Rümeysa Çamdereli
Muslim Feminist, Musician & Mother
10 years ago we could not talk of Muslim feminist movement. The past 10 years have been a process of existence, becoming visible and finally becoming a ‘real’ part of the movement. A process in which voices of different subjectivities like ours are visible within feminism awaits us.
Rümeysa Çamdereli defines herself as a “Muslim, feminist, musician, mother”. She continued her studies in Istanbul University Women’s Studies Master Program, after graduating from Boğaziçi University’s Computer Engineering Department. She took part in the currently inactive Muslims’ Initiative Against Violence Against Women. Highlighting that she lives a life centred on women’s issues, Rümeysa continues her activist activities with Reçel Blog (Marmalade Blog) and Havle Women’s Association. Rümeysa, who is interested in every genre of music from folk music to rock, plays the electric guitar, teaches, composes and frequently performs. Emphasizing that being on the stage as a Muslim woman might inspire other Muslim women, she states that her goal is to show to them that they can also do it. Rümeysa remarks that people, especially men, whom she thinks are of the same religious belief, usually have a reaction to her as a covered woman making music, and she states that she tries to continue doing what she knows is right in the way she knows is right, sustaining her belief in Allah, in spite of people’s gradually intensifying sense of entitlement and of putting others in place.