The effect of female representation in domestic series broadcast in Prime Time on female audiences

Television is associated with culture and daily life, sometimes reproducing and sometimes transforming social culture, and with the contents it produces, it is in a position to both represent and criticize the cultural structure of the society. Television, which reproduces the culture of the country it realizes with its broadcasts, does this not directly, but through fictional storytelling. The representation of gender roles on television also supports the continuation of existing values and norms to meet the expectations of society. As a result of this, the representations of women on Turkish television are presented with a masculine point of view originating from the patriarchal social structure, however, this presentation is mostly made indirectly and is realized by placing it in fictions that appeal to taste. Therefore, it can be said that the content in question serves the female audience in the society to accept these roles in a satisfied way without objecting. The aim of the study is to determine to what extent and in what direction Turkish TV series broadcast in prime time on Turkish televisions affect women's roles. It was aimed to determine whether the female viewers, who constitute the receptive context, tend to protect or transform their existing gender roles through these contents they consume. To do this, a "questionnaire", which is one of the quantitative research methods, was applied and the findings obtained as a result of the answers given to the questions directed to the female audience in the specified age range (30-45 years old) and objective data were revealed, and these data were evaluated and interpreted. Among the TV series broadcast on a prime time basis, the series "Forbidden Apple" and "Unfaithful" were discussed, due to their high viewing rate and the diversity of female representations, and a research was conducted on the female viewers of these series. As a result of the study carried out using the quantitative research method within the framework of the Cultivation Theory, it was seen that the female viewers were affected by the female representations in the said serials by identifying with the characters, having close relationships and establishing parasocial communication, and they defined and made sense of their positioning in the society according to the direction of this interaction. Therefore, it was concluded that the TV series in question both reflect and transform society and culture with the roles of women.