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throughout the journey rather than at the beginning. Many women choose to leave their demanding
advertising careers when they have a baby or start a family. The picture of the successful women’s
life in the advertising industry is woven with the many sacrifices made and compromises given by
women in advertising. As an example, the women informants we have talked to believe that they
have to lead and manage compartmented lives well and give up in some areas in order to fulfill the
expectations of society. Nazlı believes that “in Turkey, a lot of things are expected from women. I
have a friend who used to say, ‘It is expected that I am a good mother, a good businesswoman, a
good wife, a good daughter‐in‐law, a good daughter. I can’t do all of it at the same time, I resign from
being a good wife and a good daughter‐in‐law’ and she got a divorce.”
It is important to stress the role of traditional Turkish family life and the support of female
servants 5 the significant other as a “social support system” in the successful pioneer women in the
Turkish advertising industry. It is self‐explanatory in Nazlı’s explanation on how she had a nanny and
her mother always helped with her daughter. Her mother sometimes even stayed over to help. In
order for a woman to be successful, she needs to have a husband who supports her in her career and
a well‐structured family. It must be noted that the support of the significant other is priceless when it
comes to the success of a woman in advertising. Zeynep explains that her husband was the most
important person in her social support system. His extreme supportive attitude manifest itself as the
first person to “to pick her up if she fell.” Women who do not find the social support needed to be
successful in the Turkish advertising industry often choose to change their careers.
The traditional Turkish family life seems to be both a supporter as well as an obstacle for this
study’s informants. The women who have risen to the top of the Turkish advertising industry feel as
they have become women in a man’s suit. They tend to become successful with men’s rules and
style. Becoming proficient in adopting the dominant voice of Turkish advertising, the male voice
helps women get promoted. As one of the informants clearly indicated, “if the woman is successful,
she’s probably the woman who is like a man.”
In conclusion, this study aimed to find how women advertising executives define the meaning of
being a woman advertiser in the Turkish advertising industry based on the experiences of the
pioneering women in the advertising agencies. There was a consensus on women being equally
creative as men; women being better at organizing, listening, multitasking and detailed‐oriented
thinking. However women in a man’s suit are better received in managerial positions. It was noted
that women who have compartmented their lives are more successful in the advertising industry
which is the result of a social support system in private life.
Assistant Prof.Ayşe BİNAY KURULTAY
binaykurultay@khas.edu.tr
Kadir Has University
Faculty of Communication, Advertising Department
Kadir Has Caddesi Cibali
İstanbul 34083
Assistant Prof. Burcu PEKSEVGEN
bsabuncuoglu@yeditepe.edu.tr
Yeditepe University
Faculty of Communication, Advertising Department
İnönü Mah. Kayışdağı Cad. 26 Ağustos Yerleşimi
Ataşehir İstanbul 34755