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29 March 2024

Turkish deputy PM tells women 'don't laugh'; see how they protested

Published
By Staff/AP

Benfin Yuric (Twitter)

Women in Turkey have taken to social media to protest against comments by the country's deputy prime minister that "women should not laugh aloud in public."

Bervian Canbolat (Twitter)
 
Women were sharing photos on Twitter of themselves laughing Wednesday after Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc's comments that not laughing out loud in public is among requirements of being an honorable woman.
 
Arinc said Monday both men and women should be moral, and that women should be aware of what is appropriate behavior.

(Instagram)
 
Canan Arin, a prominent women rights' activist, said it was a pity Turkish women have to respond to such "silly comments" when they have more serious problems to deal with, including frequent male violence against women.

Elif Demirel (Twitter)

The comment provoked outrage online, with women from the country and abroad flooding social media sites with images of themselves sharing a giggle.

Ezgi. (Twitter)

Hundreds of women then posted pictures of themselves laughing out loud, and the hashtags #direnkahkaha - resist laughter - and #direnkadin - resist woman - trended on Twitter. Pictures were also posted on photo sharing site Instagram.

Hazal Naz Besleyici. (Twitter)

Mehtap Dogan of the Socialist Feminist Collective, who was among the women to post pictures of themselves, said Arinc comments were not an isolated incident of misogyny.

Veronica. (Twitter)

'His words perfectly illustrate his and the (ruling) AK party's attitude towards women,' she told The Guardian.

'In their eyes, women should not have any rights, they treat us like a separate species.'

Pinar Akbina. (Twitter)

Turkish men also showed their support. One user wrote that the men of a country 'where women are not allowed to laugh are cowards'.

'Harry Potter' actress Emma Watson also joins the protest against Turkish politician's claim that women should not laugh out loud.

Emma Watson (Twitter)

The actress tweeted a photo of herself laughing.

The Harry Potter star shared an image in which she was laughing and wrote: “#laugh #direnkahkaha @UN_Women”. She also included a link to a newspaper article about the deputy prime minister’s comments.

Pelin Can. (Twitter)

As did Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, who is running against current prime minister Recap Tayyip Erdogan in next week's elections.

He said Turkey needed women to smile and to hear people laugh.

Margot (Twitter)

(Twitter)

 

 

 

Vittoria Lacovella (Twitter)