San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1888-09-20
THE BALKAN PENINSULA.
Conservative Ideas Of the Turkish W.
men-Thomas Stevens Views.

Conservative Ideas Of the Turkish Wo-
men-Thomas Stevens Views.
In all countries the most conservative part
OF, the population are the women, and par
ticu|arly is this the case in the east. "A man
may change his religion, his politics, his race
and social prejudices, and sever his allie
glance to king and country, even in the Bal
kan states, where these matters assume he
roic Importance. The Oriental woman, how
ever, opposes with conservatism that is
sublimely tenacious, all change, all progress
in these directions, and stranger still, all
tendency toward her own emancipation.
If q movement wereset on feot to do away
with the yashmak face veiD and the life of
seclusion led by women in Turkey, the
Turkish woman herself would oppose the
innovation stronger than anybody. She re-
CARDS her position in society from a very
different standpoint to our ideas. To US she
seems prisoner, fettered and trammeled by
the chains Of a barbarous social systemN that
persists in treating her as an animal who Is
the property of her husband
II we could we would take her by the hand,
remove her yaShmak, take away The lattice
work from the harem windows, and give. her
the same freedom as our own women enjoy.
We would introduce her to the ball room, to
the drawing room, permit her to mingle and
converse with gentlemen and 60 become q
social being In doing al this we should, of
course, be governed by the kindest motive,
no more, no less, than thss Of securing for the
Turkish woman social freedom and elevation,
and, consequently, according to our ideas,
increased happiness
Nothing is more certain, however, than
that the Turkish woman would raise her
hands in virtuQus horror at such PROPOSE
ton. She doesn't consider herself slave or
prisoner, by any means. She believes that
she enjoys far greater measure of freedom
than the European or American lady. The
barrier that separates her from the world at
large, gives her a little world, all her own,
to do as she pleases in. Whilst her more I'M
fortunate sisters Of the west are forever under
the critical and censorious eyes of the oppo-
site sex, she is able to snap her fin
gers behind the veil of mystery that no man
dare lift without her permission. Not even
her own husband dare presume to violate
her incognito in public, nor dare he invade
her apartments, in his own house, without
permission. All this the Turkish woman re-
CARDS as real freedom, which she would in
no wise change for the social condition of
the women of FRANCISCAN. Our sympathy
for interference in her behalf she neither
asks nor desires
But despite all this conservatism and aver
sion to change, the Turkish woman reserves
to herself womans prerogative to be just
wee bit inconsistent with herself. Change
she will not listen to for moment-yet she
has changed, and keeps on changing But it
IL -, fLay ". e IND
httle. matter of feminine apparel within the
precincts of her own exclusive world. Here
the Turkish lady has of late seen fit to imi-
tate the modes of Paris and Vienna, whilst
for outdoor COSTUMES she still clings to the
old feridji and veiL-Thomas Stevens in
Woman.