Reading the representation of women -as a gender cathegory- on cinema: A reception study in Gazi̇antep

As in other types of art, cinema reflects the cultural structure of the society. Therefore, the contribution of audience-oriented studies to the field of communication is very crucial. Audience research that creates a wider area with the School of Cultural Studies, has contributed to the understanding of the basic dynamics of reception studies. The aim of this study is to interrogate how female viewers receive / read female representations in films in the context of gender. In this context, "Aaahh Belinda" movie was watched with the female audience in Gaziantep local and how the audience read female characters and its narrative in the film was reflected in the study. Based on all these views, taking advantage of the reception analysis method within the sociology of media, Tamar Liebes's "The way the audience participates in the television texts" model is applied in the qualitative data obtained as a result of the reception / reading of the dramatic elements that constitute the text of the film by the female audience in Gaziantep. When the receptions / readings of female viewers are evaluated according to the category of referential readings, it is seen that they mostly refer to realistic and ludic readings. It was observed that they read the dramatic elements in the film by adding them to daily life and identifying with the female characters there and in these readings the participants rebuilt the patriarchal. Key words: Gender, Cultural Studies, Reception Studies, Women Representations