Cultural Project Women's Rights
For my cultural project I focused on women's rights in Turkey. I am very inspired by how Turkey has come along way in their fight for gender equality and given the current cultural climate surrounding the topic I am intrigued to see how Turkey has served as a leader or in a way a rebel in the Middle East for breaking the status quo and granting women their legal rights.
While Turkey has come along way, I also realize that just like in the States there is an ongoing battle for equal pay, access to education, as well as treatment of women. The number of women in parliament is at an all-time high of about 17 percent, and Turkey has made considerable progress in education, almost achieving gender parity in education of children. There are more girls in school today than ever before, and there are also more females attending Turkish universities. Yet when it comes to protecting Turkish women against violence, ensuring their rights of education and employment, and even their right to choose their own spouse, women face layers of discrimination. This goes to show how there is still so much work left to be done in their fight for equality.
This project relates to learning the Turkish language, because if I am going to learn the language I should learn everything about the culture and as a woman I should have an understanding of the legal rights afforded to them. Knowing the language is powerful because I have the opportunity to communicate with other Turkish women about their rights, to join forces and serve as an activist, or even spread the word among my peers in America about what is going on in Turkey to spread awareness and hopefully spark change.
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