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

• Main Author: Seval Erkul
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Lectito Journals 2020-04-01
• Series: Feminist Encounters: A Journal of Critical Studies in Culture and Politics
• Subjects: Feminist activism; caricature; gendered politics; political cartoons; feminist comics
• Online Access: http://www.lectitopublishing.nl/download/activist-feminism-in-turkey-represented-through-the-caricatures-of-bayan-yani-magazine-7912.pdf

In Turkey, under the governance of a conservative political party, <i>Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi</i> (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. <i>Bayan Yanı</i>, 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.