Feminism in Turkey: Boundaries and the Possibility of Infringement
Feminism in Turkey: Boundaries and the Possibility of Infringement

Author(s): Aksu Bora
Subject(s): Gender Studies, Local History / Microhistory
Published by: Centar za ženske studije & Centar za studije roda i politike, Fakultet političkih nauka, Beograd
Summary/Abstract: FEMINISM, RISING AFTER 1980 AS A SOCIAL-POLITICAL MOVEMENT IN TURKEY, HAS BEEN MUCH CRITICIZED FOR BEING STRUCTURED ON A MIDDLE-CLASS BASIS; IT IS TRUE: FEMINISM ACTUALLY DID START AS A MIDDLE-CLASS MOVEMENT. THE VANGUARDS OF THE MOVEMENT WERE, TO A GREAT DEGREE, WOMEN FROM THE DIRECTORY BODIES OF DEMOCRATIC MASS ORGANIZATIONS, THE LEFT-WING FORMATIONS OF THE PRE-1980 PERIOD (THE YEAR OF COUP D’ETAT). THEY WERE WELL-EDUCATED, METROPOLITAN--AT LEAST FOR TWO GENERATIONS--WOMEN WHO WERE ABLE TO FOLLOW FEMINIST LITERATURE IN WESTERN LANGUAGES. THUS, ANOTHER BASIC TENET OF THE MOVEMENT HAS BEEN THAT THIS “DISCOVERY OF FEMINISM” WAS MAINLY VIA WESTERN SOURCES, THAT WOMEN WERE RE-ANALYZING THEIR LIVES THROUGH WESTERN LENSES. IN ADDITION, WE CAN CLAIM THAT THE RADICAL CHARACTERISTIC OF THE MOVEMENT WAS PARTIALLY DEPENDENT UPON THIS MIDDLE-CLASS CHARACTERISTIC.

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