Neval Akyüz

 

DİYARBAKIR -Pınar Yaşar, who runs a tailor shop with her husband in the village of Çarıklı in Diyarbakır’s Sur district, says they have shown that everybody can build a common life. Pınar also stated that we should revolt against the society that enslaves woman and says "Woman builds life and if the woman doesn’t build a true life, she becomes slave of man”.

 

Pınar Yaşar runs a tailor shop with her husband in the village of Çarıklı in Diyarbakır’s Sur district. She believes that carrying out a joint struggle with her husband in a small place such as Çarıklı is very important, and she told their story as follows: "I suggested a joint labor and struggle area to my husband. Then we decided to open the shop and we become the first mecca for women. We have been running the shop together for a year. I did this business in Kızıltepe (district of Mardin province) before and I was doing this job with my mother because she was a tailor. I have never been exploited by my husband because we have made a same effort together.”

 

‘We meet most of demands’

 

Pınar stated that they meet most of demands in Çarıklı and they get the fabrics for dresses from Mardin and added “This job has some difficulties just like every job. We have difficulty in selling the products to people. I buy fabrics from my hometown and the cost of fabric varies according to the quality. The prices of the clothes that I sew also vary according to the fabric of it. We meet approximately 50-60% of the demands for dresses of Çarıklı. People come to our shop for repairing their damaged clothes, for repairing broken zipper, for shortening of trouser leg, or for ordering dresses for wedding parties or        graduation parties.”

 

Solidarity with women in their own job

 

Recalling that running a shop is difficult, Pınar said that she had difficulties in running a shop but then a strong personality is created from this difficulty. Stating that she has also formed her own alternative economy by tailoring, Pınar said that they have been adopted by people because they have made effort on both women and men clothes without making any discrimination.

 

Emphasizing that she is happy to be boss of her own business as a woman although she cannot save up, Pınar added “Despite everything, I show that women can stand on their own legs and can live without being under the shadow of man. We wanted to show that everyone can build a common life. At this point, this does me good because we have shares with women”

 

‘Woman builds life’

 

Pınar said that many women in the village don’t want to live under the shadow of their husbands because they affected from them, and she added; “Now some women are planting their fields with their husbands, some of them take care of animals and some of them have opened shops just like us. This situation makes me so happy.”

 

Stating that they are not only sharing the works in shop but also in house, Pınar said, “Woman builds life and if she doesn’t build a true life, she becomes slave of man” and she highlighted that no women should allow an approach that aggrandizes man and makes women enslaved.”