Comparison of Turkish and German tales in terms of female-male relations

Tales as a mirror of societies have been folk products which are quite successful in reflecting gender roles. The roles with which society provides women and men can differ from or resemble each other depending on cultures, and by means of these roles, men and women relationships are formed. When the subject is "tale", the first thing that comes to almost everyone's mind is Grimm's Fairy Tales, which are German tales compiled by Brothers Grimm. Accordingly, in our study, by means of tales which are universal folk products reflecting the cultures that they originate from and originate from Turkish and German cultures which have lived in different regions from each other; had different cultural values, religions, customs and traditions; we tried to determine these two cultures' perspectives on men and women relationships and the similarities and differences between these perspectives. First, having this intention, we tried to interpret the motifs and values in Turkish and German tales which we have chosen by narrowing these motifs and values down to men and women relationships, and then, investigating these tales in terms of flirt, marriage, husband-wife relations, father-daughter relations and mother-son relations, sister-brother relations and other men and women relationships; we tried to interpret these cultures' perspectives on men and women relationships and the similarities and differences between these perspectives. Even though tales, Turkish or German, without differing from each other, involve many types of men and women relationships, they provide information about men and women relationships occurring in an emotional context, especially about the time before and after marriage as almost every tale's ending is a marriage. In this sense, young women or men -generally young women- who are separated from their home prepare for marriage by experiencing an initiation process. Apart from that, sisters trying to save their brothers or protecting them like a mother hen and the strong sibling bond between those siblings are often given place in tales. The characteristics that tales expect women and men to have have many common features in both cultures. Tales reveal many more truths about both cultures and cast light on the futures of these societies.