Lives Hidden in Orange Peel

Three women, Aunt Zennub, Yüksel, and İnci, are living an isolated life in one of the traditional houses in Kepenek District of Gaziantep. They go out, only when they are obliged to. At first, the “father” of the house enforced this isolation on Zennub, and then the mother enforced it on her daughters. Although these women are literate, they have had no formal education.

Yüksel and İnci gained all their survival skills from their mother Zennub. They live with their cats and they are content with what they have. They burn the dried orange peels on the stove. Burning crusts remain roasted after giving a nice smell to the environment.

Women are resentful to life; they do not trust people. In conservative societies, the living space for women is limited. In gender context, this space is usually limited to their house and they are expected to be invisible, out of anyone’s notice. The situation is even worse in social levels with poor socio-economic conditions where women do not get formal education. Here many women inherit the life their mother has taught them and transfer what they have learned to the next generation.