The Second Constitutional Era’s<\/strong> drive for Westernization also included efforts to change the position of women<\/strong> 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<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Ottoman Society for the Defense of Women’s Rights (Osmanl\u0131 M\u00fcd\u00e2faa-i Hukuk-u Nisvan Cemiyeti)<\/strong> 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<\/strong> 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-\u0131 Aile Kararnamesi)<\/strong>. This change aimed to replace the traditional Ottoman family with the party’s envisioned patriotic national family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prominent women’s magazines of this period included Demet<\/strong> by Hakk\u0131 Bey, Kad\u0131n Duygusu<\/strong> by Nigar Cemal, Kad\u0131n Yolu<\/strong> (later T\u00fcrk Kad\u0131n Yolu<\/strong>) published by the Turkish Women’s Union with Nezihe Muhiddin as its concessionaire, Kad\u0131nlar Alemi<\/strong> by Feriha Kamuran, and Kad\u0131nl\u0131k<\/strong> by Hac\u0131 Cemal, S\u00fcleyman Tevfik, and Nigar Han\u0131m. The magazine Kad\u0131nl\u0131k<\/em> was published with the motto: “It defends the existence of womanhood and its place in the country.” In addition, Muhadderat<\/strong> newspaper was published for women for 48 issues as an supplement to Terakki<\/em> newspaper. It featured letters from women, discussed Western women’s movements and the need for women’s education, and advocated for monogamous marriage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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, Belk\u0131s \u015eevket, Feriha Kamuran, Sabiha Zekeriya, and \u015eukufe Nihal<\/strong>. \u015eukufe Nihal’s words in the first issue of Kad\u0131nl\u0131k<\/em> 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.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 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 (Kad\u0131nlar\u0131 Esirgeme Derne\u011fi), the Society for the Advancement of Women (Teali Nisvan Cemiyeti), the Ottoman Progressive Women’s Society (Osmanl\u0131 Kad\u0131nlar\u0131 Terakkiperver Cemiyeti), and the Ottoman Women’s Society (Osmanl\u0131 Cemiyet-i Nisaiyye)<\/strong>. The Society for the Employment of Muslim Women (\u0130slam Kad\u0131nlar\u0131n\u0131 \u00c7al\u0131\u015ft\u0131rma Cemiyeti)<\/strong>, similar to the Society for Women’s Rights (Hukuk-\u0131 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.”<\/em> Fourteen thousand women applied to this society, which aimed to find jobs for women who wanted to work, within a month and a half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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 Han\u0131m was the first non-teacher female civil servant<\/strong>. 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<\/strong> for support duties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n References:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 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 (Osmanl\u0131 M\u00fcd\u00e2faa-i Hukuk-u <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1177,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[258],"tags":[276,269],"class_list":["post-1176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-turkology","tag-modernization","tag-ottoman","has_thumb"],"yoast_head":"\n
\n\n\n\nWomen’s Economic Independence and Legal Reforms<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nPeriodicals for Women and Their Aims<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nIntellectual Contributions of Women Writers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nWomen’s Organizations and Practical Implementation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nWomen’s Entry into New Employment Sectors<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nThe Impact of Modernization on Women<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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