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Women: The Struggle For Change

31.10.2014 11:25

Turkish women differ on values and expression of faith but all want to be treated as human beings. A favorite quote of mine is “Life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it.” Charles Swindoll wrote these wise words in his book “The Grace Awakening.”In the past decade or so the Turkish government has boasted of considerable democratic reforms, improvements in civil liberties, reductions in corruption and economic improvements, among other things.If you have studied English as a foreign language you will notice that in the English-speaking world, we now try to use gender-neutral terminology, (e.g., police officer instead of policeman and policewoman, etc.). Turkish normally does much better than English at this, in that words such as öğretmen (teacher) cover both the old English schoolmaster and schoolmistress, aktör works for both actor and actress. But for words with Arabic or Persian roots, such as katip, it really makes a difference! It is the same with cert

Turkish women differ on values and expression of faith but all want to be treated as human beings. A favorite quote of mine is “Life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it.” Charles Swindoll wrote these wise words in his book “The Grace Awakening.”
In the past decade or so the Turkish government has boasted of considerable democratic reforms, improvements in civil liberties, reductions in corruption and economic improvements, among other things.
If you have studied English as a foreign language you will notice that in the English-speaking world, we now try to use gender-neutral terminology, (e.g., police officer instead of policeman and policewoman, etc.). Turkish normally does much better than English at this, in that words such as öğretmen (teacher) cover both the old English schoolmaster and schoolmistress, aktör works for both actor and actress. But for words with Arabic or Persian roots, such as katip, it really makes a difference! It is the same with certain names. Hüsnü is a man, Hüsniye a woman; Ferit is a boy and Feride a girl.
Middle Eastern women's struggle for a better life has taken different forms across the region. Some, such as Muslim women, find strength in their ethnic or religious identity and look to the day when moral changes in their society will elevate the lives of everyone. Then there are those who view the patriarchal values of Middle Eastern society as the problem, and strive for political and social reform and change.
Turks remembered on Oct. 29 the national holiday Republic Day in a quiet manner, as the nation waits for news about 18 miners who remain trapped in a mine as a result of an accident in Karaman. The holiday is about the founding of a new republic and the drastic changes in equal rights and social reforms Mustafa Kemal Atatürk introduced. One was doing away with the wearing of the veil.
Turkey has always struggled as a nation because of its high profile for abuse of women. For many, mentality-wise, Turkey still remains very much a “man's world.”
The organization Kadın Cinayetlerini Durduracağız Platformu (We will Stop the Murder of Women Platform) has been actively addressing the issue of abuse of women. Official records reveal that 287 Turkish women were murdered in the first 10 months of 2014.
Ramsay M. Harik and Wlsa Marston, in their book “Women in the Middle East: Tradition and Change,” point out that the struggle, in fact, has been going on since the late 19th century, starting in Egypt and Turkey. The authors give the example of Hoda Sha'rawi, who was a pioneer in speaking out about tradition and saying that the veil was an unacceptable symbol of men's control over women's lives. Halide Edip in Turkey worked to promote the role of women in both the public and private sphere, seeking reforms in the personal status laws and greater political power for women and general improvement in the male attitude towards the opposite sex.
It is generally acknowledged that Turkey as a country has considerably healthier and more progressive attitudes towards women than places such as Iran, Pakistan or Saudi Arabia. But that is not saying much.
Of course, this has not been a problem in just the Middle East. Western societies struggle with similar problems regarding equal work opportunity and personal status. To illustrate what I mean, let me tell you about one of my favorite humorists, Kara Walker. A well-known quote of hers is: “I have a funny problem with humor, I guess, because I don't consider it fun.” -- Kara Walker, 1996. In America, Walker had her own style of humor which she expressed through her artwork. Using silhouettes, she portrayed folklore in the Deep South, raising identity and gender issues for African-American women in particular. Walker employed her sense of humor through violent imagery; she found a balance in the comic, as well as humor's ethical limits and function in both culture and visual art.
While traveling around central and south Turkey in recent days, I have noticed a significant increase in the change of women's fashion and sometimes in behavior (at least in public) and wonder about this. As a foreigner, I am trying to understand the significance and how much of it is cultural, for example, Ottoman tradition rather than Islamic -- or can the two be separated? We'll explore this more. In the meantime, until the situation in Turkey with regard to domestic violence and status improves, remember, “Life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it.”

CHARLOTTE MCPHERSON (Cihan/Today's Zaman)



 
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