Bayrak Radio Television Corporation (BRTK) Director Meryem Özkurt emphasized that press workers have a great duty to bring women to their rightful place.

Issuing a message to mark the March 8 International Women’s Day BRTK Director Meryem Özkurt emphasized the struggle for the existence of women in the media and noted that the small number of women working in the media sector does not change the media’s view of women, and that the insistence on masculine language continues to negatively affect the struggle for women’s presence in the media.

“With this masculine language, the media focuses on women’s beauty, relationships and family roles, while ignoring their real life achievements and experiences. This creates a false and limiting perception in society. However, women’s diversity, their achievements in leadership roles, their contributions in scientific, artistic and other fields should be emphasized more in the media” said Özkurt.

Emphasizing that how women are represented in the media, which roles they are confined to and which issues women are included in are also important in terms of gender equality; Özkurt noted that although awareness of women’s representation in the media has increased in recent years, some problems still persist.

She said that strengthening the place of women in the media and ensuring an egalitarian representation is only possible by strengthening the representation of women in the public sphere.

“There is an urgent need for a gender-neutral, rational and merit-based representation system in the media. It should not be forgotten that success is achieved through hard work, not gender” said Özkurt in her message.