Fréderike Geerdink - independent journalist

Special protection

05/10/2007/0 Comments/in Other /by fgeerdink

It’s so nice, when Father State takes care of you and protects you. That’s why it surprises me so much that women’s organisations are not happy with the new draft Constitution, which will be subject to a referendum on the 21st of this month. In the Constitution that needs to be replaced, there was a line about the equality of men and women, and in the draft Constitution this equality is replaced by an article, number 9, that says women are ‘a group in need of special protection’, just like ‘children, elderly and handicapped people’. Women’s organisations were quick to release a press statement, in which they state that women are not a group but individuals, and that women constitute half the population in Turkey and are citizens who deserve equal opportunities in every field of life.
These women, so emotional really…

Getting some exercise

25/09/2007/0 Comments/in Other /by fgeerdink

I had some good intentions when I moved from a central Anatolian town to Istanbul at the beginning of August. In Istanbul I was going to find a gym and get some serious exercise. Of course I haven’t done this yet, because, well, it’s a fact of life that before you start getting fit there’s a lot of postponing to be done. What I did do is enrol in a Turkish course at Dilmer Language School. And guess what? On the walk from the boat at Kabataş to Dilmer, there are stairs. Tonight I counted them: all together there are 243 steps! Three times a week, once up, once down. Now that’s serious exercise!

Lifting the headscarf ban

20/09/2007/0 Comments/in Other /by fgeerdink

Whether the army, the university rectors or the opposition want it or not, I don’t think the ban on wearing headscarves at university will survive much longer. The ruling AK Parti is working on a new constitution to replace the one made by the army when it ruled in the early 1980’s. Part of it will, as all the signs show, lift the ban on headscarves in universities. Among other things, the constitution will give the democratic principles of the state a more solid ground, and will for example also give more rights to minorities (like the right to teach Kurdish in state schools) and more legal rights for individual citizens.
But for now, the discussion is about the headscarf, once again. Prime Minister Erdogan states that it is not right that the possibility of a woman going to university should depend on what she wears. In European countries, he says, this is not a problem, so why should it be in Turkey? There is a difference between Turkey and, let’s say, Italy, the Netherlands or Germany: in Turkey, around 60% of the women wear a headscarf. What will happen when around half of the women at university come to class covered?, the opposition asks. They think that uncovered women feel pressured by it, and feel they have to cover themselves too.
It’s an interesting discussion. But somehow, the self proclaimed defenders of women’s rights underestimate women. As if a woman who never wanted to cover herself would so easily be pressured into wearing a scarf. Most women here are stronger then that. And when the headscarf is allowed, who says it will not have the opposite effect: wearing one can then no longer be used as sort of a ‘statement’, like some women use it for now.
I can’t wait to see what will happen if the headscarf ban is lifted. Or rather when the headscarf ban is lifted. For it will be, sooner or later. And then we will see whether women will be strong enough to follow their own beliefs. I’m not too worried.