Representations of women, or more exactly of gender, and the presence and works of women filmmakers constitute an important area of analysis for gender studies and feminist film theories. In Turkey the presence and the participation of women in the public sphere have been one of the important objectives of the Kemalist modernization project since the founding of the modern nation-state in 1923. However, despite the modernizing efforts to empower women in different spheres of life there was no woman director in Turkish commercial feature cinema until the beginning of the 1950s. Since the beginning of the 2000s the number of women directors has increased significantly, reaching a number well above that of the entire period before. This article investigates the reasons behind this increase based on quantitative data gathered from secondary sources and in-depth interviews with women producers and directors. It also questions whether and to what extent the increase in the number of women film directors contributed to the production of ‘women’s films’, based on a qualitative analysis of films produced by women directors between the years 2004 and 2013. The results show that in addition to technological and aesthetic changes in the industry, the increase in the availability of international and national public funding for low-budget independent film productions and the enlargement of the women’s movement allowed more women directors to enter the film industry. While half of the films made by women directors in the 2000s could be qualified as ‘women films’, the other half remained, largely due to market forces, within the conventions of popular or art house cinema.

Marriage Websites in Turkey: A gender oriented analysis of media's influence on self-presentationIn this article, the profile photos of 1200 users (50 % male, 50 % female) who are subscribed to "Islamic" and "Scientific marriage websites in Turkey are analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Gender display categories of Goffman (1987) and Kang (1997) are implemented together with shooting angle categories of Kress and van Leeuwen to analyze the visual content of marriage website users' profile pictures. Additionally, the self-presentation of users through their profile pictures are investigated with other categories (location, dressing / make up). The results reveal that the representation of gender in mainstream media share considerable similarities with the self-presentation of marriage websites users in Turkey and the profile pictures of "Islamic" and socalled "Scientific" marriage websites users reproduce the existing gender stereotypes in mainstream media.

Spécialisée dans les études de genre, la sociologie des médias et du cinéma, elle est également active au sein d'organisations féministes.

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