Karl Kaser: Femininities and Masculinities in the Digital Age: Realia and Utopia in the Balkans and South Caucasus

In his book Femininities and Masculinities in the Digital Age, the recently deceased historian and anthropologist Karl Kaser studies interactions between the gender identities of femininity and masculinity in the digital age since 2010. He uses an in-depth methodological approach that comprehensively combines quantitative and qualitative data with a focus on the Balkans and the South Caucasus, which he calls “Eurasia Minor” (1). The space he looks at includes 15 countries.

To structure his ambitious analysis, Kaser introduces two theoretical concepts. On the one hand, there are the “realia”, which refer to all interactions between the aforementioned gender identities in practice, and on the other, the “utopia”, which refers to the image and expectations people have of a given gender. For example, a housewife may be an idealised image of a woman. Throughout the book, Kaser shows that it is the tension between these two notions that determines people’s behaviour and intercommunications. The two concepts are linked and reflect each other. When a change occurs in either one of them, the other will be affected.

The book is divided into six chapters and a conclusion. In his introductory first chapter, Kaser presents his three main hypotheses. The first is that of “backlash compensation” (15). According to the author, in “Eurasia Minor” since the 1980s, there has been a return to traditional values through the retraditionalisation and desecularisation of societies. The second hypothesis refers to what Kaser calls “neo-secularism” (16). Here, he makes two important points: First, he focuses on both the top-down and bottom-up mechanisms in the revitalisation of religious life, which had previously been sidelined for decades. For example, he maintains that while the revitalisation of Islam in Turkey progressed from the bottom up (from the people to the state), the revitalisation of Islam and Eastern Christianity in the postsocialist countries was rather top down (from the state to the people) (16). Second, Kaser distinguishes between orthodoxy and orthopraxy. He defines Christianity as basically Orthodox and Islam as including components of both orthodoxy and orthopraxy (16). By this he means that the former focuses on the correct spiritual orientation of believers, while the latter is concerned with both their spiritual and their everyday behaviour. Finally, the third hypothesis is that of the “equilibrium” (16). Kaser argues that there is a kind of pendulum movement between the two poles of progression and regression, such as ideologised gender equality or the retraditionalisation of gender roles. He sees the countries of “Eurasia Minor” as having followed precisely such a pendulous trajectory throughout history.

In the second chapter, Kaser provides the heterogeneous geographical and historical context of the region under study. This helps the reader understand the full complexity of the research task that he has set himself. For a start, there are countries with a socialist past, such as Romania, Bulgaria, or Serbia, and those without, such as Greece and Turkey; there are predominantly Muslim countries, such as Turkey and Azerbaijan, and predominantly Orthodox ones, such as Greece, Cyprus, and Armenia.

The third chapter, one of two core chapters, then looks at the “realia”, the gender relations in practice. Kaser presents a comprehensive variety of real-life interactions, pointing out both the differences and several omnipresent commonalities in the countries examined, such as the patriarchal landscapes or gendered education. Chapter four is the second core chapter, in which Kaser analyses the producers, agents, and transmitters of gender-related norms and values, such as television, newspapers, and advertisements. These influence people’s desires and expectations (and thus “utopia”) and affect their behaviour, which will have repercussions for the “realia”. Chapter four focuses on how the new, and global, media have been instrumental in the transmission of gender norms, with the digital age opening doors to novel forms of both masculinities and femininities.

Chapter five exemplifies important gender trends in “Eurasia Minor”, such as the “veiling-chic culture”. Here, Kaser concentrates mainly on Turkey and links the trend with the three hypotheses presented in the introductory chapter, observing a revival of Islam after a long period of secularisation inherited from the previous Kemalist period. From the Ottoman Empire at the beginning of the 20th century, through a long era of secularisation during that same century, to today’s resurgence of Islamic traditions, especially when it comes to gender roles, Kaser perfectly validates his third hypothesis of the gender equality versus retraditionalisation pendulum.

Finally, in the sixth chapter, Kaser looks at another important trend in the region today, the emergence of a “porno-chic culture”, that is a culture that sees sexual relations as an end in themselves, which has also been shaping gender ideals. This culture aptly illustrates another type of pendulum swing, this time between the socialist era, puritanist by comparison, and today’s arbitrariness in the name of “liberty” (193). While the “veiling-chic culture” and the “porno-chic culture” are two very different kinds of trend, they illustrate gender tensions and how both “realia” and “utopia” are an inherent part of them.

This book invites the reader to reflect on complex issues around gender equality, gender roles, women’s rights, and the place of religion in society. The methodological division between “realia” and “utopia” succeeds in capturing what is at the heart of current debates. Kaser’s line of reasoning can be enlightening in many academic fields and societal contexts. The realia/utopia tension also contributes to a better understanding of debates in other parts of the world too. Poland struggles with the (utopian) image of the allegedly ideal Catholic society and the (realia) of women’s rights. In Italy, a film on everyday violence against women, “There’s still tomorrow” (C’è ancora domani, dir. Paola Cortellesi), sparks more interest than the contemporaneously released “blockbusters” Oppenheimer and Barbie. The “utopia” here concerns the notion that the realities of the postwar years are long gone; the “realia” of violence against women today prove this thought wrong. In France, the wearing of the veil is a hotly debated and strongly divisive issue.

Kaser’s book is a tool for feminism and the much-needed continued struggle for gender equality. Taking a comparative approach, he brilliantly explains recent developments and regressions of the role and place of women in society, and what this has meant for gender relations, for masculinities and femininities. With its broad geographical scope, empirical richness, and methodological rigour, his study still goes far beyond the region examined. There are versions of “backlash compensation” (15) everywhere. Kaser’s study is a pivotal work for anthropologists, sociologists, historians, gender and media researchers alike, indeed for all those interested in the complexity of gender relations.