On Dichotomies and Fused Identities...

Esteemed Readers;

Nothing about Turkey is simple, easy, clear-cut, black-or-white…

Take it’s geographic location: Is it in the Mid East or in Europe? Is it Mediterranean?

How about the identity? Is it Eastern, Eurasian or Western? Is it Muslim or secular?

How free and emancipated are women? Are we traditional or modern?

Tons of academic and polemical debate is devoted on these... Yet, the jury is still out...

Here is yet another thorny subject: How gay friendly is Turkey?

I remember asking some standard tolerance questions on public opinion surveys (adopted from the World Values Survey), during my undergrad years in Istanbul.

The respondents were given some options of potentially dislikable groups, and were asked to pick their least favorite. Then, we would ask what basic rights and liberties they were willing to grant to their least favorite group.

Here is how the questions looked like:

Which group below is you least favorite? - people who drink a lot - people of a different religion - people of a different denomination - unmarried couples - people of a different race - homosexuals

Do you think …….. should have the right to vote? Do you think …… should have the right to run for office in the parliament Would you like to have …… as neighbors

Nearly in all surveys, homosexuals ranked as the top disliked group.

 Here is where things get fudgy:

Zeki Muren

This is the country where two of the top singers in classical Turkish music have openly defied homophobia. Both were loved and cherished by millions! 

And these were not some young, defiant millions. It was the very mainstream, traditional, middle-aged flock that appreciated the music of Zeki Muren and Bulent Ersoy.

Zeki Muren was openly gay. In the 1980s, he wore gleaming silver platform boots and hot pants at his concerts. Unfortunately, he passed away in 1996. To this day, my mother has tears in her eyes, when she hears Zeki Muren's voice…

Bulent Ersoy

Bulent Ersoy –may she have a long, healthy life- is a transsexual. Although she avoids political issues, she doesn’t shy away from taking confrontational positions either. Years ago she received a lot of heat for taking an anti-militaristic position on conscription in Turkey

What prompted me to write this entry was not Muren, nor Ersoy but the zenne tradition in Turkey. Recently, I had the chance to watch the movie, Zenne Dancer.  It’s a Turkish-German co-production, depicting a male dancer in Istanbul.

While giving the most homophobic responses to surveys, it is the same Turkish society that produced the tradition of men dressed as women, belly-dancing… It was an established, mainstream form of entertainment in Anatolia for ages!!!

            The movie was great! Those interested should not read the reviews but rather go see the real thing. On a topic this controversial, I think one should make the effort to receive the first-hand data, before reaching a conclusion. 

For a great essay on gays, transsexuals and zennes in Turkey, see the eminent author Elif Shafak’s article in The Guardian here…

In these miserably cold winter days, wishing you all some warmth in your hearts for all the human differences...

The heterodoxy loving Academic Mommy