Special Turkey Podcast Episode: Between Crisis, “Aesthetic” Citizenship, and the Lipstick Effect.

Our new Turkey podcast episode is here! This time, we take a trip to Istanbul and explore how women navigate their “aesthetic citizenship” and escalating economic crisis in one of the fastest growing metropolises in the world.

As the beauty industry continues to feed the neoliberal Turkish economy, learn about how the country’s insanely profitable beauty sector needed to be reframed to fit the traditional Islamic values of Erdoğan’s authoritarian regime.

Our guides, Isabel Zey and Vildan Ay, in beauty salons across Istanbul, share how they manage the tightening grip of the repressive government. Join us in a conversation about authoritarianism and its attacks on feminist and LGBTQ communities, and get perspectives on how beauty consumption and economic crisis are deeply intertwined through the so-called “lipstick effect”.

All the while, hearing the stories of self-expression and survival under a rule that is attempting to alter the meaning of beauty.

Now available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, GoodPods and Soundcloud!