Women of Turkey; Victims of a Television Stereotype

 Women of Turkey; Victims of a Television Stereotype

I lived in Turkey for many years. I interacted with different families, sat in their homes, met many women, and formed deep friendships with some of them.
Perhaps that is why watching certain Turkish TV series is not merely entertainment for me; sometimes, it is genuinely disturbing.

My problem is not with why a woman cheats in a series. Infidelity, like many other human behaviors, can be the subject of a story. Art is not supposed to portray only good people and desirable behavior.

The problem begins when female infidelity, jealousy, competition among women, and unhealthy emotional relationships are repeatedly used as major elements of the story.

When this image appears in one or two series, it can simply be considered part of a story. But when the same pattern is repeated, and those series are broadcast in different countries and languages, the issue is no longer merely about a story.

For a viewer who has never lived in Turkey, has never socialized with Turkish families, and does not know Turkish society firsthand, it is natural that part of their perception of that society may be shaped by these television images.

And this is where the issue becomes serious for me.

What is shown on the screen is not necessarily what exists in real life.

In Turkey, I have met women whose lives bear no resemblance to the stereotypical characters portrayed in some TV series. Women with ordinary lives, real concerns, family relationships, social responsibilities, and personalities far more diverse than what television sometimes presents to its audience.

But television imagery has an extraordinary power, especially when it is repeated over and over again.

Someone sitting thousands of kilometers away from Turkey may watch dozens of series and come to believe that family and romantic relationships in Turkish society are always filled with infidelity, jealousy, competition, and deception.

This is where we should ask ourselves:

When entertainment becomes a repeated and globalized image, does it have no responsibility whatsoever for the image it creates of a society?

I am not saying that TV series should not portray infidelity.

On the contrary, they should—if it is part of the story.

But why so much repetition?

Why, in so many stories, must a woman be either the one who cheats, the victim of betrayal, or the rival of another woman?

Why is the complexity of female characters sometimes reduced to a few repeated stereotypes?

And most importantly, when these productions are translated into dozens of languages and broadcast around the world, why do we talk so little about the image of Turkish society that they export to the world?

The Turkey I have known in real life is far greater and far more complex than a television frame.

That is why my criticism is not directed against the women of Turkey; it is directed against the stereotype that is repeatedly reproduced in the name of storytelling and then exported to the world as an image of an entire society.

A TV series can be entertaining.

But when millions of people watch it, it is no longer just a story; it can become part of the way people perceive an entire nation.

And perhaps that is the most painful part of the whole story.

Gouya Roshan — All rights reserved.

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