Kadın Gazetesi (1947-1979): Continuities and Changes in the Kemalist Women’s Discourses on Nation and Women

Abstract

This paper will study Kadın Gazetesi (1947-1979), one of the woman magazines published for the longest time in Turkey. Among the woman magazines in Turkey most of which are fashion and family magazines, Kadın Gazetesi has a peculiar place in terms of the centrality of politics on its agenda, its consistent perception of women as political beings and its persistent commitment to the ‘woman problem.’

This study will focus on the magazine to explore the Kemalist women’s discourses on nation and women, whether these discourses changed; whether these Kemalist women lost their enthusiasm toward the nationalist project. The magazine, published by the Kemalist women, was characterized by a strong cooperation with the regime, a firm commitment to the Kemalist ideals of modernization and nationalism; and an instrumental understanding of women’s rights. To that extent, despite its peculiarity among the woman magazines, the Kemalist women in the magazine borrowed and sometimes mimicked the voice of the ‘malestream’ politicians, especially in the early decades of the magazine. Furthermore, the daughters of the Republic most often had the privilege to talk in the name of a homogenous category of ‘woman’ while they also constructed some ‘others’ most of whom were women.