Gilpin observer., 1920-01-01
WOMEN IN TURKEY
Mistake to Class Them as "Toys
of the Harem.'
Under the Law They Have Absolute
Control of Their Own Property,
Which All Western Women
Have Not.

Some extremely modern young
women. who mistake symptoms for the
causes of woman's independence,
should make a tour of Turkey" sug-
gests a bulletin from the Washington
headquarters of the National Geo
graphic society. There women
smoke. have had property rights for
centuries. and divorce is easy. but who
in all reSpects-wants to be Turk
The toys of the Turkish harems' were
to be pitied in many ways. 1t is true,
but considerable pity for them has
been misdirected. For example. the
Turkish women who now are to be
'emancipated' have had absolute con-
troll of their own property for hun
dreds of years, whereas the German
wives cried in vain for such 'emanci-
patton under the kaiser"
The bulletin quotes from n comniun-
ication by Mary Mills Patrick. which
gives vivid picture Of the condition
of Turkish women before the world
war, as follows:
1T is well-known fact that Roman
law regarded the rights of the indi-
vidual without consideration of sex !;
man or woman was alike citizen
of the Roman world. This met the re-
quirements of Mohammedan life,
where no woman ever necessarily sus-
tained lasting relation with any man.
Therefore, during all the centuries
OF MOhammedan history, women have
legally controlled their own property.
They have been free to buy, sell, or
ALLEVIATE 1t without consulting any
male relative. This has given them in
dependence Of thought and an infiu-
ence In business affairs that seems
wholly inconsistent with their life of
comparative personal slavery.
ENTER harem and there you see a
Circassian beauty, who has been newly
acquired by the tall. handsome pasha
who has just passed you in the street.
The air Is heavy with the odor Of
eastern perfume. and the black eunuch
stands by the door to watch all who
come and go. The beauty herself is
thickly powdered. with an elaborate
coiffure erected by her numerous
maids. Jewels half cover her arms,
and she wears beautifully embroi-
dered negligee. There is languorous
expression in her black eyes, as she
sits idly smoking cigarette and sip
ping Turkish coffee.
would you think. to look at her.
that when she draws her money from
the bank that she must sign her own
check? These two sides of life have
been wholly at variance with each
other; but. as years have gone by. the
thoughtful side has predominated
among the more intellectual Moham-
medan women, until now they are
ready, to enter into the affairs of today
with an understanding and vigor
which the world has never accredited
to them.
ut has been on the social side that
MOhammedan women have suffered
most under the oppression of the past,
especially from the frequency of d.
vOrce. A man could legally divorce
his wife at any minute, the only con-
dition being the payment of the dowry
which was settled upon her by the
husband at the time Of her marriage.
"In the last attempt to keep the sex
in the role assigned to them by the life
Of the harem, very strict laws have
been made to prevent all possible prog
ress among them. Laws have been
proclaimed over and over again for
bidding Mohammedan women to at
tend foreign schools. In this emer-
gency they engaged governesses. Most
Of these governesses were aliens. and
many of them were inefficient, and bad
moral guides to so large portion of
the population beginning to think and
question. The governess system OBJ
tanned so much influence after a short
time that laws were made fOrbidding
women to have governesses. Yet they
struggled on in an effort for mental
illumination, reading, writing. talking
things over among themselves, and
sometimes getting help from their hus-
brnds and brothers. They have ac-
cOmplished much, with so heavy han
dicap. In literature, science, COM
marco ond nnIfttrS