User:Anastasiagolev/sandbox

Social Life[edit]
During the Ottoman empire, many women's interactions were limited to socialization's among fellow women, and members of their family. Women socialized with each other at their homes and also at bathhouses. High society women, particularly those who did not live in the palace, visited one another at each other’s homes. Those who lived in the palace were subject to strict etiquette that prevented ease of socializing. Townswomen visited each other at home and also at the bath-house, which was an important social ritual. Women would bring their finest bathing accessories, such as embroidered towels and high, wooden sandals.[24] As with any society, style of dresses played an important role in the social lives of Ottoman women. According to the wife of the British ambassador to Istanbul during the 18th century, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, the attire of Ottoman women "reflected their dignity and rights" .[25] The way an Ottoman woman dressed indicated not only her status in society but also the occasion. There were two categories to dress: the clothing for daily dress and the attire for special occasions. [25] With the spread of Western influence during the 18th century, Ottoman women had increased interactions with European women. These interactions gave way to new changes in the social lives of Ottoman women. To be able to communicate with European women, they learned French.[25] The interactions with Westerners during this period changed the social lives of many Ottoman Women. This advancement created a new connection between Ottoman and European women; it became normal to invite and accept European acquaintances into their homes and their lives.

Education[edit]
Prior to the nineteenth century, there did not exist formal public education for Ottoman women. Education for women began at a young age and in the privacy of their homes: girls were taught household duties. Young Ottoman girls were taught through the Harem education; they learned skills such as "sewing, embroidery, playing the harp, singing, and memorizing the customs and ceremonies". [26]

Tanzimat reforms of the nineteenth century brought additional rights to women, particularly in education. Some of the first schools for girls, called "Rüştiyes", opened in 1858, followed by a boom in 1869 when elementary education was rendered mandatory.[27] During the 1860's, many new educational opportunities existed for Ottoman women. This decade saw the first middle-level schools, a teacher training college and industrial schools, called "İnas Sanayi Mektepleri", which were created concurrently with industrial schools for boys.[27] Whereas men’s education focused on job training, women’s education focused on shaping girls to evolve into better Muslim wives and mothers with refined social graces.[26] Women that began their education during their adolescence started by focusing on the formal skills that they lacked, for example their manner to speak, reading and writing. The schools taught a variety of subjects and as mentioned before, incorporated harem education into the new public education. [28]

Movement for women’s education was sparked in large part by women’s magazines, the most recognized among them being Hanimlara Mahsus Gazette (The Ladies’ Own Gazette), which ran for fourteen years and was successful enough to have established its own press. With managing editors and staff writers primarily being women, the magazine aimed to enable women to evolve into better mothers, wives, and Muslims. Its topics varied between discussions of feminism, fashion, economic imperialism and autonomy, comparisons of Ottoman modernization with Japanese modernization, and technology. The magazine also included the usual content of a middle class women's magazine of the nineteenth century: royal gossip, the science of being a housewife, health, improving fiction, and child rearing.”[29] Examples include: patterns for home sewing based on European fashions and advertisements for Singer sewing machines.

Politics[edit source]
Prior to the sixteenth century, women did not hold a great deal of political power. This shift occurred when Süleyman the Magnificent ascended the throne in 1494. Under Süleyman's rule, the imperial harem was moved to the palace Early Years. Women of the Sultan's Imperial Harem achieved more power during the sixteenth century because the closer proximity allowed for more influence. This period during Süleyman's reign until the mid-seventeenth century, was referred to as the “Sultanate of Women”. Notably, most women of the Imperial Harem were slaves. Slavery was common in the Ottoman Empire, and the Sultan's wives and concubines would often be slaves themselves. However, the mother of the Sultan, who would herself have likely been a slave in the Harem, would garner the special status of Valide Sultan. This Queen Mother enjoyed enormous political power. The Queen Mother and leading concubines aided in the creation of domestic political factions, in negotiation with foreign ambassadors and as advisers to the sultan. The importance of the Imperial Harem grew as women became more politically involved; with this growth, more opportunities for women were opened as well. During this era, high-ranking women were politically empowered and were granted public importance. Two important figures that modeled the public importance of the queen regent were Kösem Sultan and Turhan Sultan: with their roles, they transitioned the relationship of the queen mother and her son from a strictly private one to one that incorporated the empire. Despite the new prominence of the Imperial Harem, most of the women remained constricted to its wall. Only the queen mother exercised mobility outside the Imperial Harem: even this mobility was limited. The queen mother would attend public ceremonies and even meetings with high ranking government officials, all the while remaining heavily veiled. Due to their confinement, the women of the Imperial Harem had many networks that aided in their political power. But their power was great within the Imperial Harem itself as well. The queen mother and leading concubines had the capability to shape the careers of the harem's officials by arranging marriages of princesses or of manumitted slaves. These unions boded well for those who arranged them because they would create relationships. The women in the Imperial Harem would then have agents that would aid them which allotted them more power.