Changing Experiences and Possibilities of Feminist Spaces; Feminist Studio Workshop

Abstract

Since women have been confined to the private sphere by restricting their knowledge and capital accumulation in the public domain, spaces have become crucial for consciousness-raising. This study examines the transformative role of feminist spaces in women's lives and the opportunities they provide. The struggle for women to exist in the public sphere represents a significant step toward combating gender inequality. Throughout history, women have faced challenges in occupying public spaces, which men or patriarchal ideologies have often dominated. With the assumption that public spaces have ceased to be
arenas for the free exchange of ideas and have instead become areas governed bypolitical and economic power, often working against women in binary power relations, feminist spaces offer women safe havens to express themselves by resisting societal norms. In this context, the Feminist Studio Workshop, established to distance itself from all forms of power relations and
provide an egalitarian environment, has facilitated discussions on women's challenges in public spaces and gender inequalities.
The workshop enabled participants to share their experiences and engage in consciousness-raising processes. These sessions allowed participants to gain new perspectives on gender roles and contribute to social transformation. It was observed that spaces used as feminist media studios offer women a critical platform to amplify their voices and develop sensitivity toward social issues. In this study, the findings regard-ing the positive effects and transfor-mation of feminist spaces in the lives of women in the sample of “Let Us Walk/ Street Harassment Workshop” held in the Feminist Studio were evaluated and it was concluded that shaping the spaces within the scope of feminist foundations is important and necessary...