In order to
understand how this dichotomy is subverted in public queer spaces, I have referred to
William L. Leap who conceptualizes the fictional nature of privacy in these spaces as
543
OHI 16, 09.08.2013, İzmir
235
a resistance to or protection from police threats. I have further argued that the forms
and venues of homosociality in privatized public environments differ between men
and women. Considering men‟s privileged status in public space, I have exemplified
the women‟s section of an Ottoman-Turkish hamam as an extention of domesticity
into the public sphere, while the men‟s section of a hamam is more likely to be
privatized through the axis of closetedness and queer performativity. In other words,
I have claimed that the privatization in the men‟s section of a hamam is actually
fictional, since most of the homosocial networks among men in a hamam are
constructed to satisfy common sexual desires and demands which may not be
realized in their private environments and public spheres outside the hamams. In
addition, they privatize the hamam space not only for invisible casual sex but also in
relation to the existence of strangers as well as police and homophobic threats. When
there are no such threats, the hamam may be quite public as well since the
homosocial networks among the users and the attendants weaken.
Having conceptualized homosociality among men as a form of constructed privacy

and sociality, I have discussed in the second section how homosociality functions in
various queer spaces in the Turkish public environment. Based on oral history data, I
have examined the characteristics of homosociality peculiar to Ottoman-Turkish
hamams. Compared to bars, cinemas and parks, homosociality in hamams is like a
casual friendship based on mutual benefits, visiting routine, and the profile of their
users, which occurs in the final stage of their sexual identity construction process as
well as the characteristics of the hamam space.
In the third section, I have subsequently analyzed three forms of homosociality in the
men‟s section of hamams: verbal communication, male-specific rituals and solidarity
networks. Some men (Interviewees 3 and 6) who consider themselves as part of a
queer sub-culture use a particular language that consists of slang words with
homosexual connotations. This language seems to help them to both communicate
secretly and find sex partners. I have also discussed that most men (Interviewees 1, 3,
4, 7, 9 and Pilot Interviewee 1) develop a particular communication network with the
hamam managers and attendants in order to be privileged and recognized among
236
other men in the hamam, so that they guarantee a safe and secure environment where
they are warned against possible threats.
I have classified male-specific homosocial rituals in hamams under two categories:

traditional ceremonial occasions such as damat hamamı, asker hamamı or sünnet
hamamı, and queer entertainment. The oral history data have shown that some men
(Interviewees 3, 8, 9 and Pilot Interviewee 1) who closet themselves and perform sex
in queered hamams have also taken part in traditional rituals during which they take
the role of a heterosexual man talking and behaving within heterosexual norms. It
has also been observed that these heterosexual rituals have affected the sexual
identity construction of some of the participants (Interviewee 9 and Pilot Interviewee
1) in the form of voyeurism. Queer entertainment is a less formalized ritual that takes
place among a group of friends who visit queered hamams primarily for chatting,
joking, etc. Yet, the men who seek sexual pleasure and visit queered hamams alone,
as analyzed in section 5.3.2, cannot easily become an integral part of this group.
Homosocial networks in queered hamams A1 and Iz1 are mostly constructed by the
hamam managers and attendants in the form of verbal and spatial precautions against
internal and external threats. In these hamams, users are warned verbally either at the
entrance or inside against unfamiliar people who are most likely to be policemen.
This also shows why recognizability and language use are significant in the
construction of these networks. The oral history data have shown that not only the
frequent customers (Interviewees 1, 3, 6 and Pilot Interviewee 1) of these hamams
benefit from these warnings to guarantee a safe and secure closet and performance
stage, but also the managers and tellaks (Interviewees 16 and 17) to sustain their
management, for both bathing and commodified sex. The data have further shown
that internal threats such as fights and financial demands among customers may
occur as the homosocial networks weaken.
Consequently, the forms of homosociality analyzed in this chapter support the main
argument of this dissertation, that is the Ottoman-Turkish hamams as queered spaces
constitute various spatialities experienced by users with various sexual identities and
237
aims of visiting the hamam: men who are known well by the managers and
attendants and have privileged statuses, men who act like heterosexuals in the course
of traditional rituals, men who visit the hamams mostly alone to perform casual sex,
men who visit the hamams in groups for queer entertainment, men from low-income
classes who have financial demands from others, etc. It is significant that each has to
obey the unwritten rules of homosocial networks and to construct positive and strong
relations with the management in each visit so that he reacheshis aim without
becoming exposed to any threats and so that he guarantees another visit.
238
CHAPTER 8
CONCLUSION
In this dissertation, I have answered my research questions by analyzing the

Ottoman-Turkish hamam as a queered space in multiple dimensions. In order to
understand how issues of (homo)sexuality are depicted in various representations of
the hamam and how these issues are perceived and (re)constructed in public
collective memory and discourse, I have examined, the constructions and
representations of the hamam in architectural history writing, histories of art and
literature as well as popular media in Chapter 3. While in architectural history the
hamam is formally and functionally constructed as a desexualized archetype,
neglecting social, cultural and sexual practices of its users, in histories of art and
literature, it is represented as a sexualized stereotype that over-emphasizes female
sexuality, homoerotic desire and male prostitution. This has led to the global notion
that all Ottoman-Turkish hamams function like brothels.
In Chapter 4, in order to understand how the hamam became part of the urban queer
scene in Turkey, first, I have written a brief history of the hamam within the context
of various political, architectural and urban dynamics in Turkey from the late 19th
century to the present based on newspaper records. Second, based on the data
gathered from the questionnaire survey and oral history interviews, I have analyzed
how the hamams have been visited as part of the urban queer culture in Turkey for
the past 40 years. Accordingly, I have arrived at two findings. First, during these
periods, the functioning of most hamams is affected indirectly by architectural
restoration and maintenance, changes in traditional bathing culture, as well as the
emergence of new urban public venues, and directly by police and municipal controls
which started in the mid-20th century to regulate sexual activities in public space.
Second, some of the hamams are linked to other urban queer spaces such as bars,
239
parks, cinemas, beerhouses, activist centers as well as the Internet in the urban
cognitive maps of queer subjects, by means of an organic continuity in their routine
of visiting these spaces.
In light of these political, social and urban contexts, I have focused on the queering
of five particular Ottoman-Turkish hamams (Is1, Is2, A1, Iz1 and Iz2) in the cities of
İstanbul, Ankara and İzmir. Based on the testimonies and experiences of the users
derived from oral history interviews as well as my on-site inspections, I have
analyzed the queering of these hamams within a tripartite theoretical framework:
closetedness, performativity and homosociality, as discussed consecutively in
Chapters 5, 6 and 7. I have found out that the users have experienced these hamams
either as an urban closet, as a performance stage, or as a homosocial space, each of
which contributes to their sexual identity construction in visual, sensual, functional
and social dimensions. By doing so, I have responded to my further research
questions regarding the appropriation of these hamams by means of the performative
strategies of users, managers and attendants, as well as their spatial characteristics
specific to queer sexuality and sociality.
One of the main arguments of this dissertation is the „queer space vs. queered space‟
opposition which is reflected in various spatial practices that subvert/queer the
actual, legal and formalized function of the hamam, namely „communal bathing‟.
The European and American gay bathhouses and saunas function as „commodified
sex-on-site venues‟ where bathing is a secondary function and does not even occur in
many cases. In this respect, they are stabilized in urban ghettos, hence do not need to
be explored and queered by cruising. In contrast, bathing activities such as scrubbing
and massage, homosocial rituals such as damat hamamı (bride‟s bath), asker hamamı
(soldier‟s bath), etc., as well as the multi-sensory environment created by dimmed
light, steam, heat and humidity inside a fully enclosed hamam space are not replaced
by queer performances when that hamam is queered as an urban closet, a
performance stage or a homosocial space. Rather, these functions, rituals and spatial
characteristics contribute to the queering of the hamam by providing the users with a
more invisible and safer space than the other public queer spaces in Turkey, masking
240
the sexual performances spontaneously and temporarily acted out in various niches
of the hamam and strengthening the homosocial networks established against police
and homophobic threats.
The queering of the Ottoman-Turkish hamam is a complex phenomenon, a multi-

dimensional spatiality that can be understood by interrelations between various
contexts and spatialities analyzed in the preceding chapters. In this chapter, I
conclude that these spatialities can be interrelated in three sections. In the first
section, I relate traditional and modern features of the queered hamams in terms of
the sex roles of the users as well as their demands for functionality, performativity
and privacy. In the second section, I relate representational and real aspects of the
queered hamams in terms of the effect of the multi-sensory spatial ambience on
users‟ expectations and intentions for homoeroticism and sexual performance as well
as how they represent their real and constructed identities in various conditions and
against threats. In the third section, I assert that homosociality among men in a
queered hamam is actually a constructed form of sociality among users, managers
and attendants, to guarantee not only a safe closet space, but also a smoothly
operating management with a stable user profile.
8.1 The queered hamam between the traditional and the modern
One of the conclusions of the dissertation is that the queered hamam is a space where
traditional and modern features of bathing are incorporated in a reciprocal
relationship. As presented in Table 2.5, nearly all the queered hamams studied in this
dissertation, constructed between the 15th and 19th centuries and
reconstructed/renovated between the 19th centuries and the early 21st centuries,
consist not only of the original spatial layout of soğukluk, ılıklık and sıcaklık, and the
traditional features and furnishings of halvet, göbektaşı, seki, peyke, traşlık, but also
include modern features such as sauna, showers, toilets, massage room and steam
room, which have been added during those restorations.
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The association of these features in the form of a performance stage has a reciprocal
relation with the gender identity construction of various-aged users in that they
conform either to the traditional aktif/pasif binary or the modern gay label in
accordance with the performative roles they take as either performers, spectators or
bathers in a queered hamam. Most of the pasif users interviewed, for instance, utilize
the traditional features of the queered hamams they visit mainly for same-sex
performances (Interviewee 7: clothing cabins in sıcaklık, Interviewee 3: halvets in
sıcaklık or sekis in ılıklık, Interview 12: göbektaşı and peykes for
scrubbing/massage). Yet, most of the aktif users interviewed (Interviewees 4, 8 and
9) utilize the halvet, göbektaşı and seki mainly for bathing or resting, and secondarily
for watching same-sex performances going on around them. Both for pasif and aktif
users, the additional modern features, such as sauna, steam room, pool, showers and
toilets, do not seem to work as performance niches, as they do not provide full
privacy, enclosure or comfort during casual sex between two people. Still, most of
the gay users interviewed (Pilot Interviewee 1, Interviewees 1, 6 and 11) make a
clear differentiation between traditional and modern features in a queered hamam, as
they utilize the halvets for bathing, the göbektaşı for having a scrub and massage,
while they may engage in same-sex performances in the sauna, steam room or pool,
in front of an audience.
This brings us to another reciprocal relation between performativity and functionality

in a queered hamam, as discussed in section 6.2, namely, masking same-sex
performances by bathing rituals. This relation, at first sight, seems to apply to both
traditional and modern features in a hamam, each of which has a specific function,
i.e. halvet for private bathing, göbektaşı for massage/perspiring/resting, seki for
sitting, sauna and steam room for perspiring and relaxing. However, as discussed in
section 6.5, the corner halvets in the sıcaklık sections of the hamams Iz1, Iz2, A1 and
Is1 (indicated by Interviewees 1, 3 and 16), as well as the upper clothing cabins in
the soğukluk sections of the hamams Iz2 and A1 (indicated by Interviewees 7 and 9)
can easily turn into a niche for relatively longer casual sex due to their partial or full
visibility and privacy. On the contrary, in shared-use chambers with doors such as
the sauna, steam room, sıcaklık or ılıklık, same-sex performances are more visible,
242
and so they are momentary, uncomfortable and risky (as indicated by Interviewees 1,
11 and 17). In this context, traditional halvets and upper clothing cabins in a queered
hamam may also function as closets within the hamam closet, providing changing
levels of privacy in such a privatized public space.
The association of traditional and modern features with the boundaries of a queered
hamam can also be read in terms of the applicability of multi-sensory queer
performances. As seen in Figure 6.6, the sauna, the steam room, the toilets and the
showers in hamam A1 as well as the sauna, the resting room, the toilets and the
showers in hamam Is2 are not external additions to the original layout of these
hamams, but transformations of the existing spaces in the sıcaklık or ılıklık sections.
In the act of continuous cruising between these chambers, they may also become
stages of various visual, verbal and tactile performances such as eye contact,
voyeurism, intimate chatting, masturbation and oral sex.
We may conclude that a queered hamam is a hybrid space, where traditional and
modern features and rituals are associated at different scales at any moment during
the visiting hours, based on the users‟ sex roles as well as demands for functionality,
performativity and privacy.
8.2 The queered hamam between the representational and the real
As anayzed in sections 3.3 and 3.4, the main subject in most of the sexualized visual
and literal representations of the hamam in art and literature is female homoeroticism
and homosociality, depicted in various forms in the sıcaklık section. There are fewer
representations of male homoeroticism, and these depict particularly the effeminate
tellak figure and young boys as prostitutes and the hamam as a brothel. These
stereotypical depictions, as presented in the section 3.5, have further affected the
perception of hamam culture and the hamam space in both global and local discourse
as well as in the popular media.
However, the realities regarding the existence of same-sex practices in the hamams
are quite different from these representations. As analyzed in Chapter 4, the urban
243
queer history of the hamam is partially the history of gay sub-culture in Turkish
cities within the context of urban modernization. Both the newspaper and municipal
records from the mid-20th century to the present and the urban queer maps of the past
40 years show that some of the still-existing hamams have been queered particularly
by male users of various sexual identities while same-sex practices among women
are mostly out of question. It is no coincidence that the queered hamams studied in
this dissertation are either single hamams serving only men, or double hamams
where the visiting hours for men are much longer than for women.
In section 6.6, I have analyzed how the architecture of an Ottoman hamam provides
its users with a decor that enhances their queer performances by means of an
association of light, steam, humidity, temperature, acoustics and marble, particulary
in the domed sıcaklık section. This multi-sensory ambience, which is constructed as a
stereotype in various representations, seems to have a dual effect on users. On the
one hand, the depictions of this decor by the interviewees 3, 4, 5, 6, 11 and 12 are
examples of autoethnography, as they are very similar to imaginary depictions of the
hamams in travelogues. On the other hand, it is in fact a reality that this ambience
increases the libido of the interviewees and encourages them to engage in various
same-sex performances.
Yet, foreign users (Interviewee 2 and Pilot Interviewee 2) who do not conform to
aktif/pasif binary sex roles and define themselves as “versatile gays” (acting both as a
penetrator and a penetratee in sexual intercourse) seem to have satisfied their
expectations of homoeroticism and spatial ambience not fully during their visits to
the queered hamams Iz1 and Iz2. Interviewee 2, for instance, who had done readings
on historical Ottoman-Turkish hamams and known about queered hamams in Turkey
by means of international gay guides and magazines, preferred having a formalized
bathing experience and a soap massage as well as experiencing the historical
architecture of a hamam to having sex there. Unfortunately, he found hamam Iz1 not
only unclean but also uncomfortable due to the “strange” sexuality in terms of
oppression and commodification. For Pilot Interviewee 2, who had the preconception
based on the film Steam that hamams are erotic places, his real experience of the
244
hamam Iz2 was quite the opposite: a formalized and commodified sexuality lacking
excitement.
Another aspect that adds to the queered hamam a spatiality between the
representational and the real is the hybrid sexual identity of the queer subject: a
closeted homosexual self and a constructed heterosexual self. This is a multi-staged
identity construction process. As analyzed in Chapter 5, these subjects have to pass
through various stages in order to construct the queered hamam as an urban closet:
exploration, access, commodification of sex, coping with threats and claiming space.
Some of the users (Interviewees 1, 3, 5 and Pilot Interviewee 1) who have completed
this process are quite careful about revealing their actual sex roles and identities as
aktif, pasif, gay or bisexual subjects, due to police and homophobic threats. Before
and after having casual sex in the sheltered private niches of a hamam, they may
represent themselves as heterosexual bathers in a visible public chamber for their
personal safety. However, some of the gay users who take the pasif role during a
sexual encounter (Interviewees 6 and 7) and who are out of the closet in their social
life behave in an effeminate and free manner, stay longer and enjoy casual sex in a
hamam, regardless of any threats.
8.3 The queered hamam between the commodified and the social
In Chapter 7, I have analyzed the queered hamam as an homosocial locale where the
users share a language specific to the queer sub-culture in Turkey and construct
solidarity and safety networks. I have argued that homosociality in the women‟s
section of the hamam is an extension of domesticity into the public sphere, as
reflected in female-specific rituals such as gelin hamamı, lohusa hamamı, adak
hamamı, etc. The rituals celebrating male sexuality such as sünnet hamamı, asker
hamamı, damat hamamı and bayram hamamı are relatively fewer in number and less
popular among men (See section 7.3.2, Interview 15). As indicated by both hamam
users and hamam managers (Interviewees 1, 3, 6, 15 and 16), men visit a queered
hamam mainly for sex, entertainment and chatting. In this regard, most of the
245
homosocial communication and network among men have a common objective: the
survival and safety of a queered hamam as an urban closet and a performance stage.
Such a commodified sociality among men in a queered hamam has various benefits
for hamam managers, attendants and users in order to distinguish between their
social and private lives inside and outside the hamam: sexual satisfaction while
masking sexual identity, survival of the business with a stable customer profile and
solidarity against internal and external homophobic threats. The former manager of
the hamam Iz1, for instance, maintained close relations with some of his customers
by giving them a privileged status and service in hamam usage (see section 7.3.1),
entertaining with them inside and outside of the hamam (see section 7.3.2), warning
them against the police as well as protecting them from internal homophobic threats
and power struggles (see section 7.3.3). In this way, he both operated his
management and became part of the queer sub-culture in İzmir. In a similar vein, the
tellak of hamam A1, guarantees the survival of his job by giving a sexual
scrub/massage service on demand and in more invisible niches (see section 6.7.4),
providing safety and security of the customers against police raids and controlling
the interior on the order of his manager (see section 7.3.3).
In Chapter 5, I have discussed how most of the urban closets are concealed within
the heteronormative and homophobic public environment. In the case of queered
hamams, invisibility, risky and difficult access, or having no external marks of
homosexuality does not guarantee a full closetedness for the users who are seeking a
secure and private venue for same-sex desire. The hamam A1, for instance, in spite
of having a relatively longer and more indirect access from the public center than
other queered hamams, is located in a mixed-use district (both residential and
commercial), as seen in Figure 5.1. As indicated by Pilot Interviewee 1 in Sections
5.3 and 7.2, it is frequented by a heterogenous population including users of various
ages, socio-cultural levels, and sexual identities, not by a homogenous queer
population in Ankara. It is no coincidence that hamam A1 was closed down several
times as a result of police raids and homophobic threats (Section 7.3.3, Interview 5
and 17). As analyzed in Chapter 7, those users who are seeking same-sex relations in
this hamam, depend on a commodified and temporary sociality constructed by means
246
of recognizability and respect by the hamam manager and attendants, establishing
close relationships with the tellaks as well as taking an observing role in the course
of a same-sex performance.
In contrast, the user population of hamam Iz1 is a more specific group of queer
subjects, including the hamam manager and the users who consider their weekly
visiting routine of the hamam as a continuum of their sociality in other queer spaces
in İzmir (Interview 3 in Section 4.3, Interview 16 in Section 7.3.2, Interview 3 in
Section 7.3.3). Due to its easy access and visibility as located in the heart of a trade
and shopping district (See Figure 5.1), it is more likely that anyone with any sexual
identity enters these hamams as they pay the entrance fee. In order to cope with the
risk that a visitor may be a civilian policeman or a homophobic person, the former
manager of hamam Iz1 used various forms of homosocial communication and
networks such as giving the safest clothing cabin to privileged customers, sending
verbal and visual messages inside to warn the users, keeping the curtains of the
cabins shorter or kicking out suspiciouspeople. Such a comparison between hamam
A1 and hamam Iz1 shows that homosociality is created by the users in hamam A1,
while promoted by the former manager of hamam Iz1. However, in either cases this
type of sociality is constructed for the survival of the business both as a public
bathing venue conforming to heterosexual morality norms and as a semi-privatized
closet space for urban queer culture.
247
248
EPILOGUE
At this junction, I find it necessary to make a few additional remarks concerning the
following research questions that may provide a theoretical basis for further research:
1. Why do some men prefer to use still-existing Ottoman-Turkish hamams as venues

of sexuality and sociality?
2. How did these hamams become part of the urban queer scene among other urban
queer spaces?
3. What are the spatial characteristics of hamams specific to queer sexuality and
sociality?
Regarding the first question, this dissertation has shown that there is a heterogenous
group of men of various ages, sexual identities, socio-economic statuses and a wide
range of expectations from hamams, such as bathing, having a scrub and a massage,
experiencing the historical ambience, taking part in traditional rituals, being present
there, observing others, having casual sex, socializing as part of a group, and
entertainment. In order to satisfy these expectations, these customers either closet
themselves, become active or passive actors in sexual performances, or construct
homosocial networks in queered hamams. The oral history data have shown that not
all of these expectations can be fulfilled at any time in any queered hamam studied in
this dissertation. For instance, hamam Is2, which is frequented mostly by young and
foreign gay men who do not conform to the aktif/pasif dichotomy and define
themselves as versatile gay, provides these men with more niches for sexual
performance than other hamams do, while homosocial networks in the hamams A1
and Iz1 frequented by users of various ages, sexual identites and expectations are
more crucial as these queered hamams are exposed to more threats than the others. In
addition, hamams Iz2 and Is1 which are harder to access due to their location are
inevitably safer closets compared to the other hamams. However, the information
gathered from the oral history interviews is rather general and does not enable us to
249
execute the actual user demographics for each hamam. For such an analysis, a more
detailed survey should be conducted.
How some of the Ottoman-Turkish hamams became part of the urban queer culture
in Turkey is investigated particularly in Chapter 4 which presents an urban queer
history of the hamams within the context of the urban modernization process in
Turkey from the late 19th century to the present. However, a few manuscripts, poems
and illustrations of male homoeroticism analyzed in Chapter 3 give clues that
homosexual practices in the men‟s section of hamams started earlier, in the Ottoman
period. Nevertheless, due to the death of primary sources, it is difficult to obtain
substantial data to support this claim. Therefore, I have analyzed the queering of the
hamam as a contemporary issue based mainly on oral history data covering the past
40 years. However, considering that the sexually divided spatial organization of
male-dominated Ottoman public space led to separate forms of socialities for each
sex, whether homosexuality in hamams occured in the pre-modern period as a result
of homosociality is a further research question.
The third question has been addressed in this dissertation from a twofold
methodological approach: (1) analyzing the formal and functional typologies of the
hamam space in architectural history writing by means of a critical literature review,
and (2) analyzing the current spatial conditions and characteristics of selected
queered hamams by means of case analyses and oral history interviews. Based on my
critical argument that these desexualized typologies do not reveal the relation
between social and architectural aspects, the former approach does not seem to fully
respond to this research question. In contrast, the latter approach provides us with
more concrete findings such as access paths to queered hamams, performance niches
and furnishings inside, as well as their usage each of which is experienced by the
interviewees at least once during their visiting routine.
However, these findings still do not explain why the spatial layout of an Ottoman-
Turkish hamam is convenient for same-sex relations. One of the interviewees, a 43-
year-old bisexual man, claims that “Ottoman hamams are always convenient for gay
250
relations. They are designed for that purpose.”544 Considering that the original spatial
layout of a typical Ottoman-Turkish hamam, under the influence of Islamic
regulations, has typologically evolved from Ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine
baths (soyunmalık: apodyterium, soğukluk: frigidarium, ılıklık: tepidarium and
sıcaklık: caldarium), encouraging a healthy and formalized bathing style, I do not
completely agree with this claim. Even though its labyrinthine layout, closed and
semi-closed niches as well as its multi-sensory environment created by steam, light
and reflected sound has the effect to activate the libido of the users, when hamam
space was first explored as an appropriate venue for homosexual and homosocial
relations is still an unanswered question that may be investigated based on further
research.
544
OHI 1, 14.02.2012, Ankara
251
252
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APPENDIX A
THE QUESTIONNAIRE FORM
Appendix 2: The Interview Outline
269
270
APPENDIX B
THE INTERVIEW OUTLINE
271
THE INTERVIEW OUTLINE (continued)
272
APPENDIX C
DONOR FORM
273
274
APPENDIX D
GUIDELINES FOR THE INTERVIEWS
1) Letting the narrator speak more about his/her own story, as free as possible
2) Not interrupting the narrator and waiting until he or she is finished to ask another
question
3) Avoiding overbooking of a session in order not to decrease collector‟s
concentration and empathy
4) Asking follow-up questions to clarify information
5) Not being judgemental by arguing with the narrator, about the accuracy of the
information s/he gives
6) Being well-prepared in order not to break the rhythm of the interview by
constantly referring to the interview outline
7) Using neutral and open-ended, but not leading, questions
8) Asking only one question at a time, not a smorgasbord of questions that may
puzzle the narrator
9) Watching for hints, such as pauses or slight changes in voice, which may indicate
that the narrator may have additional thoughts or feelings to describe, and asking
respectful follow-up questions
10) Using information identified through background research and knowledge to
help facilitate a smooth interview
11) Asking the narrator to put an event or memory into the context of time and place
12) Using photographs, maps, drawings, posters, leaflets, mementoes and 3D objects
to support the experiental questions, to activate the memory of the narrator and to put
the recording in context
13) Asking for explanations, descriptions, spellings, or translations, as appropriate,
when a narrator uses acronyms or jargon with which the general public is unfamiliar
14) Keeping track of time, pausing the recorder and giving a break if necessary
275
15) Using body language and eye contact to encourage the narrator‟s responses
16) Avoiding questions beyond the narrator‟s expertise or about things s/he will not
know firsthand
17) Using a notebook to keep track of follow-up questions, additional points to make
or a running list of proper names mentioned in the interviews
18) Paying attention to one‟s native language and its misinterpretation
19) Thanking the narrator when finished and asking for personal contact information
for further information and any significant issue forgotten to be covered during the
interview
276
APPENDIX E
ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN ORAL HISTORY
1) Narrators should fairly reflect all sides of the topic or issue being pursued.
2) The narrator is entitled to respect his or her story, even if it differs markedly from
customary interpretations of an event.
3) The interviewer should be well trained, for only a competent interviewer who has
prepared thoroughly will be able to conduct an interview that goes beyond superficial
treatment of the topic and results in the collection of new information of lasting
value.
4) The interviewer should document fully the preparation, methods, and
circumstances of an interview, for only with such background information can future
users of the interview make informed judgments about its content.
5) Rewards and recognition that come to an oral history project should be shared
with narrators and their communities. Otherwise, the researcher should not offer
extra money to the interviewer for his/her contribution and this should be indicated in
the consent form.
6) Whoever owns the final product, whether an individual or an institution, should
maintain the highest professional standards in preserving the oral history interviews
and making them available to others.
7) Informed Consent: The interviewer tells the potential narrator the intended use of
the interview as well as possible future uses of the recorded data so that the narrator
decides whether or not to participate in an interview and to continue participation
once interviewing has begun. This should be codified in a consent form or
memorandum of agreement written in language appropriate to the interviewee and
signed by both interviewee and interviewer.
277
8) The interviewer should make a personal introduction to the interviewee providing
either an identity card, or a letter of authorization as well as a phone number for
verification or more information.
9) The interviewer should secure the legal release of the interview data and the
transcript by copyright form signed by both interviewee and interviewer.
10) The interviewer should avoid stereotypes regarding factors such as age, sex, class
and ethnic differences.
11) The interviewer should not use a refined accent and not call people by their first
names but use „Mr.‟ and „Mrs‟.
12) The interviewer should not use detailed autobiographical knowledge against the
wishes of contributors and edit the transcribed material to alter its meaning.
278
Table F. 1 A Survey of Theses on Hamams (1991-2008)
279
APPENDIX F
Table F. 1 (continued)
280
CURRICULUM VITAE
PERSONAL INFORMATION
Surname, Name: Pasin, Burkay
Nationality: Turkish (TC)
Date and Place of Birth: 12.01.1976 İzmir
Marital Status: Single
Phone: +90 533 3717975
e-mail: [email protected]
EDUCATION
Degree Institution Year of Graduation

M.Arch Dokuz Eylul University Faculty of Arch 2007
B.Arch METU Faculty of Architecture 2000
WORK EXPERIENCE
Year Place Enrollment

2007- Izmir University of Economics Instructor
2005-2007 Izmir University of Economics Graduate Scholar
2004-2005 GAMA Ireland Ltd. Architect
2003-2004 GAMA Construction Architect
2003 TEMP Engineering Architect
2000-2002 EJDER-NETAS Construction Architect
FOREIGN LANGUAGES
Advanced English
281
PUBLICATIONS
Himam, Dilek. & Pasin, Burkay. “Designing a National Uniform(-ity): The Culture
of Sümerbank within the Context of the Turkish Nation-State Project”, Special Issue:
Uniforms in Design History, Journal of Design History, vol. 24, No. 2, (ed.) Artemis
Yagou, (UK: Oxford University Press, 2011): 157-170, ISBN: 0952-4649
Pasin, Burkay. “Bir Kentin Uyanışı ve Cork Opera Binası (The Awakening of a City
and Cork Opera House)”, Mimarlık Dergisi, vol: 338, November-December 2007,
(Ankara: Mimarlar Odası Yayınları, 2007): 46–47.
Pasin, Burkay. “Prag Tiyatro Festivali (Prag Theatre Festival)”, Mimarlık Dergisi
vol: 337, September-October 2007, (Ankara: Mimarlar Odası Yayınları, 2007): 13.
Pasin, Burkay. "Chapter 3: Fantasies of Bathing: Hotel Hamams as Orientalized

Stereotypes”, in Nicholas Patricios ve Stavros Alifragkis (ed.) Construction Essays
on Architectural History, Theory and Technology, (Athens, Greece: ATINER Athens
Institute for Education and Research, 2012): 29-39, ISBN: 978-960-9549-89-9
Pasin, Burkay. "Femaleness, Femininity and Feminotopia: Females‟ Hamam as a

Homosocial Space”, published in a special issue: Woman and Space, Kadın/Woman
2000 Women Research Journal, vol: 14 no: 1, (ed.) Türkan Ulusu Uraz (North
Cyprus: Eastern Mediterranean University Press, June 2013): ISSN 1302-9916
Pasin, Burkay. “Türkiye‟de Hegemonik Erkekliğin Üretimi ve Kamusal Ritüel

Mekânları (The Production of Hegemonic Masculinity in Turkey and Public Ritual
Spaces)”, Special Issue: Cinsiyet ve Mimarlık (Sexuality and Architecture), no: 19,
April 2010, Ankara Chamber of Architects’ Journal, Ankara, Turkey, 52-61.
282
CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
Pasin, Burkay., Kaçmaz Erk, Gül. & Göker, Selma. “Sensing Spaces: A Body
Oriented Architectural Design Education” published in Şengül Öymen Gür (ed.) The
Proceedings of LIVENARCH IV Re/De Constructions in Architecture, 4th
International Congress on Livable Environments and Architecture, vol. 3, (İstanbul,
Vizyon Printing Center, July 2009): 1207-1223, ISBN: 978 975 01716-2-8
Pasin, Burkay. “Dişil Bir Temsili Mekân Olarak Türk Hamamı (Turkish Hamam as a
Representational Space of Femininity)”, in Tevfik Balcıoğlu (ed.) The Proceedings
of the 4T Conference: Others in Design History, (İzmir: Hürriyet Publishing, 2010):
55-66, ISBN: 978-975-8789-34-4
Pasin, Burkay. “Re-visiting the Turkish hamam as a gendered heterotopia through

the narratives of female Western travellers”, in Nurten Kara (ed.) The Proceedings of
the 3rd International Conference on Women's Studies: Gender at the Crossroads:
Multi-disciplinary Perspectives, April 2009, edited by Nurten Kara, (North Cyprus:
Eastern Mediterranean University Press, April 2009): 43-53, ISBN: 978-975-8401-
70-3
Velasco, Alex., Pasin, Burkay., Ultav. Cengiz, Başağaç, Özgeee., Balcıoğlu, Sevda.,
Günay, Sibel., Tezcanlı, Eda., Göker, Selma., Pattur, Sri., Akalın, Can., “The
Effectiveness of a Multimedia DVD for Teaching Professional Rendering
Techniques to Design students”, in Vera Viana and Alexandra Paio (ed.)
GEOMETRIAS’14 Proceedings, (Portugal: APROGED - ASSOCIAÇÃO DOS
PROFESSORES DE DESENHO E GEOMETRIA DESCRITIVA, 2014): 185-190,
ISBN: 978-989-98926-0-6
283
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
Pasin, B. "The Sea Baths of İstanbul: The Spatial Evolution of Gender Norms in the
Process of the Ottoman-Turkish Modernization”, 5T International Conference:
Gendered Perspectives in Design / Turkish and Global Context, 9th-10th May 2013,
Yaşar University, Izmir, Turkey.
Pasin, Burkay. "The Interplay of Heteropatriarchal Confinement and Subversive

Performativity: An Urban Queer(-ed) Historiography of Turkey”, 14th International
Cultural Studies Symposium: Confinement, Resistance, Freedom, 8th -10th May
2013, Ege University, İzmir, Turkey.
Pasin, Burkay. “Integrated Design Approach: An Institutional Resistance to

Disciplinary Cultures”, iJADE Conference 2010: Art and Design Education and
Contemporary Culture, 8th October 2010, The International Journal of Art and
Design Education, Art and Design Academy, Mount Pleasant, Liverpool John
Moores University, Liverpool, Merseyside, UK.
Pasin, B. “From Hamam to Modern Spa: A Critical Gendered Reading of Turkish

Bathing Culture and Architecture”, Istanbul 2010 Design Talks, 3rd May 2010,
organized by Dream Design Factory, İstanbul, Turkey.
Pasin, B. “Sound-Object-Space: A Case Study on Utilizing Musical Composition for

an Interdisciplinary Basic Design Education”, The 24th National Conference on The
Beginning Design Student, 13th-16th March 2008, Georgia Tech University, Faculty
of Architecture, Georgia, Atlanta
Pasin, B. “Turkish Hamam as an Oriental Representation of the Sexually-Coded

Otherness in Contemporary Turkish Metropolitan Life” Probing the Boundaries:
Persons & Sexuality Conference, 19th-22nd November 2007, Inter-disciplinary.net,
Salzburg, Austria
284

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A CRITICAL READING OF THE OTTOMAN-TURKISH HAMAM AS A

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS

A CRITICAL READING OF THE OTTOMAN-TURKISH HAMAM AS A

submitted by BURKAY PASİN in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the

Prof. Dr. Canan Özgen _________________

Prof. Dr. Güven Arif Sargın _________________

Prof. Dr. Belgin Turan Özkaya __________________

Examining Committee Members

Prof. Dr. Ali Cengizkan __________________

Prof. Dr. Belgin Turan Özkaya __________________

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Elvan Altan Ergut __________________

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Şebnem Yücel __________________

Assist. Prof. Dr. Nina Ergin __________________

Name, Last name: Burkay PASİN

A CRITICAL READING OF THE OTTOMAN-TURKISH HAMAM AS A

June 2014, 284 pages

This dissertation analyzes the Ottoman-Turkish hamam as a queered space. I follow a

Keywords: hamam, queered space, urban closet, performance stage, homosocial

OSMANLI-TÜRK HAMAMININ QUEERED BİR MEKÂN OLARAK

Haziran 2014, 284 sayfa

Anahtar Kelimeler: hamam, queered mekân, kentsel dolap, performans sahnesi,

I want to acknowledge appreciation to numerous individuals who contributed to this

First and foremost, I would like to acknowledge my deepest appreciation to my

My dissertation has deeply benefited from personal testimonies and experiences of

Finally, I would like to thank to my family, my friends and my colleagues in Izmir

1.1 Problem Field

The Ottoman-Turkish hamam has a unique position within Ottoman-Turkish bathing

As much as it is a physical space of bathing and socializing, the hamam is also a

In order to respond to these questions, I conducted an extensive survey of multiple

In this dissertation, in search for an alternative epistemology to those constructions

1. Why do some men prefer to use still-existing Ottoman-Turkish hamams as venues

In this dissertation, I critically read and analyze the Ottoman-Turkish hamam as a

The significance of the Ottoman-Turkish hamam in urban social life, particularly in

1.3 Aim of the Dissertation

The main objective of this dissertation is to analyze the Ottoman-Turkish hamam as a

1.4 Significance of the Dissertation

The critical reading of the Ottoman-Turkish hamam as a queered space based on

From a methodological point of view, this dissertation mainly contributes to oral

2.1 Introduction: Combined Research Methodology

This dissertation follows a combined research methodology in which oral history

Epistemologically, this multi-staged research process combining various methods

2.2 Questionnaire Survey

In order to examine the significance of Ottoman-Turkish hamams among other

IN ANKARA IN İZMİR IN İSTANBUL

A further analysis of this survey is provided in Chapter 4. Based on the usage

2.3 Oral History Research

In this dissertation, due to the insufficiency of substantial knowledge in the existing

2.3.1 What is Oral History?

Oral history is a particular research method of gathering oral material, as the

2.3.2 Types of Oral History

2.3.3 History of Oral History

Oral history was developed in the US as a method of historical data collection by

2.3.4 Significance of Oral History

The secondary significance of oral history is its limitless potential as „narrative

2.4 Oral History Research in this Dissertation

Oral history research is mostly conducted as “a work in progress”, having multiple

2.4.1 The Preparation

The preperation stage of my oral history research consisted of a literature survey on