Activist Feminism in Turkey, Represented Through the Caricatures of Bayan Yanı Magazine

Abstract

In Turkey, under the governance of a conservative political party, Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (Justice and Development Party, AKP) since 2002, religion and conservatism has been relentlessly promoted. Both government officials and their supporters have been expressed sexist and discriminatory discourses against women keenly and frequently, causing various incidents and public outcries. Bayan Yanı, being the first and only women led caricature publication in Turkey, has been widely covering the gender related, socio-political issues, since its first appearance on the market, in the early days of March 2011. This article aims to explore the way in which gender related socio-political issues, whether on the part of individuals or a more collective activist engagement, are debated in this particular publication, revealing the depiction of feminist activism and tensions surrounding women's everyday experiences of gender in Turkey.

Contextualising Feminist Global Justice Activism: A Case Study of the Gezi Park Protests

“…Some of these images have become symbols of the Gezi Park protests. For example, the Woman in Red, (image of a young woman in a red summer dress standing in front of a police officer spraying pepper gas directly to her face) and Lady in Black (image of a young woman standing with open arms and trying to stop the water cannon vehicle on her own) illustrated politically active and fearless Turkish women, who reject traditional gender roles and utilise their bodies to convey political messages (Arat, 2013;Erkul, 2020;Kuras 2015;Tekay and Ustun, 2013). Women's bodies moved beyond being patriarchal objects and turned into political constructs.…”