From 'Adı Vasfiye' to the present day... Women are no longer 'sluts', but what are they?

Since the early years of cinema in our country, countless films have been made. The subject of women has always been controversial in these films. In Yeşilçam-era films, women are generally divided into two categories. On one side are the actresses known as the “four-leaf clovers,” representing purity and innocence; on the other side are the “women fond of their freedom,” who are blonde, ill-natured, and try to seduce the man the lead actress loves.

Because we live in a patriarchal society, the image of women is clear: A woman's place is always the home. If a woman is single, she is in the role of someone who devotes herself to and serves her parents and siblings; if she is married, she does the same for her husband and children. This role has been constantly repeated in cinema as well.

However, when we reach the late 1970s and the 1980s, the representation of women in Yeşilçam cinema begins to change.

In this article, we will try to explain the changing representation of women in Yeşilçam, specifically through the film Adı Vasfiye (Her Name is Vasfiye) by Atıf Yılmaz, the most prolific director in this field.

The “women's films” trend, spearheaded by Atıf Yılmaz, marks a new era in cinema. In Atıf Yılmaz's films, the classic Yeşilçam image of the “acceptable woman” is dismantled. The social structure that changed after the 1980 coup was also a period in which representations of women underwent a transformation.

As women participated more in working life and feminist thought became increasingly visible, changing the social structure and the traditional family structure, female figures in cinema also began to differentiate. Representations of women who seek their sexual freedom, question traditions, and play an active role in the workforce began to appear on the silver screen.

The leading name of this changing representation of women in cinema during this period is Müjde Ar.

HER NAME IS VASFİYE...

The screenplay of the film, directed by Atıf Yılmaz, is signed by Barış Pirhasan. The script was adapted from five stories in the book “Ay Büyürken Uyuyamam” (I Can't Sleep While the Moon Grows) by the great master of Turkish literature, Necati Cumalı.

In the film, we watch Vasfiye's story through the eyes of four different men. This narrative style allows us to understand, in particular, the male perspective on women.

Under the social conditions of the time, men take their first step into 'manhood' when they are circumcised, and their second when they are sexually involved with a woman. Vasfiye meets Emin, her first love, her husband, and a character present in every story throughout the film, when they are children. Emin's father is an ağa (landlord). The ağa takes his eldest son to Vasfiye's mother so he can take his first step into manhood. After all, being with a woman is a source of pride for a man in Anatolia.

"SHAME IS FOR THE SLUTS"

While hunting birds together, the ağa turns to his children and says, “shame is for the sluts.” Here, the “slut” he refers to is “woman.” In other words, from the moment a man is born, everything is permissible for him, but for a woman, what she thinks of doing, what she does, and even just being a woman is a source of shame. Or rather, the word 'shame' is an emotion identified only with women.

The second man is the neighborhood health officer, known as a flirtatious injector. Because Vasfiye withholds her interest from him, the injector's masculinity is wounded, and he spreads rumors that he has been with her by slandering her. The way men belittle women who do not show interest in them is almost a tool to satisfy their egos regarding their masculinity.

The third man in Vasfiye's life is Hamza Toprak. Vasfiye meets him after being hospitalized following an argument. Hamza finds her a job. Vasfiye now earns her own money. However, after marrying Vasfiye, Hamza begins to get jealous. Hamza's jealousy also shows his lack of self-confidence. A woman's confident stance, especially that of a beautiful woman, threatens Hamza's male pride. Vasfiye cannot be happy even after marrying Hamza and leaves the town.

Finally, the man who enters Vasfiye's life is Dr. Fuat. Fuat is a modern and contemporary male figure. However, his attitude toward Vasfiye is no different from the other men. Fuat interprets Vasfiye's courage as “frivolity” and belittles her “free stance.” This shows that even education does not change the male perspective. This situation reveals that women's freedom is still not accepted in society and is always filtered through the perspective of men.

In the film, we watch Vasfiye's story from the perspectives of men from four different statuses and age groups; but we cannot hear Vasfiye's own voice even once. This actually reflects the reality that in real life, too, women's stories are always told by the male-dominated understanding.

Women struggle to express themselves in society. Brave women like Vasfiye are ostracized.

The film, which questions how men see Vasfiye, also tells how women are imprisoned by social pressures and traditions in a patriarchal society.

Men's view of women is shaped by a “male pride” that has been crippled within the social structure. They label women's courage as “frivolity.”

Productions like Adı Vasfiye have been a very important step for the change in the representation of women in Yeşilçam cinema. Atıf Yılmaz's masterful direction and Müjde Ar's powerful acting ensured the breaking of the traditional female portrait of Yeşilçam in our cinema.

Although it was late, what Atıf Yılmaz did as a director was quite brave for that period and became a turning point for our cinema.

As much as Atıf Yılmaz's direction, Müjde Ar's acting is also important in the dismantling of the classic female portrait in Yeşilçam and its replacement with a representation of women who are libertarian, searching for themselves, and have more say in working life.

Stories and representations continue to undergo change with newly emerging screenwriters, directors, and actors.

Recently, we see that the representation of women is still shaped by a male-dominated understanding, especially in television series, and that productions themed around tradition and honor continue to dominate.

In a way, this shows how cinema and series show resistance to social changes.

I believe that art is for society. For this reason, it is unfortunately a sad situation for cinema lovers that the cinema and series industry, while at a more advanced level in the past, is stuck in such a narrow space today.

Atıf Yılmaz, who shook and exposed the place of women in the social structure through the eyes of four men in Adı Vasfiye, is no longer with us. But his place in our cinema continues to exist.

We are now in an era where women tell their own stories themselves.

I hope that female actors, in particular, will read the scripts they receive with care, and by distancing themselves from productions mired in themes of tradition and honor, will take Müjde Ar's courage as an example.

It is in the hands of us women to carry forward and sustain the change that began with Adı Vasfiye.