Bayan Yanı
 A 2011 cover about cellulite | |
| Editor | co-operative |
|---|---|
| Categories | Satirical magazine |
| Frequency | Monthly |
| First issue | March 2011 |
| Country | Turkey |
| Based in | Avcılar near Istanbul |
| Language | Turkish |
Bayan Yani is a Turkish language satirical magazine that addresses feminist issues facing Women in Turkey.
History
The magazine was originally intended to be a one-off publication for International Women's Day in 2011. The magazine was popular and it was converted into a monthly magazine.[1] When it started it had a male editor.[2] The magazine was later reported to be created via email without a named editor. The contributors are also known for their work with other Turkish satirical magazines. The magazine is led by Ezgi Aksoy and Feyhan Güver. The staff are mostly female but one of the main contributors is a man.[1] There are twenty staff who wear jeans rather than headscarves.[2] In 2011 the magazine had a circulation of 50,000 and a budget of $30,000.[2] By 2017 they also had 240,000 followers on Facebook.[1]
Bayan Yani translates as "the seat behind a woman on public transportation"[3] and it refers to a bus rule that prevents unrelated men and women from sitting together. The rule demands that solitary men or women should sit separately. Two men is fine, two women is fine, but an unrelated man and woman are not allowed to sit together. This has resulted in people being denied tickets despite there being empty seats because they were the wrong gender to make a pair.[1] The magazine is not intended to a women's only magazine, in fact men have requested that the magazine's title should be changed so that they could avoid the embarrassment of buying a women's magazine. Most other magazine's in Turkey exploit women to gain sales. Bayan Yani is said to tackle these issues because these are the ones the contributors experience.[2]
The contributors know that they face the hazard of arrest in Turkey. Their offices have been visited by people carrying petrol cans and the authorities have visited their printers to stop the magazine being printed. 150 media workers have been held under arrest including the cartoonist Musa Kart who is held in a location close to where Bayan Yani is created.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e Fueling Turkish feminism with satire and humour, Clement Girardot, 16.04.17, Mashallah News, Retrieved June 2017
- ^ a b c d With satire, woman's magazine tackles taboos in Turkey, Ece Toksabay, July 2011, Reuters, Retrieved 11 June 2017
- ^ In Turkey we can’t even laugh at our politicians any more, Elif Shafak, 2016, The Guardian, Retrieved 11 June 2017