Working With and Against Stereotypes

This research offers an ethnographic analysis of twelve German-Turkish women who are members and also active workers of Türkische Gemeinde in Deutschland(TGD)association.The study aimed to focus on three major discourses of immigrant women on three major debates;1)diversity in terms of heterogeneous identities,2)integration of foreigners 3)Gender equality and honor perceptions.The primal aim of conducting in depth interviews with the intent of pursuing the life stories was to follow their own discursive constructions regarding their status of being an immigrant and also their ensuing floating discourses on honor . Through the research,two recurring motifs appeared spontaneously in narratives:virginity and headscarf.These two notions were paramount in almost every interviewee s identification with the image of the German- Turkish immigrant woman. The main goal of this research was to allow these women to speak out as individuals who wish to construct their own identities and definitions of honor as opposed to being confined by stereotypes.

Autorentext

Güney Olcay Özer received her her B.A in Philosophy at Galatasaray University, her M.A in Cultural Studies Program at Sabanc University. She works at Sabanc University s The Purple Certificate Program s and Gender Forum's assistant for two years. She currently works on projects involving gender awareness development in Turkey.