"Muslim Lite: Women, Islam and the Turkish Way" by Roger Friedland, Visiting Professor, New York University-Abu Dhabi, in the Huffington Post (image above linked from this article)
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
History and Headscarves in Politics - Turkey
Often when we are looking up news stories concerning head coverings, the country of Turkey appears. Its history, especially the recent past, can be confusing to many. In Turkey, the secular West struggles with the conservative Muslim population, in all areas, and especially as things concern women. Conservative women cannot attend university or get many jobs if they choose to wear a head covering, and secular women feel that the growing popularity of Islamic political groups threatens to keep them from jobs or other opportunities. It is a time for open eyes and minds, and for real investigation of all the different ways of life. If Turkey has you stumped, you have to keep up with it. The article linked below gives a brief though quite helpful overview of the situation for women in Turkey, which may help us to all better understand others in the world, and the confusion surrounding the head covering in other places too.
"Muslim Lite: Women, Islam and the Turkish Way" by Roger Friedland, Visiting Professor, New York University-Abu Dhabi, in the Huffington Post (image above linked from this article)
"Muslim Lite: Women, Islam and the Turkish Way" by Roger Friedland, Visiting Professor, New York University-Abu Dhabi, in the Huffington Post (image above linked from this article)
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Anyone interested in this absolutely must read Orhan Pamuk!:D He won the nobel price in 2006 and I would definitly recommend his novel Kar from 2002 -In English translation, Snow, 2004It is not only in the West that veils has been forbidden from public spaces. Sveral middle eastern countries, amongst them turkey have had/has similar laws.
Snow takes place in a smalltown in Turkey in the early 1990. Some women at this University refuse to stop wearing veils when they are told to do so by the secular, nationalistic politicans in charge. They become put under a hell of a lot of (different kinds of) pressures! Other women join them in protest and one woman gets so emotionally pressured that she gets deeply depressed and feels life is meaningless and commits suicide!
All that has alredy happened when the real story starts. The most apparent character of the veiled girls is an ex-model, who came there from a vesternized life in Istanbul. she came first out of curiosity, to meet girls who apparently liked to wear veils. She then became one of them and even their leader! The politicians decide to focus on making her take of her veil to break the whole group. They both threats and tempts her. The end is very suprising, I would say neither side wins.
If you should read any part of this book read about the theatre-cup!:) It is two theatre shows in the end of the book and the second one is the most hypnotical, physologically scary thing i´ve ever read!
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