The sixth broadcast of Eine Stimme aus der Menge on March 9, 2022 dealt with Turkish and Finnish culture and stereotypes. Kübra is currently writing her Master’s thesis about the representation of Turkish-German women in German media. Together we took a look on the stereotypes of Finnish and Turkish people in Germany, on different lifestyles as well as on the position of women in the three countries.

The stereotypes about foreign people always vary depending to culture and region. Also foreigners have stereotypes about German people. For example, many Germans have a picture of Turkish people as same-looking, conservative religious and traditional. Turkish people get questions about how they are allowed to dress up freely in public or how the internet connection is in their country. On the contrary, the stereotypes of Finns are usually more positive, but for example some people imagine all Finns as heavy drinkers. Stereotypes may hold some but not the whole truth, and never apply for every person or family. Stereotypical images may be harmful as they give pressure to the people to live up to the expectations. If and when you break the stereotype with your behaviour, it’s always a topic of wonder and doubt. It is important to get to know the individual person first before judging them.

Women and other marginalized groups have been and still are structurally discriminated in almost every culture. Still, the situation has improved differently depending on the society. Finland was on the second best place of the gender equality index 2020, and traditionally compared to Germany for example many women go back to work after their maternity leave. However, domestic violence against women is a serious problem in Finland. In Turkey there are many femicides which have fortunately received more awareness through social media. In Turkey there are high societal expectations for women to get married and have children, but also for men. However, against some stereotypical beliefs women also go to study and work.

The LGBT+ -situation has also improved in lots of countries, but there is still much to be done and the situation can always turn worse again. In Finland an old-fashioned law unfortunately requires transgender people to be sterilized in order to be operated. This human rights breaking law has received several notes and is planned to be changed. In Turkey many LGBT+ -people need to hide themselves and are even planning to move abroad. Still, the younger generations are more open-minded and striving for change.

Every-day life and lifestyles are somewhat different in the three countries. In Turkey work takes a lot of time of one‘s life, but in Germany and in Finland people have more free time and hobbies. There are some small differences in leisure time, like in Turkey many dress up chic and pay attention to their appearence in order to go out, whereas in Germany and in Finland it is more relaxed and casual. On the contrary, German and Finnish people like to plan and to be on time, whereas in Turkey people are more spontaneous.

 

Playlist:

Billie Eilish: lovely

TARKAN: Geççek

Ellinoora: Leijonakuningas

 

Sometimes you need to go far to see what’s near. Diskussionen über Kulturen und Menschenleben aus ethnologischer Perspektive, Nachsinnen über Kultur und Unterhaltung, Grübeln über gesellschaftliche Themen und tiefere Überlegungen über die Kompliziertheit und Einzigartigkeit des Lebens.

Die Sendung zum Nachhören

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