Kamil Pasha

Articles I cited in blog entries below about women scientists in the Muslim world mention, among other things, that even if women do manage to get an education as a scientist, their career prospects after graduation are dismal. Women face social, cultural and religious pressure to marry, become housewives, raise children, and remain distant from strangers, especially men. With Turkey’s high percentage of women in the professions, one might think things are different there. But in fact women make up less than 30% of the Turkish labor force (ILO). There is still enormous pressure on women of all classes to give up education and careers when they marry — and to cover their heads.

The article below relates the stories of the wives of prominent members of the AKP government. There is a common theme: arranged marriage at a very young age (15) with a much older man, covering the head at marriage, and leaving school or job to become a housewife.

If this is what women choose, then it is fine to devote oneself to the home and family. But the pattern in these womens’ stories is so similar and resonates with stories I have been told by covered women looking back regretfully at unfinished educations and missed opportunities for knowing the world and, as one woman put it, “contributing to my nation”.

Will allowing women to wear the headscarf at universities give them greater freedom to continue their chosen path when they marry? Or does there need to be some soul-searching in the conservative community? It is easier, of course, to blame the secularists and the Turkish state for keeping conservative women out of school and professions. Perhaps once the headscarf issue is off the political table, conservative women can take up another cause — women’s rights and empowerment within the family and community. Women who want to learn and work should be able to. The fact that the barrier to this is “soft pressure” from families and husbands doesn’t make it any less oppressive.

“The story of how wives of senior AKP members covered up” Turkish Daily News (click here)

Tags: Headscarf Debate, Rights, Science, Women //