Actress Zeynep Özyağcılar and Clinical Psychologist Çiğdem Demirsoy met with students at the event specially prepared by Üsküdar University and NPİSTANBUL Hastanesi for International Women's Day.
In the interview, where it was emphasized that women should discover their own values and confront societal expectations, Demirsoy invited women to listen to their inner voice, saying, “Choosing yourself is often a courageous decision, sometimes a turning point.” Özyağcılar, on the other hand, highlighted the importance of art for women to express themselves, stating that theatre develops personal strength and self-confidence. Emphasizing the importance of resisting the beauty and success pressures imposed on women, Özyağcılar stated that being natural and accepting oneself is beauty.
Zeynep Özyağcılar, stating, “Power is a single sentence spoken with belief,” drew attention to the importance of engaging both body and mind for happiness.
At the end of the interview, students concluded the meeting with theatre play tickets and surprise gifts.
A special interview program was held by Üsküdar University and NPİSTANBUL Hospital within the scope of International Women's Day. In the interview, actress Zeynep Özyağcılar met with students at Üsküdar University Nermin Tarhan Conference Hall. The interview, held under the title “Choose Yourself, Not Expectations,” was moderated by Clinical Psychologist Çiğdem Demirsoy from NPİSTANBUL Hospital.
Clinical Psychologist Çiğdem Demirsoy: “Choosing yourself is often a courageous decision, sometimes a turning point”
The program, which addressed important topics such as women discovering their own values in their life journey, preserving their true selves in the face of societal expectations, and strengthening their psychological resilience, was a meaningful gathering specially for International Women's Day.
Emphasizing that they gathered within the framework of a meaningful motto on the occasion of International Women's Day, Clinical Psychologist Çiğdem Demirsoy said, “Throughout our lives, we often hear what others expect from us. How we should look, how we should speak, which roles we should fit into... Many roles are expected from us, such as a good child, a perfect spouse, a successful woman, a successful employee. But what about us? What do we want? Who do we truly choose? Choosing yourself is often a courageous decision, sometimes a turning point, sometimes a person's reunion with their inner voice. Today, we are here to think and talk about this journey together.”
Zeynep Özyağcılar: “Everything starts when you are told 'you cannot do it'”
Actress Zeynep Özyağcılar, who made visible the fragility, strength, contradictions, and transformation of women through the characters she portrayed, shared with the audience the real woman behind the roles, the relationship built with expectations, courage, choices, and the journey of 'being yourself'.
Özyağcılar stated that she never gave up talking about women and producing for women, saying, “And I find this very valuable. Of course, I do not observe gender discrimination, but I really enjoy sharing the value of untold, undiscussed, and often underappreciated women's stories.”
Özyağcılar stated that she believes everything starts when you are told 'you cannot do it', and said the following: “As a woman, whenever you embark on something, when you create something from scratch, it has never been otherwise. It was only when I started producing things despite everyone else and listening to my inner voice that good things began to happen.”
“We became ashamed of being ourselves”
Zeynep Özyağcılar stated that art and theatre greatly contribute to the development of personal power, and said, “Theatre is actually about understanding people. As dear Yıldız Kenter said; 'our greatness and our pettiness...', it first starts with confronting them. To make it real, we first search the inner world of the character we play; we delve into their evils, secrets, traumas. A person does not have to be a theatre professional or an actor; I think everyone should take acting classes. For self-recognition, proper expression, dialogue, and that self-confidence.”
Referring to concepts such as ‘success’ and ‘beauty’ imposed on women by society, Özyağcılar continued as follows: “We became ashamed of being ourselves. There is an incredible pressure, as if someone is constantly judging us for every line on our face, every white strand in our hair, and we are truly falling for it. We were not like this; I think we were even more beautiful. I am someone who stands against these things. For example, out of stubbornness, I never dye my hair, just so I will not be like them.
I believe that everything natural is much more beautiful and should be supported. Being healthy is something else. I am all for efforts to exercise to feel good, to be strong, to be flexible. I see how much harm women around me do to themselves with excessive interventions, and it makes me very sad. Some even look very beautiful, but that ‘disliked girl’ is still inside them. They do nothing to heal her.”
“Power is a single sentence spoken with belief”
Zeynep Özyağcılar, stating that she found the opportunity to do the work she loves in the place she loves during her life journey, advised the audience to engage in activities where both body and mind work simultaneously for happiness.
Özyağcılar said, “You know how they say ‘blood, sweat, and tears’? I think blood, sweat, and tears are very important. Whatever we do, whatever our profession, friends, sweat will drop. This is not for being fit, for staying young; we need to shed this sweat to protect our brains, to cope better with life, to endure more comfortably.”
Özyağcılar, also touching upon the misrepresentation of the 'strong woman' image in society, said, “Especially in TV series, female characters who are the mother of the landlord, who do evil or have the power to do evil, who are rich, who can do whatever they want, who are dominant, are portrayed as ‘strong’. This is what they try to teach us. Power is not like that. Absolutely not. This is entirely a misconception. We should not fall for these tricks. Power is about being moderate. Power is a tiny movement. Power is a single sentence you utter with belief. You do not need to shout.”
At the end of the interview, Zeynep Özyağcılar, who announced that her book titled ‘Pazar Yakınmaları’ will be released soon, gifted double tickets for the theatre play “En Güzel Parçam” to 4 students among those who attended the event. Additionally, the interview sponsor Maruderm offered surprise gifts to the attendees.
