Banal misogynism in Turkish media at the beginning of the multi-party era: the case of Boşboğaz

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study aims to analyse the cover cartoons of the Boşboğaz [Bigmouth] magazine to reveal how misogynist attitudes were reproduced in Turkish media representations of women at the beginning of the multi-party period. The interpretive content analysis method is applied to front cover cartoons, the analysis is also feminist in the sense that it focuses on misogynistic representations of women. The results reveal that urban women are represented as exploiters of wealthy men, victimising both the men and their wives in the process. Hence, urban women are depicted as cunning predators. Paraphrasing Michael Billig, who introduced the term ‘banal nationalism’, it would be appropriate to describe the depictions of women in the Boşboğaz magazine as a case of banal misogynism since they contain illustrations of everyday scenes, captioned in everyday language.