Turkish men wear a miniskirt for Ozgecan

February 24, 2015 2:30 PM

Men in miniskirts take stand for women's rights in Turkey Turkish men have taken a stand with a simple, unconventional approach to combatting violence against women— miniskirts. (TW: Sexual assault and murder)

Related:
#ozgecanicinminietekgiy
Turkish Men Are Wearing Miniskirts to Fight for Women’s Rights (This link seems a bit milder/less graphic -- still: TW, it briefly describes the violent incident that sparked these protests.)
Turkish Men Wear Miniskirts In Support Of Women’s Rights After Brutal Murder

posted by Michele in California (10 comments total)

“If a miniskirt is responsible for everything, if [wearing] a miniskirt means immorality and unchastity, if a woman who wears a miniskirt is sending an invitation about what will happen to her, then we are also sending an invitation!”

There's a lot of background to the story which this comment hints at. There's a growing tension in Turkey between liberals and conservatives over gender roles and the status of women. Least to say, when Erdogan talks about violence against women he should shut up. He's part of the problem not the solution.
posted by Thing at 2:54 PM on February 24, 2015 [7 favorites]

The miniskirt protests are wonderful, but there should have been a trigger warning for "will induce crying at work" when I read reports that women told to "step back" by the imam at her funeral service not only surged forward, but carried the coffin. Dammit, can't even write about it without welling up a bit again:

In her hometown of Mersin, Aslan’s funeral was attended by thousands of women. According to the understanding of Islam prevalent in Turkey, women stay at the back of the funeral crowd and let the men carry the coffin and lead the prayers. This time it was different. Despite repeated warnings from the imam, women refused to step back and said they were determined “no other man’s hands would touch her again”. Women carried her coffin. Women buried her.

Change is slow, but relentless.
posted by blue suede stockings at 3:29 PM on February 24, 2015 [46 favorites]

"no other man’s hands would touch her again”. Women carried her coffin. Women buried her.

Thank you for that. I had not seen that article before.

Also, for Ozgecan:

.
posted by Michele in California at 3:38 PM on February 24, 2015 [4 favorites]

This is encouraging.

Also, I am reminded that lots of guys look great in kilts. Not much of a jump, really.
posted by kinnakeet at 4:34 PM on February 24, 2015

In her hometown of Mersin, Aslan’s funeral was attended by thousands of women. According to the understanding of Islam prevalent in Turkey, women stay at the back of the funeral crowd and let the men carry the coffin and lead the prayers. This time it was different. Despite repeated warnings from the imam, women refused to step back and said they were determined “no other man’s hands would touch her again”. Women carried her coffin. Women buried her.

Makes me damn proud to be part Turk!
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 7:12 PM on February 24, 2015 [6 favorites]

I love stories of solidarity like this one. Thanks for posting.
posted by chapps at 8:44 PM on February 24, 2015 [1 favorite]

they were determined “no other man’s hands would touch her again”. Women carried her coffin. Women buried her.
I'm both horrified that this situation even exists and vicariously proud of the women that stood up and did this, an action which I imagine carried quite some risk for them, not only at the time, but regarding potential future reprisals.
posted by dg at 8:58 PM on February 24, 2015 [1 favorite]

Erdoğan, always charismatic towards both sides of the aisle, responded today to the miniskirt protests:

“Let them cry out for low-cut [tops] and miniskirts,” ... "They call themselves 'men.' What men? Men wear trousers, but they wear skirts. They hide themselves," he said, drawing a parallel between skirts and masks. "Why do you wear a mask, if you are not a terrorist?" he asked.

From the Hurriyet. Note that I have not read the full text of his speech, and this is the only translation I've seen, so it's theoretically possible that there's context we're missing. This Mashable link provides some context on Erdoğan's history of statements like this, which Thing alludes to above.
posted by daveliepmann at 8:42 AM on February 25, 2015

I happened to have a Turkish exchange student in my French class in high school. The G in his first name was silent and the C in his last name was pronounced more like CH in English. In his first name, the G had a line over it. I don't recall if the C had any diacritical marks. So I felt like I had absolutely no idea how to pronounce Ozgecan Aslan. I searched and found this audio clip, though I have no idea how accurate it is.
posted by Michele in California at 11:20 AM on February 25, 2015

I've been studying Turkish, though not as much as I should, while living in İzmir. The language has a continuum of 'ch' sounds:

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• 'j' is a very soft 'j' (which doesn't really exist in English—think French "jouer", or "Taj Mahal")
• 'c' is a sharp 'j' (as in "jump")
• 'ç' is English 'ch' as in "cheddar"

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So the 'c' in Recep is pronounced like 'g' as in "George".

The Turkish 'ğ' with a circumflex (as in 'Erdoğan') is different from plain 'g' and not quite silent, though I haven't heard a definitive pronunciation guide that wasn't belied by some example I've come across. An American pronouncing "Erdoğan" might want to think "air" (like you breathe) "doe" (as in deer) "wan" (as in Obi-). Air-doe-wan.

The girl's name is Özgecan. The two audio clips you posted are of course way better than my Turkish pronunciation, but maybe I can help explain what sounds are happening. The dots over the 'o' mean you purse your lips while you say the 'o', which makes it sound closer to the 'oo' in "foot", or the 'eu' in French's "beurre" or "feu". The 'c' is again a sharp 'j'. An American might try to pronounce Özgecan by saying "O's" (like, plural of the letter 'o'), "geh" (like "get" without the 't'), "John" (just like the name). O's-geh-John.
posted by daveliepmann at 11:55 AM on February 25, 2015 [3 favorites]