• About
  • Policies
  • What is open access
  • Library
  • Contact
Advanced search
      View Item 
      •   BUIR Home
      • University Library
      • Bilkent Theses
      • Theses - Department of History
      • Dept. of History - Ph.D. / Sc.D.
      • View Item
      •   BUIR Home
      • University Library
      • Bilkent Theses
      • Theses - Department of History
      • Dept. of History - Ph.D. / Sc.D.
      • View Item
      JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

      Struggling for individuality: the Istanbul YWCA

      Thumbnail
      Embargo Lift Date: 2022-03-14
      View / Download
      1.7 Mb
      Author(s)
      Karabağ, Müzeyyen
      Advisor
      Weisbrode, Kenneth
      Date
      2021-08
      Publisher
      Bilkent University
      Language
      English
      Type
      Thesis
      Item Usage Stats
      234
      views
      126
      downloads
      Abstract
      This study argues that the YWCA’s mainly American staff, observing that familial, social and educational structure prevented women from independent decision-making in Istanbul, promoted individuality by their labor and health practices between 1913-1930. The YWCA contributed to a discourse on the role of women that accentuated their individuality by promoting an autonomous professional identity instead of women’s maternal and marital roles. Putting emphasis on their individual’s needs first, they encouraged women to stand on their own, and to formulate and pursue their own professional goals as well as take care of themselves. The YWCA’s American staff promoted both having a profession and a healthy body as aims in and of themselves without links to nationalism, or motherhood, thus forming a contrast with the late Ottoman State’s and Early Republican state’s ideologies while simultaneously challenging the gender roles and patriarchal codes. Their prioritizing having a career over marriage and motherhood contributed to feminist activism.
      Keywords
      Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA)
      Working women
      Individuality
      Career
      Health
      Permalink
      http://hdl.handle.net/11693/76515
      Collections
      • Dept. of History - Ph.D. / Sc.D. 57
      Show full item record

      Browse

      All of BUIRCommunities & CollectionsTitlesAuthorsAdvisorsBy Issue DateKeywordsTypeDepartmentsCoursesThis CollectionTitlesAuthorsAdvisorsBy Issue DateKeywordsTypeDepartmentsCourses

      My Account

      Login

      Statistics

      View Usage StatisticsView Google Analytics Statistics

      Bilkent University

      If you have trouble accessing this page and need to request an alternate format, contact the site administrator. Phone: (312) 290 2976
      © Bilkent University - Library IT

      Contact Us | Send Feedback | Off-Campus Access | Admin | Privacy