Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1920-03-11
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


women, who mistake symptoms for the
causes OF woman's independence.
should make tour OF Turkey" sug-
rests a bulletin from the Washington
headquarters OF the National Geo
graphic society. There women
smoke. have had property rights for
scnturies. and divorce is easy. but who
The toys of the Turkish harems' were
% be pitied In many ways, IL 10 true,
mt considerable pity for them has
Been misdirected. For example. the
Turkish women who now are to be
'emancipated' have had absolute con-
mol OF their own property for hun
Areds OF years, whereas the German
wives cried in vain for such 'emanci-
patton under the kaiser"
The bulletin quotes from a commun-
scation 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
q man or woman was alike citizen
Of the Roman world. This met the re-
quirements of Mohammedan life,
where no woman ever necessarily sus-
tanned a 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 IL without consulting any
male relative. This has given them in
dependence OF thought and an influ-
ence in business affairs that seems
wholly inconsistent with their life OF
comparative personal slavery
Enter harem and there you see
Circassian beauty. who has been newly
acquired by the tall, handsome pasha
who has Just passed you i'm 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 20. The beauty herself is
thickly powdered, with an elaborate
couture erected by her numerous
maids. Jewels half cover her arms,
and she wears a beautifully embroi-
dered negligee. There is languorous
expression In her black eyes, as she
sits idly smoking cigarette and Slp-
ping Turkish coffee.
would you think, TO look ar 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 M understanding and vgor
which the world has never accredited
10 them.
1T has been on the social side that
hohammedan women have suffered
most under the oppression of the past,
especially from the frequency of di-
vorce. A man could legally divorce
his wife at any minute, the only con-
dltion being the payment Of the dowry
which was sett'Id upon her by the
nuSDHIu VI lht tilut OF ntf lllhFIl0ke.
'In The last attempt 10 keep the sex
IN the role assigned to them by the life
OF the harem very strict laws have
been made 10 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-
Eency they engaged governesSes. Most
of these governesses were aliens, aud
many OF them were inefficient, and bad
moral guides 10 50 large portion of
the population beginning to think and
question. The governese system OBJ
tanned so much influence after 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-
bands and brothers. They have ac-
complshed much, with so heavy a han
dicap, in literature, science, com
merce and politics"