Hundreds of millions of viewers across the world are watching Turkish TV series. With $350 million in revenue from foreign syndication, Turkey ranks second in the world, after the United States, in global TV series sales.

Within Turkey, studies regularly show that watching TV is the most popular social activity for youth ages 13-19, with 92.7% of Turkish teenage girls and 94% of boys. According to a study by Interpress Media Services, people in Turkey spend nine hours in front of a screen such as a smartphone, tablet or computer, including four hours watching television, though Turks are increasingly turning off TV to go online. In a striking finding, according to a recent Netflix survey spanning 22 countries, 47% of Netflix users in Turkey say it is more important for them to “watch films and TV series than have a conversation.”

Regarding gender bias on screen, unfortunately, both local and international research reflect similar trends from Hollywood to Bollywood: There are crude stereotypes of femininity and masculinity.

This was recently highlighted by the Gender Equality Working Group within Turkey’s top business body, the Turkish Industrialists and Businesspeople Association, (TUSIAD). On March 5, the group published a report titled “Gender Equality in Television Series.” Prepared by academics Irem Inceoglu and Elif Akcali from Istanbul’s Kadir Has University, the report focused on traditional perceptions and stereotyped femininity and masculinity on Turkish screens. A total of 12 TV series selected from the list of the top-20 ranked series were used for the research, conducted May 1-31, 2017, based on analysis of scripts, main and supporting characters, language usage, venue selections, depictions and audiences.