CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2014
| Author | Soylu, Oguz |
|---|---|
| Title | THE BAN ON ABORTION AND THE POLITICIZATION OF WOMEN'S BODIES IN EARLY REPUBLICAN TURKEY BETWEEN 1923-1946 |
| Summary | This thesis explores the politicization of Turkish women’s bodies in early republican Turkey, between 1923-1946, with regard to the ban on abortion and socio-political discourses of motherhood propaganda. After the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey on October 29, 1923, the early republican regime granted many modernized rights to women within the project of women’s emancipation. However, at the same time, the new regime criminalized abortion and initiated strong pro-natalist policies by bringing reproduction under the state’s biological control. In addition, new legislations passed contained some articles which had unequal treatment of women and put them in a secondary position in their private lives, and new educational structures directed girls to take gendered lessons to be ideal mothers and virtuous wives. By analyzing these formations as an important background for the ban on abortion, this thesis explores the politicization of women’s bodies in terms of the ban on abortion, pro-natalist concerns, and their later mixing with eugenic discourses in which women were also strongly encouraged to bring up sturdy children for the future of the nation in addition to being expected to give more birth. At that point, the thesis also presents the legislations and social discourses regarding the idiosyncratic nature of eugenic concerns in order to show socio-political transformations began in the 1930s. By benefiting the contemporary journals, books, and newspaper stories, this thesis also shows the social representation of strict slander of abortion and glorification of motherhood in early republican Turkey. |
| Supervisor | Iordachi, Constantin and Levy-Aksu, Noemi |
| Department | History MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2014/soylu_oguz.pdf |
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