Week 12 - Deniz Kandiyoti

This week we read the text by Deniz Kandiyoti, about the history of feminism in Turkey. She took us through the different stages of women movements, from the Tanzimat era all the way to the Kemalist era. I found it very interesting to see in what order the rights of women were discussed, with the forced marriages as the first issue she talks about. I am currently taking a course on Turkish history and contemporary challenges, and it makes me see the bigger perspective of the feminist movements within the Kandiyoti text. What caught my eyes the most was the Balkan- and World Wars, during which women had to step up, much like in many western countries. One clear comparison would be the 'we can do it' movement in the US, where women in a similar way were invited into the workforce. The difference would be the mandatory employment in Turkey, and the hard restrictions on women still at this time. Just the fact that "in the midst of war, a committee was set up to discuss the suitable length for women's skirts"(page 31) shows us that even though the Turkish government at the time needed the women to step up and do the jobs the men left behind, controlling the fashion of the women were still prioritized. The reaction of the women during this period was inspiring, as they demanded to dress however they liked. The division within the CUP is discussed by Kandiyoti as a result of the confused times around the era of the wars. However, the step back towards authoritarianism meant that the hope of women's rights were crushed for the time being.

This is an interesting contrast to the Kemalist era, when the empowerment of women became a symbol for a break with the past. It was, as is discussed in the text, one part of the systematic reforms instated by Ataturk which moved Turkey towards a more westernized culture. Although they did not ban the veil completely, it was later forbidden to be worn by parliamentary women, a rule that has been overlooked lately, with the AKP in power. But if we go back to the Ataturk era discussed in the text, we can see that the decreased importance of Islam within the government did not mean that the population had to change their beliefs, nor did they have western cultures forced upon them like in the Tanzimat era.