Women’s Status and Westernization in the Second Constitutional Era
The Second Constitutional Era’s drive for Westernization also included efforts to change the position of women in society. The belief that the Ottoman Empire should emulate the West stemmed from the perception that women held a different status there. Publications related to feminist movements in Europe were circulated, and Westernization was broadly promoted. After 1910, authors within the strengthening Turkist movement also believed that educating mothers would create a patriotic and progressive youth.
Women’s Economic Independence and Legal Reforms
The Ottoman Society for the Defense of Women’s Rights (Osmanlı Müdâfaa-i Hukuk-u Nisvan Cemiyeti) advocated for women to have the same working conditions as men, proposing women’s labor as a solution for the country’s economic salvation. Halide Edib wrote articles foundational to the women’s movement, citing examples from the West. The Committee of Union and Progress administration also prepared a favorable environment for the women’s movement through legislation. The family provisions of the Mecelle (Ottoman civil code) were amended in 1917 with the Decree on Family Law (Hukuk-ı Aile Kararnamesi). This change aimed to replace the traditional Ottoman family with the party’s envisioned patriotic national family.
Periodicals for Women and Their Aims
Prominent women’s magazines of this period included Demet by Hakkı Bey, Kadın Duygusu by Nigar Cemal, Kadın Yolu (later Türk Kadın Yolu) published by the Turkish Women’s Union with Nezihe Muhiddin as its concessionaire, Kadınlar Alemi by Feriha Kamuran, and Kadınlık by Hacı Cemal, Süleyman Tevfik, and Nigar Hanım. The magazine Kadınlık was published with the motto: “It defends the existence of womanhood and its place in the country.” In addition, Muhadderat newspaper was published for women for 48 issues as an supplement to Terakki newspaper. It featured letters from women, discussed Western women’s movements and the need for women’s education, and advocated for monogamous marriage.
Intellectual Contributions of Women Writers
The intellectual foundation of the women’s movement was laid out in magazines by leading women writers of the era, such as Halide Edib, Nezihe Muhittin, Belkıs Şevket, Feriha Kamuran, Sabiha Zekeriya, and Şukufe Nihal. Şukufe Nihal’s words in the first issue of Kadınlık magazine, dated March 21, 1914, offer insight into the movement’s content: “Oh young woman! Answer these delirious cries echoing in empty spaces full of pain. Look, the poor souls have plunged into this fearful world, motherless, guideless. You were poor, you were guideless, but now you have learned your place. You will save this nation, this broken, weary nation, before it falls into the desolate slumber of its grandmothers.”
Women’s Organizations and Practical Implementation
The women’s movement, also known in literature as Ottoman feminism, sought practical implementation through associations such as the Committee of Union and Progress Women’s Branch, the Society for Protecting Women (Kadınları Esirgeme Derneği), the Society for the Advancement of Women (Teali Nisvan Cemiyeti), the Ottoman Progressive Women’s Society (Osmanlı Kadınları Terakkiperver Cemiyeti), and the Ottoman Women’s Society (Osmanlı Cemiyet-i Nisaiyye). The Society for the Employment of Muslim Women (İslam Kadınlarını Çalıştırma Cemiyeti), similar to the Society for Women’s Rights (Hukuk-ı Nisvan Cemiyeti), focused on economic conditions and claimed they would find solutions for society through women. Their objective was stated as: “The purpose of this society is to find employment for women and protect them by accustoming them to honorable self-sufficiency.” Fourteen thousand women applied to this society, which aimed to find jobs for women who wanted to work, within a month and a half.
Women’s Entry into New Employment Sectors
The women’s movement during the Second Constitutional Era unfolded within the framework of efforts by authors and associations aiming to equate women’s rights with men’s and achieve economic gains. Indeed, in 1913-1914, Bedrii Osman Hanım was the first non-teacher female civil servant. During this period, women began to appear in roles such as theater performers and factory workers for the first time. They were even recruited into the First Army as a Women’s Worker Battalion for support duties.
The Impact of Modernization on Women
The Second Constitutional Era mobilized women, who were familiar with Western literature, through democratic principles, and spurred action with the spread of concepts like secularism and freedom. Although women held a respected position in social life, they lagged behind men in official status and economic freedom. While women had always been an integral part of Turkish culture and social life, during this period they sought to gain legal and economic assurances similar to Western women.
References:
- Ümüt Akagündüz, “II. Meşrutiyet döneminde kadın hareketi ve Şukufe Nihal’in Bugünün Genç Kadınına adlı yazısı,” Fe Dergi 8, no. 1 (2016): 111-117.
- Nilüfer Özcan Demir, “II. Meşrutiyet Dönemi Osmanlı Feminizmi,” Hacettepe Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi Vol: 6, No: 2 (2016): 107-115.
