Reading Room
In the reading room of the inVISIBLE TRACES? exhibition, you will find texts that address how Jewish, Armenian, and Greek (Rum) women in Turkey — who still cannot experience natural visibility — negotiate patriarchal norms both within their own communities and in broader societal contexts; what kinds of resistance models they develop against gender hierarchies; and how these models influence and intersect with one another across categories such as gender, religion, and social class.
We warmly welcome your recommendations for the reading room. Please send any suggested writings to iletisim@istanbulgendermuseum.org.
“I know you can’t reach certain places in this society. You can’t get to certain places.”
“In high school, I used to think ‘my community is very cowardly, they don’t touch hot water, very irresponsible, cynical.’”
“An average Jew only gets angry at the antisemite, but that’s not the issue — you have to look broader.”
“They don’t put an iron door on a place that’s not dangerous. So there must be a danger.”
“If someone attacks you because you’re Jewish, it’s clear they won’t be punished.”
“I feel lucky not to be excluded. But I also live with the fear that at any moment I’ll face injustice or exclusion.”
“If your name isn’t foreign, not specifying that you’re Jewish can be an advantage for you.”
“Despite being here for more than 500 years, it saddens me greatly that we’re still not considered Turkish.”
Anna narrates: “Even if we said let’s go, where would we go at this age… After seeing what happens even in the place they call ‘safest’ for Jews…”
Vivi Narrates: "I wasn’t subjected to an antisemitic attack, but the media’s one-sidedness was enough for me."