Turkey Trots to New Wedding March

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 862, 4 January 1930, Page 16

Turkey Trots to New Wedding March

SHE boyish bob and the boyish swagger have travelled so far away from home that now even Turkish women, who were known to be fat and veiled, have shorn their locks and have adopted the Hollywood diet to have a girlish figure.

“Up to six years ago every Turkish home had a harem.” says Miss Selma Ekrem. a very charming young Turkish woman who had much to do with Turkish reform. “Women in the cities had very little chance to do anything except sit around and grow fat. This was especially true of those of the upper classes, who employed slat'es and personal maids because for one of high birth to participate in any active work “wasn’t done.” "But Turkey isn't the same as it was. A woman formerly ran the risk of violating a moral code if she appeared in public wearing a hat, and the baud of the law was so heavy on a woman who dared to appear with her face exposed that even her parents were held liable as parties to the crime.

“But since Turkey became a republic, the tables have turned. Men are now arrested if they wear any headgear on the street other than a modern hat.”

Miss Ekrem was one of a very small group of girls who lived in progressive homes. She said that, with parental approval she never covered her face, though the truth of the matter is that she went about with a pulse running high and a palpitating heart. Every time a policeman passed her on the street she would quicken her step before he could make up his mind whether she was defying the law or merely a European girl on tour.

Among her friends there were comparatively few whose parents would welcome a girl clad in a European dress and hat. Her younger sister watching Selma’s struggle for reform, decided it wasn’t worth the effort and donned the veil.

Though polygamy was the accepted thing in Turkey and a man was permitted to take four wives. Miss Ekrem’s father didn’t choose to marry more than once.

“A man didn’t have to take several wives in Turkey; it was always optional. Those who took many wives had to be prepared for a lot of trouble,” she explains. “The moment he took another woman into the house, he had to treat all alike. If he gave jewels to one w'if,e, he had to give the same to the others. If he wanted to present one with a house, he could do it only if he had enough houses to distribute among all his wives. If he showed favouritism, the injured woman could appeal to the court and win her rights.”

But the new Turkey is different. Though former polygamous marriages cannot be retracted, it is now unlawful for a. man to contract plural marriages. Furthermore, a man must declare his intentions three weeks ahead, so that it can be announced in the Press; then, he goes through a civil wedding which is recorded. And if he wants a religious ceremony, too, that is his

Harem Daughters Hold One Man to Marital Fidelity The Right to Secure Divorce. .

own affair, because it isn't compulsory by law any more. But no priest wili marry him unless he presents a certificate to show that he has been legally married first. “Women have made even greater progress,” Miss Ekrem said. “Now they, too, can sue for divorce. The grounds are incompatibility, desertion and unfaithfulness. Turkish women have equal right.” But the veil? Have the spectrallooking women, clad in dark veils tied under a hood disappeared entirely from the public streets? “The law makes it optional,” Miss Ekram said. “To force them to remove the tcharshaf would be unwise, because reform is much more effective if it is advanced by example rather than by force. Freedom has so many attractions that it is reasonable to assume that all woman will take advantage of it before very long.” Turkish girls go to parties now and meet their boy friends a la mode. If they choose to marry before the age of 21 they must obtain parental consent. After that it is up to them. But Turkish boys and girls have such great respect for their elders. Miss Ekrem says, that an unmarried child, irrespective of age, wouldn’t think of defying parental disapproval. Even more than that, a Turkish girl wouldn’t dream of lighting a cigarette when her mother is around. It’s disrespectful. Mothers expect their daughters to smoke, as they did before them for ages back. But until a girl branches out into a home of her own, the privilege of smoking belongs entirely to the mother. Selma Ekrem herself is a very modern-looking young woman. She is a little above medium height, slender, and she walks with a boyish swagger. Her English is fluent, with only a slight foreignism here and there. Walking through the streets in a sports costume, no one would sus-

pect that she is a Turkish you nr woman. She has been through four wars aad a term in gaol, when her father Governor of the Aegean and she w a , arrested by the Greeks for a suspected political offence. Since the World War she has beeu an ardent worker ■in the emancipation of Turkish women. “This is only half the story,” Miss Ekrem says. “All that I have sajd applies to conditions in the cities. But in that part of Turkey which is in Asia Minor it may be years and years before we can hope to brine about reform. "Those are the backwoods people who have been little touched by C iv. ilisation. Until very, very recently when we began to build the railways’ they never saw- outsiders. Now they are getting their first glimpse, for the most part, of people outside of their own little hamlets. “This is especially true of the women. They, their mothers and their grandmothers have always been busv from morning until night, farming spinning all their fabrics and making all the family clothes. “You must remember that Turkey always was at war with someone. As far back as I can remember, a war of one kind or another was disturbing the country. Consequently these backwoodsmen were away from home a good deal and, being poor folk, the entire care of the land and the household fell to the women. “The women have developed into excellent farmers. Although their men haven’t been fighting for several years, they still go out and work with their husbands. “Throughout the warmer seasons you’ll see women tilling and hoeing and collecting provisions for the leaner months. If they didn’t store supplies away for the winter they’d starve and have no clothes to wear.” Their dress is different from that of women in the cities. They wear pantaloons, a short skirt, and a shawl wound around the head, which covers the greater part of the face. Miss Ekrem believes that it may take another whole generation to reform these backwoods women. “I am afraid we can’t hope to do very much with the older women; and because of the ignorance, even among the young, it may stir up too much family protest if we attempt to educate the children in the newer ideas. “But we expect that the younger girls will learn modern ideas in time. Now that the railroads allow an Influx of people, modern young men and women are going out to live in th« Suburbs. A friend of mine, for instance, settled among the country folk because her husband was commissioned to do some work out there. Both of them dress in European clothes, and though the peasants were shocked at first, they are getting used to the idea. “Consequently, the progressives aren't making any attempt to use drastic measures. They are satisfied to think that reform, even among the backwoods women, will come before very long.”