Freedom to wear what you want!

Gözde Kansu, a popular Turkish TV presenter, was dismissed or sacked, however you like to put it, from the private ATV television. It was confirmed on the 8th October that Kansu was dismissed from the station. On the 9th October, a statement was put out by ATV implying that the dismissal was to do with Kansu's presentation and style not being in tune with their goals. The station denied that the dismissal was to do with Kansu's outfit. "What outfit?" you might ask.

Kansu had chosen to wear a low cut top revealing her cleavage on the Turkish show, Vehliat. In return she received criticism from a spokesman, Hüseyin Çelik, from the ruling Justice and Development Party otherwise known as AKP. Çelik commented that the outfit was "unacceptable", "extreme" and "too much." To be fair though to Çelik, during his criticism, he did not name Kansu.

Çelik has defended his remarks on Twitter saying that he did not publicly name the identity of the presenter and has also said that he is entitled to air his opinion. In my own opinion, I am a strong believer of freedom of speech, and also since Çelik is in politics, isn't it healthy that he speaks about his thoughts on what is happening in society? I think so, even if we do agree or disagree with what is being said.

Many would argue that there was nothing outlandish about Kansu's choice of outfit. I think in an ideal world we should be allowed to wear what we want and have the freedom to express ourselves. However all of us are faced with situations at work, college, or attending a function, for instance, where we are given a dress code and it is seen as common curtesy to adhere to this. I do not see any issue with Kansu's outfit, however perhaps she should have chosen her outfit more sensibly for her audience if she thought that maybe it would cause some controversy and be deemed as inappropriate? Saying this though, should fault not lie with Kansu's stylist if she had one?=