Women's Role In The Ottoman Empire

Throughout time, women have left a significant impact on the culture and outlook of one of the largest and longest-lasting nations in world history: the Ottoman Empire. As would be expected, the role of women has transformed and adapted throughout the empire’s long breadth of control along with larger cultural shifts. However, an accurate idea of life as a whole for women living in the Ottoman empire from the 13th century to 1920s can be found in a variety of documents describing their role in the context of the law, the home, and society as a whole.
While women in the Ottoman Empire seemed equal to their male counterparts on paper, it appears that many lacked the basic civil rights of today in practice. The patriarchy's rigid tradition often

dissuaded women from attempting to set their own goals and living freely. As a result, many felt trapped within the confines of their husbands wishes, as evidenced by a feminist who wrote of the lasting effects of the social stigmas surrounding women, "Today a woman lacks the rights to live and be free … her life is dominated by a father, . . . a uncle, a husband or a brother who takes advantage of traditions and customs". As a woman living in the post-Ottoman era, the writer is able to speak to the enduring social prejudices and the modern assumption that men are to be the keepers of their female relatives (document three). Similarly, a female activist living in the late Ottoman Empire called into question the paradox of the writings that claim women to be the equals of men in the eyes of the law, "Why is it that the Turkish woman is equal in the eyes of the law and like any other citizen must pay taxes, yet does not have the right to vote and be elected to office?” .