EKİM ZEYNEP YAĞMUR

Ankara-We can think the shopping malls are like fairy tales ... These tales are decorated with surreal elements and they print models designed by the society in our mind one by one. Characters in fairy tales such as Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty have an indelible place in our minds. The secret desires of society appear in fairy tales. For this reason, fairy tales are not innocent at all, just like shopping malls... We talk to Nuray Türkmen, a student in the Doctoral Programme of Adult Education, Faculty of Educational Sciences at Ankara University about the truth behind those magical and magnificent malls.

· As the number of public spaces in the city decreases, the number of shopping centers increases. There are small or big shopping malls in popular places or poor places. Why has the number of shopping malls been increasing?

Firstly, we should know the location of shopping malls. VIP Shopping Malls are located in areas where the middle-upper class lives. There are also ordinary shopping malls built for the lower and middle class. They are located in neighborhoods whose identity has changed within the scope of urban transformation, not in the neighborhoods of the poor people. Actually, there are no shopping malls in areas where poor people live. Recently, there has been an increase in the number of shopping malls built for the lower and middle class. Because in the neighborhoods where the people of the upper class live, there are other spaces where they can meet their daily needs and socialize. The malls built for people of the upper class are smaller and they spend less time at the shopping malls.

The shopping malls have regular visitors such as old people, women, unemployed people, and young people… Some people of the lower and middle class can spend their day at the shopping mall. Shopping malls are preferred when there are not enough places for socializing. They socialize and the mall offers a "safe" opportunity for them. Shopping malls are places where they can eat, meet their friends and go to the cinema. There are spaces in shopping malls to meet people’s needs.

“Target groups of malls are women and children”

· Why do particularly women spend time in those sparkling atmospheres of shopping malls?

The rate of working women is still lower than working men. Women don’t have enough socializing opportunities compared to men. Women have more time because the rate of working women is lower than men. And women prefer shopping malls as the “safest” places in the city to spend their time. If they go to a public garden alone, they may be afraid of being harassed. In many cities, if two women go to a public garden, this situation can be considered strange. But two women can go to a shopping mall and have a meal there. Because it is a “safe” place for them. Shopping malls are particularly preferred by women having children. They can meet all the needs of their children at the shopping malls.

“Harassment is a part of the shopping malls’ working conditions”

· When we go to shopping malls, we see female employees apply heavy makeup and paying attention to their clothes…

Firstly I want to tell you this; we can see how the shopping malls are gendered places when we see how the employees deal with the female customers. Most of the employees are women. Surely, the stores prefer female employees. The shopping malls are like small towns where harassment is systematic, usual, and “invisible”. Even though, they are seen as “safe”, “nice”, women face harassment, pressure, and insults. Actually, everyone knows what is going on there but they cover everything. Harassment is a part of the shopping malls’ working conditions