ERKEN DÖNEM CUMHURİYET DÖNEMİ ÖNCESİ VE SONRASINDA TÜRK KADINI

Beren SAFRANBOLULU ERKEN DÖNEM CUMHURİYET DÖNEMİ ÖNCESİ VE SONRASINDA TÜRK KADINI TURKISH WOMEN AND THE EARLY REPUBLIC: BEFORE AND AFTER Beren SAFRANBOLULU1 ÖZET Bu çalışmanın amacı; Türk kadınının Cumhuriyet döneminden önceki ve sonraki değişen toplumsal konumunu araştırmaktır. Ek olarak, Türk kadınına erken Cumhuriyet döneminde sağlanan haklar ve yeni rejimin ideal Türk kadınına bakış açısına dair görüşler ele alınacaktır. Genç Türkiye Cumhuriyeti’ni modernBatılı bir ülkeye dönüştürmek yolunda Türk kadınının sosyal statüsünü kökten değiştirmenin ve kadınlarımızı kendine güvenen, sorumluluk sahibi vatandaşlar yapmanın Kemalist rejimin en temel hedeflerinden olduğu inkar edilemez bir gerçektir. Bununla ilgili birçok iddia ortaya atılmıştır. Bunlardan bir tanesi; Türk kadınının, haklarını yeni rejim sayesinde, hiçbir emek göstermeksizin, tepeden inme bir şekilde elde ettiğidir. Bir diğeri; Türk kadınının, siyasal haklarına diğer milletlerin kadınlarından daha önce kavuşması nedeniyle onlardan daha önde olduğu savıdır. Türkiye Cumhuriyeti’nin erken dönemlerine dair diğer bir iddia ise, Türk kadınının yeni imajının bir modernleşme ve Batılılaşma göstergesi olarak kullanıldığına dairdir. Bu iddiayı doğrulayan veya çürüten başka argümanlar mevcuttur. Bu bağlamda, yeni rejimin, dönemin kadın hareketlerine ve örgütlenmelerine karşı aldığı tavır da birçok yönden tartışma konusu olmuştur. Atatürk reformlarının Türk kadınını güçlendirdiği ortadadır; ancak genç Cumhuriyet rejiminin kadınlara yönelik izlediği politikalar kendi içinde çelişkiler taşımaktadır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Türk kadın hakları;Türkiye Cumhuriyeti dönemi; genç Cumhuriyetin kadınları;Mustafa Kemal ve kadın hakları;Türk Kadın Birliği,Nezihe Muhiddin;Türk kadınının politik hakları ABSTRACT In this study, it is aimed to research the changing situation of Turkish women before and after the republic. Also, this paper takes a brief look at the most common argument about the rights of Turkish women granted by the early republican regime and its ideal womanhood image. It is undeniable that one of the main goals of the Kemalist regime was to radically change the status of Turkish women and transform them into responsible, self-confident citizens on the way of making the young Turkish republic a modern and Westernized country. As regards to this, some assumptions are put forward. One of these is that Turkish women acquired their rights without any struggle thanks to the new regime. The other one is that they were ahead of many European women as they received their political rights earlier. Another assumption is that Turkish women’s new image was used as an indicator of the modernization and Westernization. There are some arguments both refuting and supporting this view. The stance of the new regime to the women movements and unions of the period is also controversial in terms of reflecting its point of view. It is highly evident that Atatürk’s reforms empowered Turkish women; nevertheless, the policies of the early republic related to women had still some contradictions in it. Keywords: Turkish women rights; Turkish republican period; women of the young republic; Mustafa Kemal and women rights ; Turkish Women’s Union ; Nezihe Muhiddin ; Turkish women’s suffrage İstanbul Üniversitesi, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Kadın Çalışmaları Tezli Yüksek Lisans Programı. 1 26 ERKEN DÖNEM CUMHURİYET DÖNEMİ ÖNCESİ VE SONRASINDA TÜRK KADINI Introduction The developments in the status of the Turkish women can be studied according to the social developments, which marked their status. The scope of this paper is to briefly assess some details of Turkish women’s participation in political life and their new social status determined by the new regime. The essays in this thesis have been divided into four sections. The first chapter presents a historical background of the women movements especially during the Tanzimat and Constitutional periods in the Ottoman State. This is followed by the second section in which what Turkish women attained following the declaration of the republic is discussed. In its sub- sections, the advantages and the disadvantages of the Civil Code along with the other social reforms regarding to women’s status in early republic are mentioned. In the third chapter, both the activities of the Turkish women’s union and who Nezihe Muhiddin is are talked about. Its other sub-section deals with the enfranchisement of Turkish women and the dissolvement of the union. The last section is devoted to the presenting a comprehensive analysis of the new Turkish woman image from the republican regime and Mustafa Kemal’s point of view. In this chapter, some arguments about the connection between the Kemalist reforms and the Turkish women are also dealt with. In conclusion, in this report, the well-known assumptions suggesting that Turkish women had passed beyond Western women through their suffrage and they achieved it without a considerable effort thanks to the Kemalist reforms are enlightened. Furthermore, the debate on whether Turkish women were used as an instrument of Westernization or another concept is discussed. Moreover, whether republican reforms had been able to remove essentially wide national disparities or not is briefly discussed. 27 Beren SAFRANBOLULU 1. THE SITUATION OF THE WOMEN BEFORE THE TURKISH REPUBLIC DAYS 1.1. The Tanzimat Era To understand the status of Turkish women today, it is crucial to look over what their role in social and private life was in ancient Turkish states. The practices of the ancient Turkish states on the women life differed from the ones in the period followed by the adoption of Islam. To illustrate; polygamy was in practice in the former as well as including some restrictions. In addition, women were granted the right of ownership only when there was no male heir. Another practice that interested the women life was the tradition of leviratus, which means marrying the stepmother or the wife of the brother who died. Its main goal was to keep both the widow woman and the family possessions. Men were forced to treat his wives equally according to the rules of polygamy. With the adoption of Islam, the polygamy practice was permitted only if woman had an illness or she was not childbearing. Furthermore, women were granted the right of ownership in spite of having only 1/3.2 When it comes to the situation of Ottoman women before the Tanzimat era, it would not be wrong to claim almost every Ottoman sultan had a decree organizing and determining the borders of women’s life-style. Generally, these firmans were under three headings as the ones organizing their appearance, their relation with men and their public visibility. It must be noted that the Ottoman woman was both economically and socially active. They were interested in not only trade activities but also social ones thereby taking place almshouse, hospitals, bridges, fountains construction.3 Besides, it must be told that with the (...truncated)