The article takes a critical look at Orientalist beliefs about the subjugation of women in Islam. It questions whether the suppression of women really is inherent to Islam and summarises some criticism of this type of discourse by various authors and interviewees, focusing particularly on the division of labour and dress habits. It also deals with the influence of national discourses and imageries on the formation of the relations between the sexes. It aims to show that the shaping of the relations between the sexes in Turkey is influenced much more by the Turkish national project than by Islam as such.