4. Page | iii
GWS CONFERENCE 2015 COMMITTEES
Scientific Committee
Conference Chair: Prof. Yıldız Ecevit
Prof. Ayşe Ayata
Prof. Ayşe Gündüz Hoşgör
Prof. Ayşe Saktanber
Prof. Feride Acar
Prof. Mehmet Ecevit
Assoc. Prof. Canan Aslan-Akman
Assoc. Prof. F. Umut Beşpınar
Assist. Prof. A. İdil Aybars
Advisory Board
Prof. Aksu Bora Hacettepe University
Prof. Alev Özkazanç Ankara University
Dr. Anita Biressi University ofRoehampton/London
Aslı Davaz Women’s Library and Information Center
Assist. Prof. Aylin Akpınar Marmara University
Prof. Ayşe Durakbaşa Marmara University
Assoc. Prof. Ayşe Gül Altınay Sabancı University
Prof. Belkıs Kümbetoğlu. Yeditepe University
Assist. Prof. Berna Zengin Özyeğin University
Dr. Berrin Balay Middle East Technical University - GİSAM
Prof. Bertil Emrah Oder Koç University
Assoc. Prof. Birsen Talay Keşoğlu Yeditepe University
Prof. Çiğdem Kağıtçıbaşı Koç University
Prof. Deniz Kandiyoti University of London (SOAS)
Prof. Emiko Ochiai University of Kyoto
Prof. Fatima Sadiqi Isis Center for Women and Development
Prof. Fatmagül Berktay İstanbul University
Assoc. Prof. Fatoş Gökşen Koç University
Assist. Prof. Fevziye Sayılan Ankara University
Assoc. Prof. Filiz Kardam Çankaya University
Assist. Prof. Füsun Çoban Döşkaya Dokuz Eylül University
Prof. Gökçe Yurdakul Humboldt University
Assis. Prof. Gökten Doğangün Middle East Technical University
Prof. Gül Özyeğin The College of William and Mary, Williamsburg
Prof. Gülay Toksöz Ankara University
Dr. Gülbanu Altunok Brown University
Prof. Gülriz Uygur Ankara University
Prof. Gülser Kayır Akdeniz University
Prof. Günseli Berik University of Utah
Prof. Güzin Yamaner Ankara University
Dr. Handan Çağlayan Ankara University
Prof. Hande Birkalan Gedik Yeditepe University
Prof. Helma Lutz University of Frankfurt
Assoc. Prof. Hülya Adak Sabancı University
Prof. Hülya Şimga Koç University
Prof. Hülya Tanrıöver Galatasaray University
Assist. Prof. İrem İnceoğlu Kadir Has University
Assoc. Prof. İlknur Yüksel Hacettepe University
Assoc. Prof. İnci Kerestecioğlu İstanbul University
Prof. İnci User Marmara University
Assoc. Prof. Leila Simsek Rathke Marmara University
5. Page | iv
Prof. Maria Tamboukou University of East London
Assoc. Prof. May Lou O'Neil Kadir Has University
Prof. Melek Göregenli Ege University
Assoc. Prof. Melda Yaman Öztürk 19 Mayıs University
Assoc. Prof. Meltem Dayıoğlu Middle East Technical University
Prof. Dr. Mine Tan İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi
Assist. Prof. Nadide Karkıner Eskişehir Anadolu University
Assoc. Prof. Nahide Konak Abant İzzet Baysal University
Prof. Nermin Abadan Unat Boğaziçi University
Dr. Nihal Çelik Lynch Saint Anselm College
Prof. Nurcan Özkaplan Işık University
Assoc. Prof. Nurten Birlik Middle East Technical University
Prof. Nüket Kardam Monterey Institute of International Studies
Prof. Nükhet Sirman Boğaziçi University
Prof. Olcay İmamoğlu Middle East Technical University
Pınar İlkkaracan Boğaziçi University
Assoc. Prof. Pınar Melis Yelsalı İstanbul University
Assist. Prof. Reyhan Atasü Topçuoğlu Hacettepe University
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Saniye Dedeoğlu Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University
Prof. Sedef Arat-Koç University of Ryerson
Prof. Serpil Çakır İstanbul University
Prof. Serpil Sancar Ankara University
Prof. Şule Toktaş Kadir Has University
Assoc. Prof. Sevgi Uçan Çubukçu İstanbul University
Prof. Sevil Sümer University of Bergen
Prof. Şahika Yüksel İstanbul University
Prof. Şemsa Özar Boğaziçi University
Prof. Şevket Bahar Özvarış Hacettepe University
Prof. Tülay Özüerman Dokuz Eylül University
Dr. Ulrike M. Vieten Queen’s University
Prof. Vivienne Wee SIM University
Prof. Yakın Ertürk Middle East Technical University
Prof. Yeşim Arat Boğaziçi University
Prof. Zehra Kabasakal Arat University of Connecticut
Organizing Committee
Conference Chair: Prof. Yıldız Ecevit
Coordinator: Funda Dağdelen
Hilal Arslan
Cansu Dayan
Hakan Türkoğlu
Zahra Ganji
Doğa Ortaköylü
Günce Demir
Güner Yönel
Deniz Fenercioğlu
Student Support Team
Graphic Design
Yasemin Saatçioğlu Oran
6. Page | v
FOREWORD
On behalf of the Advisory Board and Committees of the GWS Conference I am pleased to present you
the e-book of proceedings of the International Conference on Knowledge and Politics in Gender and
Women's Studies organized in the honor of the 20th
Year Anniversary of Gender and Women's Studies
Graduate Programme at Middle East Technical University in October 9-11, 2015.
The main objective of the Conference was to share the knowledge and experience accumulated in the
field of gender and women's studies both specifically in Turkey and in a wider sense around the world.
For this, the Conference aimed at founding a base to discuss theoretical and discursive issues of this
interdisciplinary field on the grounds of knowledge and politics. As such, it was expected to provide
opportunities for intergenerational meetings, and create an intellectual and academic milieu for
collaborative studies.
A group of academics and intellectuals that pioneered women-oriented studies in Turkey, and activists
hand in hand with them concerted efforts to build intergenerational bridges by sharing their work along
with the critical moments and events that influenced their lives academically and politically in six
sessions throughout two days.
All the same an experience-sharing activity was organized by the alumni of Middle East Technical
University Gender and Women's Studies Graduate Program. They shared repercussions and reflections
of being a GWS student on their professional, intellectual and daily lives. Besides, three branches of
activities of arts welded the Conference program to reveal the intertwinement of gender and women's
studies with the aesthetics and creativity of life.
We regretfully ended our conference, which had started in enthusiasm with the participation of widely
dispersed national and international academics, in the evening of the second day due to the vicious
bomb attack occurred on the 10th
of October morning in Ankara Train Station. A shared press release
was written out by the participants condemning the attack.
In this e-book, you will find the proceedings of our 115 participants. With the aim of making the
searching convenient, we have not grouped the proceedings according to their subjects; instead,
preferred to sort them in alphabetical order of the names of the authors.
I would like to thank everyone who shared our enthusiasm and made a contribution to this Conference:
Members of Advisory Board and Scientific Committee for their contribution in the evaluation of the
abstracts; Organization Committee and Voluntary Students Support Team for their dedicated work;
academics for their presentations, and finally graduate students of our programme for their effort in the
publication of this e-book.
Prof. Yıldız Ecevit
Chair
Gender and Women's Studies Graduate Programme
Graduate School of Social Sciences
Middle East Technical University
7. TABLE OF CONTENTS
Gender, Nationality and Public Space: The Case of Emirati Women in Dubai 1
Anke Reichenbach
Gender and Use of Social Power: A Study on the Perception of Private Sector Employees in Turkey 9
Asena Altın Gülova, Deniz Dirik, İnan Eryılmaz
How to Encounter the Historical Omission of Women in the Process of Acquisition of Documents 19
Women-Centered Archives
Aslı Davaz
Can All Women Fight Together? A Discussion Between Ideals and Realities: Alliance and Diversity in 28
Women’s Movements in Turkey
Aslı Polatdemir, Charlotte Binder
Liberal, Critical and Rejectionist Discourses: Voices of Women Activists on Civil Society in Turkey 38
Asuman Özgür Keysan
Media Coverage of International Women’s Day Demonstrations in Turkey After 2002 48
Atilla Barutçu, Figen Uzar Özdemir
Gender Perspective in Electronic Governance Initiative in India: Use of ICT for Women Empowerment 57
Avneet Kaur
Women at Higher Education in Turkey: What Has Changed in 100 Years? 67
Aylin Çakıroğlu Çevik, Ayşe Gündüz Hoşgör
Look Beyond What You See: Engendering Central Anatolian Prehistory 77
Aysel Arslan
Women’s Employment and Fertility: Event-History Analyses of Turkey 87
Ayşe Abbasoğlu Özgören, Banu Ergöçmen, Aysıt Tansel
Solidarity Issues in Domestic Violence Against Women in Turkey 97
Ayşe Çetinkaya Aydın
Women’s Representation in Media: From “The Housewife” to “Sex Object” 107
Ayşe Savaş
From Arranged Marriage to Marriage Brokers: Reconstruction of a Cultural Tradition in Border Regions 117
Ayşe Yıldırım
A Discourse Analysis on Turkey’s Justice and Development Party Government on the Human Rights of 127
Women
Ayşegül Gökalp Kutlu
The Long Journey of Women Into Politics: Will It Ever Be Possible to Reverse the Bad Fortune? 137
Bahar Taner, Esra Arslan, Nilay Hoşaf
8. Women’s Knowledge in “Natural” Food Production 147
Bermal Küçük
A Different Approach to Feminist Standpoint Theory: Kathi Weeks’ View on Women’s “Labor” Practices 155
Berrin Oktay Yılmaz, Ayşe Öztürk, Egemen Kepekçi
Women’s Movements/Groups and the State: Exploring Two Patterns of Engagement 165
Betül Ekşi
The Ottoman Empire’s First Private Women Courses (Bilgi Yurdu Dershanesi) and Its Periodical Bilgi 175
Yurdu Işığı
Birsen Talay Keşoğlu
Appearance as Reference: Women and Lookism in the Labor Market 185
Bojana Jovanovska
The Impact of Educated Women in the Upbringing of Children 195
Brikena Dhuli, Kseanela Sotirofski
Examining Pro-Kurdish Political Parties From Women’s Representation 202
Burcu Nur Binbuğa
Masculine Performatives of Female Body: Queering the Hegemonic? 208
Canan Şahin
Reproduction of Masculine Language Through Caps 218
Çağrı Yılmaz, Kübra Özdemir
Popular Feminism and the Contemporary Construction of Femininity in Popular Women’s Magazines in 227
Turkey in the 1990s
Çiğdem Akanyıldız
Crisis of Islamic Masculinities in 1968: Literature and Masquerade 233
Çimen Günay-Erkol, Uğur Çalışkan
How Male University Students Perceive Women? 243
Defne Erzene Bürgin, Selin Bengi Gümrükçü
The Alienation Problem of “Women” in the Market 253
Derya Güler Aydın, Bahar Araz Takay
Women’s Bodies as First Colony: A Study in the Hybrid Feminist Personal 262
E. Burcu Gürkan
Becoming a Gendered Body: Feminist Analysis of Gender and Power Relations 269
Ebru Eren
Gendered Fields in Women’s Leisure Time Experiences: A Study on the “Gün” Meetings in Ankara 278
Ebru Karayiğit
9. Gendering the Innovator: The Case of R&D in Turkey 288
Ece Öztan, Setenay Nil Doğan
Approaching Bosnian War in Light of ‘Violence Against Women’ and ‘Gendered Violence’
297
Efser Rana Coşkun
Role of Assisted Reproductive Technologies in the Production of New Forms of Social Control and 307
Discrimination
Elena Bogomiagkova, Marina Lomonosova
Bride Kidnapping Elopement in Violence Against Women Context: The Cases of Ardahan and Rize 317
Elif Gazioğlu Terzi
Moderation vs. Militancy: The Rhetoric of American Suffrage Movement 326
Emine Geçgil
Feminist History in the Pursuit of Fatma Aliye 333
Erman Örsan Yetiş
How Women Were Represented in the War Propaganda Posters? Soldiers, Mothers and Families 343
Esin Berktaş
Trapped in Between State, Market and Family: Experiences of Moderately Educated Divorced and 353
Widow Women
Esra Gedik
Global Economy and New Gender Identities: A Study of Saleswomen in Turkey 363
Esra Sarıoğlu
Gendered Engineering Culture in Turkey: Construction and Transformation 372
Ezgi Pehlivanlı Kadayıfçı
Feminist History of Periods of “Stagnation”: Women’s Movement in the 1950s 382
Ezgi Sarıtaş, Yelda Şahin Akıllı
Booze and Women: Gendered Labor Market Outcomes of Unorthodox Consumption in Turkey 392
F. Kemal Kızılca
The Impact of Colonization Feminism in Colonized Countries: The Case of Algeria With the French 402
Colonization
Fatima Taourite
Home-Based Working Women Within the Context of Recent Developments in the Social Reproduction 409
Theory: The Turkish Case
Fatma Özlem Tezcek, Özlem Polat
Blur on Gender and Its Relevancies in Symons’ Poem “White Heliotrope” 419
Ferah İncesu
10. A Discourse Analysis of Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP): Agonistic Politics With a Feminist 429
Perspective
Fethiye Beşir
Projections of the Socio-Historical and Legal Burden on the Contemporary Narratives of Women in 437
Turkey
Fulya Pınar
Gender and Cultural Criticism in Ian McEwan’s The Cement Garden 447
Funda Civelekoğlu
Prostitutes in Ottoman Archival Sources 456
Füsun Çoban Döşkaya, Ahmet Aksın
Demographic Change in Europe: Fertility, Child-Friendly Policies, and Their Implementation 466
Gabriela Pavlova
Fresh Pair of Eyes: The New Story of Ammu’s Body in The God of Small Things 476
Gökçem Menekçe Gökçen
Susan Rawlings’ Enclosed Freedom and Eventual Estrangement in “To Room Nineteen” by Doris Lessing 484
Gökşen Aras
Freya Stark: A Life of Challenges 492
Gönül Bakay, Sevinç Elaman-Garner
A Powerful Tool for Female Struggle: Feminist Art 500
Görkem Kutluer
Gender in Turkish Words 509
Gülcan Çolak
Woman Killing is Political and What Should Be Done to Prevent Femicide? 519
Gülser Öztunalı Kayır, Ayşe Kalav
Technologic or Technophobic Youth: Preliminary Survey on Gender 528
Hasan Tınmaz, İlker Yakın
Women’s Status in Korean Society 537
Hatice Köroğlu Türközü
Woman Image in Comedies of Aristophanes 545
Hatice P. Erdemir, İlkay Şahin
A Female Domestic Worker’s Travel and Urban Story: Understanding “Urban” in Her Eyes 555
Hilal Kara
The Success and Challenges in Institutionalization of Women/Gender Studies at Sana’a University- 565
Yemen
Husnia Al-Kadri, Bilkis Zabara
11. Gendering Democratic Policy-Making in Turkey: Kemalist Women’s Activism in the Justice and 574
Development Party (AKP) Era
Hürcan Aslı Aksoy
Old Women in Fiction: The Novel as Research 584
Inez Baranay
Engendering Health Information System in Bangladesh: Locating Health Care Needs of Violence Victims 591
Ishrat Khan Barsha
Housewives ‘in Progress’: Stories of Gender-Balanced Development in Southeast Anatolia 601
K. Zeynep Sarıaslan
Professional Activity of Elderly Women in Poland in the Context of Intergenerational Perspective in 610
Women’s Knowledge Analyses
Karolina Thel
Feminism in Yemen: Uneasy Path, Unwalked Miles, and a Disguised Movement 619
Kawkab Althaibani
Does Exposure to Female Role Models Increase Leadership Aspirations: A Randomized Experiment in 628
Civic Involvement Projects
Kerim Can Kavaklı, Öykü Uluçay
Postmodern Ecofeminist Theories and Politics 638
Lejla Mušić
The Role of Workplace Clothing in Creating Social Identity: A Case Study With Professional Women in 648
Istanbul and Izmir
Leyla Bulut, Pınar Börü
Fathers Finding Themselves: New Symmetries and Different Models 658
Luisa Miniati
Cinema, Popular Culture and the Emancipation of Women at the Beginning of the 20th
Century in the 662
Polish Galicia
Malgorzata Radkiewicz
Gender Matters: International Mobilisation for the Protection of Women Human Rights Defenders 669
Marina Lourenço-Yılmaz
Talking Gender and Sexuality Through Literature: A Comparative Analysis of The Vagina Monologues 679
and İşte Böyle Güzelim as a Case in Point
Mehmet Erguvan
Can Women Have Gold Collars? Work Life for Educated Women in Turkey 689
Meltem Yılmaz Şener
With the Silences, Murmurs, Sighs of Elderly Women: A Discussion on Feminist Epistemology 699
Meral Akbaş, Nihan Bozok
12. Augustine: The Resistance of Rebellious Hysteric to Patriarchy 705
Meryem Senem Sarıkaya
The ‘State of Exceptions’ in Laws: Sexual Violence Against Women in India 712
Minakshi Buragohain
The Perception of the Middle Class on Domestic Violence Against Women and Laws Regarding 720
Punishment: A Comparative Study at the City of Sylhet in Bangladesh
Mozharul Islam
Sue for Love? Liability of Third Party in Marital Damage 730
Nadire Özdemir
Negotiating Gendered Liminal Identities at the Borderland in Arab American Women Literature: Laila 738
Halaby’s West of the Jordan as a Case in Point
Nawel Zbidi
Suat Derviş (1905-1972): A Friend of Soviet Union 745
Nazlı Eylem Taşdemir
An Interactivity and Knowledge Sharing Ambiance: East Marmara Region Woman Academy Project 755
Nesrin Akıncı Çötok, Selcen Vodinalı
Female MPs, Party Quotas and Feminist Institutionalism: A Case Study of the Parties in the 24th
Term of 763
Turkish Parliament
Nigâr Değirmenci
Gayatri Spivak and Impact of Her Postcolonial View on IR Discipline 773
Nigar Shiralizade
Mainstreaming Gender Sensitive Disaster Risk Management 783
Nilgün Okay, N. Fandoğlu, İ. İlkkaracan, A. Akalın
“You See That Driver? I Bet That’s a Woman!”: A Social Psychological Approach to Understand Sexism 789
in Traffic
Nilüfer Ercan, Özden Melis Uluğ
Women in STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics: A View From Inside 799
Oana Gui
Love and Eros in the Old and New Testament Tradition 808
Olena Astapova
Comedy and Women: The Problem of Gender in Hokkabaz 818
Özge Güven Akdoğan
Understanding Migration: Bulgarian-Turkish Migrant Women’s Narratives 828
Özge Kaytan
Women and News in Turkey: ‘Walking on a Tightrope’ 838
Özlem Akkaya
13. Fountain Pens: Gender Asymmetries in Managerial Careers 848
Özümcan Demir, Pınar Kaygan
From Orientalism to Cultural Relativism: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Field Studies and 858
Ethnographies on Women and Islam in Turkey
Petek Onur
Wedding Photos and Zeitgeist: A Reading on Femininity, Masculinity, Love, and Marriage 868
Pınar Eke
Women and Gender Studies: Insiders’ View 878
Pınar Ezgi Burç
Education and Experience in Nursing: A Comparison Between Vocational School and University 887
Graduates
Rana Çavuşoğlu
Atatürk and the Turkish Women’s Revolution as Seen Through Italian Eyes 895
Raniero M. Speelman
Going Public: Women’s Narratives of Everyday Gendered Violence in Modern Turkey 904
Selda Tuncer
The Surname of Turkish Women: A Question of Turkey 914
Seldağ Güneş Peschke
Confusion of Terminology on Policies for Gender Equality 922
Senem Ertan
Blurring the Boundaries Between the State and Autonomy: The Case of Women’s Organisations in 932
Eskişehir
Serap Suğur, Temmuz Gönç, İncilay Cangöz, Hatice Yeşildal
The Usages of Gender and Sex Terms in Two Turkish Translations of Virginia Woolf’s A Writer’s Diary 942
Serpil Yavuz Özkaya
Sexism: Ambivalent Sexism 950
Sezer Ayan, Veda Gökkaya Bilican
Women Bodies at Trial by Ordeal Since Christianity to Trier Movies 960
Sibel Kibar
The Active Agency of Iranian Women in Post-Revolutionary Era 969
Sima Nabizadeh, Türkan Ulusu Uraz
Women in Technology: Google Women Tech-Makers Case 979
Sinem Güdüm
Female Action Hero vs. Male Dominance: Female Representation in Mad Max: Fury Road 986
Sotirios Bampatzimopoulos
14. Public Policy on Gender Equality in Turkey: Political Representation 994
Şenay Eray
Who Is the Owner of My Body: Woman, Body Politics and Eating Disorders 1002
Yasemin Güniz Sertel
Muslim Women’s Role in Colonial Punjab: A Case Study of Jahanara Shah Nawaz 1011
Zahida Suleman
The Rise of Women’s Autonomy: Impacts of Male Migration on Women in Vrang, Wakhan – A Rural 1019
Area in Tajikistan
Zarina Muminova
The Anxiety of Female Authorship in J. M. Coetzee’s Foe 1027
Zehra Aydın
An Existential Alliance of Byronic and “Lilithian” Heroes 1035
Zuhal Yeniçeri, Leman Korkmaz, Doğan Kökdemir
Reflections of Islamic Feminism on the Ground in Spain 1044
Züleyha İzin
16. Anke Reichenbach / METU GWS Conference 2015
Page | 2
1. Introduction
Amira, a young Emirati mother in her late twenties, liked living in Dubai. She enjoyed the cosmopolitan
atmosphere in the city whose population consists of more than 200 different nationalities, and she
appreciated how the city catered to different lifestyles and consumer tastes. But in her view, this “mixture
of people” came at the price of heightened public scrutiny: “You see, there is us, the Emiratis, and them,
the foreigners. And they will judge you at some point. Everything you do will be noted, ‘Oh, look at that
Emirati woman!’ And Emiratis judge you as well: You have to appear open-minded and modern, not too
conservative or old-fashioned in your behavior. And yet you also have to show that you follow the rules
applying to you, your nationality, your gender, the category of married women, of all kinds of categories.
Again, they will judge you at some point. And they will judge you for what you are wearing, if you are
wearing the right clothes, if your make-up is too heavy or all kinds of things. So you cannot escape social
scrutiny.”
In this paper, I want to explore how young Emirati women navigate the city’s public spaces in light of
this strongly felt exposure to different kinds of judgement by diverse audiences. How do Emirati women
manage their public visibility in order to protect their reputation and avoid potentially harmful gossip? How
do they perceive, appropriate and produce the city’s public spaces in Dubai’s urban environment at the
beginning of the 21st
century? And how do gender, nationality, and other factors such as socioeconomic
status intersect in women’s use of public space?
I will first present an overview of anthropological findings on women’s complex relationship with
public space in Middle Eastern cities. Following a brief description of Dubai’s recent urban transformations,
I will focus on Emirati women’s discourses about the city and their everyday practices in public space. I
will show how women create their own geographies of Dubai in order to negotiate individual needs and
desires against the backdrop of local social norms that place various restrictions on their mobility due to
their gendered identities.
My paper is based on participant observation over the past eight years in Dubai, on many informal
conversations with Emirati friends and students, and on semi-structured interviews with twelve young
Emirati women from Dubai between the ages of 22 and 36. Their narratives revealed discernible patterns
in how the young women perceived and categorized urban spaces, how they used them, and how they
employed various tactics that aimed at expanding their freedom of movement while simultaneously
safeguarding their reputation.
2. Women and public space in Middle Eastern cities
Early studies on the gendered divisions of Middle Eastern cities had postulated a clear dichotomy:
Public urban spaces such as streets, markets or coffeehouses were seen as male, while private spaces like
the house, the courtyard and sometimes the neighborhood alley were perceived as the realm of women (cf.
Bianca 1991, Mernissi 1985). More recent studies have criticized this strict dichotomy as an imposition of
Western cultural constructs and scientific categories on Middle Eastern societies, thus neglecting Arab and
Islamic notions of space as well as historical developments (cf. Abu-Lughod 1990, Afsaruddin 1999,
Dahlgren 2010, El Guindi 1999, Nelson 1974, Newcomb 2009).
According to Asma Afsaruddin, women’s negotiations of private or public space need to be studied in
their particular context, taking into consideration factors such as gender, social class, ethnicity or
educational attainment (1999: 2, 6). Recent anthropological studies have employed such an intersectional
approach and explored women’s mobility and public urban presence from various angles (cf. Dahlgren
17. Anke Reichenbach / METU GWS Conference 2015
Page | 3
2010, Deeb 2006, Deeb and Harb 2013, Kapchan 1996, Le Renard 2014, Newcomb 2009). In their rich
ethnographies on Cairo, Fes, and Shi’ite South Beirut, Anouk de Koning (2009), Rachel Newcomb (2006),
and Lara Deeb and Mona Harb (2013) have shown how gender, class, and religious identities influenced
women’s mobility and leisure options in the city. The authors observed that young men and women
increasingly frequented the same public spaces whose male, female or mixed character fluctuated over the
course of the day or week. The time and manner in which young women were supposed to use certain
places without risking their reputation were subject to constant negotiations and contestations, as much as
the norms governing interactions between unrelated men and women.
These findings concur with my interviewees’ perceptions and my own observations in Dubai. Most
public spaces are not permanently gendered as male, and the construction of a place as appropriate and safe
for young women depends on additional factors such as its “classy” character and its conformity with
Islamic moral values. In the context of Dubai’s demographic situation, one aspect is considered as
particularly crucial: the construction of public spaces as “Emirati” or as dominated by foreign nationals.
This discursive distinction constitutes the most relevant element of women’s mental maps of the city.
3. Women’s geographies of Dubai
3.1. Between privilege and restrictions
Since the 1990s, oil-poor Dubai has embarked upon major economic diversification programs intended
to position the city “in the upper echelon of international markets including tourism, real estate, business
hospitality and learning centers” (Lee & Jain 2009: 234). Dubai’s rulers have vastly improved local
infrastructure and business conditions, and they have used the symbolic power of spectacular projects to
captivate global audiences. With the construction of New Dubai in the western part of the city, Dubai’s
government and business elites have created exclusive residential and leisure districts and privatized spaces
of consumption such as luxurious shopping malls. Dubai’s old urban core around the creek has become a
very distant periphery to these more recent projects which can only be reached by car on multi-lane
highways.
Dubai’s population has become as fragmented as the city’s physical layout. Only 10 percent of the city’s
residents are Emirati nationals who constitute the “ruling ethnie” (Longva 2005: 121) and enjoy numerous
privileges that the government grants them in exchange for political loyalty. Part of this “ruling bargain”
(cf. Davidson 2008, Kanna 2011) is the entitlement of national citizens to act as sponsors/employers for
foreign guest workers. All foreigners living in Dubai need such a sponsor to legally reside in the country.
The sponsorship system grants Emirati citizens considerable power over their foreign employees – a power
that often intimidates foreigners in their interactions with all Emiratis (cf. Bristol-Rhys 2012: 68).
Among the foreign residents of Dubai, a complex status hierarchy exists that is mainly based on
nationality and class. While Dubai is courting wealthy Euro-American expatriates and investors, the large
majority of middle and working class migrants from the global South experience varying degrees of
discrimination, exploitation and exclusion. Anthropologist Ahmed Kanna has highlighted this imperial
legacy of Dubai’s urbanism that creates “zones of cultural and consumer comfort and well-being” for
Western expats (Kanna 2013: 615) while installing regimes of surveillance and racial management for non-
Western Others.
Emirati women’s ability to navigate Dubai’s cityscape is influenced by such hierarchies of nationality
and class and by notions of female propriety in their own Emirati community. Women’s public presence in
the city is thus marked by both privilege and restrictions. As Emirati nationals, they can access the various
18. Anke Reichenbach / METU GWS Conference 2015
Page | 4
social worlds of Dubai with relative ease. In addition, their usually comfortable financial situation allows
them to consume a wide range of leisure and entertainment places, including the upmarket playscapes of
corporate New Dubai. Emirati ideals of proper womanhood, however, impose various constraints on their
mobility and public presence.
In order to maintain respectability and thus protect their own and their families’ reputation, the young
women need to adhere to gendered social norms governing their public appearance and behavior. These
include a reserved and modest demeanor, the avoidance of interactions with unrelated men, and appropriate
dress. In a gender-mixed public, Emirati women usually wear abaya and shaila, a loose, full-length black
over-garment and a black headscarf. Both are considered to be women’s “national dress” and ensure not
only that women’s bodies are decently covered, but also that their wearers are instantly recognizable as
Emirati nationals. Women should also have a legitimate reason to go out; simply “loitering” in public is
regarded as improper. Women should not go out at a late hour, and they usually need trusted and reliable
company, such as relatives, close friends, or even a housemaid as chaperone. The private car is considered
the only truly appropriate means of transportation for women, often with darkly tinted windows to guarantee
a maximum of privacy and protection from unwanted gazes. Public transportation, including taxis, are
regarded as “cheap” and unsafe, and most Emiratis consider even Dubai’s modern metro as not appropriate
for Emirati women since it is associated with foreign guest-workers who cannot afford their own car.
These restrictions serve to discipline women’s appearance and conduct in public space, and thus to
maintain women’s respectability. Simultaneously, the visible markers of proper Emirati womanhood such
as shaila and abaya also signal women’s privileged nationality to foreigners, thus eliciting deference and
bestowing an aura of inviolability on Emirati women. The power associated with their Emirati citizenship
usually protects them from any form of harassment in interactions with foreign residents of the city (cf.
Longva 1997).
The crucial distinction between “us” and “them” is reflected in Emirati women’s discourses about the
city. They divide Dubai into “Emirati” or “local” places on the one hand, and “non-Emirati” or “foreign”
places on the other, with further sub-divisions such as “Indian”, “Filipino” or “English”. Such labels are
fluid and relative: they fluctuate over the course of a day or week or with the changing popularity of a
venue. The definition of a place as “Emirati” is thus not tied to the locality as such, but to the visible
presence of other Emiratis which results in a sense of being “among one’s own people.”
3.2. “Non-Emirati” places
Against the backdrop of Dubai’s demographic situation, young Emirati women consider most public
places in the city as “non-Emirati”. These foreign-dominated places include Dubai’s markets and residential
areas in the old heart of the city, which today are mainly frequented by middle and working class migrants
from the global South. Young Emirati women visit these places occasionally, but they do not find them
attractive. In their eyes, these neighborhoods are crowded, dirty, and dangerous; their narrow alleys are
difficult to navigate by car, and the young women find the large numbers of male residents and visitors
intimidating. For Fatma, one of my interviewees, those districts were “not just low class, but no class.”
At the other end of the city, both geographically and in terms of its social hierarchies, Emirati women
locate the upmarket “English” territories dominated by tourists and wealthy Euro-American expatriates.
Some of the leisure establishments in these parts of the city contradict Islamic norms, and are therefore
considered taboo for Emirati women, such as the numerous bars and nightclubs that serve alcohol. Some
women still frequent these establishments and enjoy their “forbidden pleasures”, hoping that they will not
run into any of their compatriots.
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Western places that are more acceptable from a religious point of view, enjoy a wider popularity among
young Emirati women, such as art galleries, flea markets, non-chain coffee shops, second-hand bookstores,
or sports facilities. The young women often perceive such places as easy-going, permissive environments
where they can relax from the strict gendered norms of their own Emirati environments.
As clearly recognizable “outsiders”, however, they do not always feel entirely comfortable there.
Emirati friends told me that they were often openly stared at or photographed without permission, usually
by tourists who were thrilled to finally see an Emirati woman. Some Emiratis also felt that many expatriates
resented their presence in Western places, as if they were, as Amira put it, “a problem to come”. While
some Emiratis understand this unwelcoming attitude as postcolonial arrogance, others assume that
foreigners are simply afraid of unintentionally upsetting one of the supposedly all-powerful nationals and
having to face harsh consequences. Irrespective of the reasons, the occasionally annoyed reactions of
expatriates in “white” places make Emirati women sometimes feel “out of place” and not particularly
welcome.
3.3. “Emirati” places
In contrast to Dubai’s numerous non-Emirati territories, young Emirati women’s geographies of the city
contain only few places labeled as “Emirati”. Those include the luxurious Dubai Mall, especially on
weekends, a handful of smaller, elegant malls along the coast or near Emirati residential areas further inland,
and the newly opened entertainment and shopping districts Citywalk and Box Park. All “Emirati” places
share a number of characteristics: They are perceived as orderly, clean, safe and morally impeccable; they
are associated with an exclusive global culture of consumption, and they are privately owned, with security
staff, surveillance cameras and “courtesy policies” that discipline visitors’ behavior and dress. Similar to
the coffee shops explored by Lara Deeb and Mona Harb (2013) in Beirut, they thus “blur the borderline
between public and private spheres by domesticating public space” (2013: 27).
Most young Emirati women spend much of their leisure time in these places, mainly in the malls. There
they socialize with female friends, go to the movies, visit coffee shops and restaurants, stroll, or go
shopping. For them, malls are convenient and respectable places that considerably expand their access to
public urban space (cf. Abaza 2001, Akçaoǧlu 2009, Le Renard 2015). As Najma explained, women’s
families assume that malls provide a protective environment for their daughters, sisters, or wives:
“Our parents think that malls are safe. […] With the malls, it’s the idea that they know where you are, and that you are locatable.
And that they know everyone, especially from the Emirati society which is very small, and they all know each other. Which means
that someone is going to be there who knows you, in a way. So, it’s so much safer.”
As Najma’s quote highlights, malls and other Emirati places are, on the one hand, places where the
young women can feel “at home”, but on the other hand, they are also the public arenas where young
women’s conduct and appearance are most closely monitored and judged by their own compatriots.
Through displays of socially desirable feminine behavior and decent but elegant dress, accessories, perfume
and make-up, young women have to uphold the good reputation and status of their families. Under the
scrutinizing gazes of other Emiratis who “love to judge and gossip,” young women need to demonstrate
time and again that they are “respectable young ladies” who obey the rules of their society, as Firiyal, one
of my friends, put it. In Emirati places, the boundaries between men and women are more strictly policed
than in other environments, and even the most adventurous of my interviewees told me they would not dare
to enter a place that was full of Emirati men, fearing harassment and gossip. Thus, “Emirati” places
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constitute rather ambivalent environments for young national women: The places where they are among
their own compatriots also harbor the greatest risks for their reputations.
But even this intense social control cannot prevent young Emiratis from transgressing moral boundaries.
Many young women find the gender-mixed character of malls and other “Emirati” places tantalizing, since
only this kind of leisure environment offers the chance to playfully interact and flirt with Emirati men.
Fatma explained:
“We cannot have such interactions with men anywhere else. We have family gatherings, we have male cousins, but we cannot
just chitchat with them. It’s not good, it’s not decent. […] The eyes of the family are always on us, on the girls. You shouldn’t do
anything, you should be good, an angel, and you shouldn’t be naughty, you know. It’s nice to have a different kind of interaction
sometimes.”
Since this “different kind of interaction” between unrelated men and women is socially frowned upon,
however, it cannot take place in settings such as coffee shops or restaurants where accidental observers
could easily take notice. Instead, such clandestine interactions occur in the transit and passage zones of
“Emirati” territories, in interstices and on back-stages, where people keep on moving and encounters are
fleeting. While circulating through the malls’ passages, on their way through the malls’ car parks, or while
driving at night along well-known “flirt roads” such as Jumeirah Beach Road, Emirati men and women
exchange glances and smiles. They engage in playful banter and mutual teasing; young men approach
women with small gifts such as CDs with love songs, roses, or chocolates and attempt to persuade them to
accept their telephone numbers. Men and women pursue each other in their cars and interact from vehicle
to vehicle through half-open windows.
In such encounters, young Emiratis defy social norms and subvert the hierarchies of gender and
generation (cf. Wynn 1997). However, even during such fleeting encounters women need to protect their
reputation by remaining anonymous, e.g. by exchanging mobile numbers that are not registered in their
names, or by remaining half-hidden behind tinted car windows. “Nothing can bring shame on men,” a
popular proverb states. Young Emirati women’s reputations, however, are much more vulnerable, particular
in those public places where the women ostensibly belong.
4. Conclusion
Amira, the young woman quoted at the beginning, had emphasized her sense of being under constant
scrutiny in the public spaces of Dubai. As this paper has shown, other Emirati women share her sentiments
of being exposed to different kinds of judgement by various audiences in the city. While the places
categorized as “non-Emirati” appear to offer a respite from the gendered constraints prevalent in Emirati
environments, they are often also perceived as unwelcoming to Emirati nationals. “Emirati” places on the
other hand are viewed as safe, respectable and morally impeccable, but there, women experience the most
intense pressure to adhere to strict gendered norms. Hence, they harbor the greatest risks for a woman’s
reputation and social prospects. Yet, the assumption cherished by many families that “Emirati” places offer
no room for transgressions underestimates young women’s (and men’s) creativity and ingenuity in
subverting mechanisms of social control and appropriating public spaces for their own agendas. It is the
passages and transit zones of Emirati territories and thus mobility itself that enables young Emiratis to resist
scrutiny. But even in such fleeting encounters, young women bear the greater risks since it is their
compatriots’ moral judgement that, in the words of Najma, “can literally define your future.”
Acknowledgements
I wish to thank Carla Bethmann for inspiring discussions and her insightful and critical comments on an
earlier version of this paper.
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1. Introduction
This study addresses the variable of ‘‘biological sex’’ from the perspectives of social power and gender
theories.
The study first establishes a theoretical framework regarding the concepts of gender and social power. The
explanations accounting for behavioral differences or gender-based inequalities between men and women
could be based on opposing views. To exemplify, the functional approach seeks to display that gender
differences contribute to social stability and integration, whereas the liberal feminist approach wages war on
the sexism that targets women in workplace, educational institutions and media (Giddens, 2008: 505-511). On
the other hand, the concept of social power is a key notion in social sciences. Given that power is a relational
concept, it helps accounting for differences between the two sexes in terms of gender. Perceived power is
affected by the expected sex roles and stereotypes, and the expectation is that male sex roles are associated
with more exercise of power whereas female sex roles include more affection and less use of power (Ragins &
Sundstrom, 1990). This, in turn is expected to influence and even distort the perceptions of managerial power
exercised by male and female managers. The stereotypical line of thinking that female managers are perceived
as exercising less power (compared to a male manager under the same circumstances) would steal away from
that female manager’s influence, prospects and future mobility towards higher ranks. In that context, power
becomes not only relational but also perceptual in terms of being susceptible to the influence of sex stereotypes
and expectations.
Second, the study tests a number of hypotheses constructed on the question of employees’ perception
regarding gender and the use of power. Specifically, the empirical part of the study problematizes whether
power sources used by managers are perceived differently based on the genders of managers and employees.
Given the social-cultural context of Turkey as a high power distance, collectivistic, and feminine country
(Hofstede, 1980), and the fact that as of 2014, Turkey ranks 125th among a total of 142 countries in Global
Gender Gap Index published annually by the World Economic Forum since 2006, it is imminent that the
concepts of gender and power are addressed together.
2. Theoretical Framework
2.1. Gender and Use of Power
2.1.1. Gender
Sex has been a frequent field of analysis for a variety of disciplines, because there is no other category
within society to encompass such great number of people (Dökmen, 2006: 22). The term gender is related with
cultural and societal differences between men and women while the term sex on the contrary is generally used
to denote the anatomical and physiological differences (Giddens, 2008:505). Whereas sex is a demographic
category, the term gender refers to societal attributes and expectations resulting from being a man or a woman,
as well as psychosocial characteristics that classify an individual either as a man or a woman. According to
Alvesson (1998) our identities are strictly dependent on gender.
The theories concerning behavior related with gender such as evolution of gender roles, emergence of
differences or use of gender stereotypes are categorized mainly under three headings; 1) biological theories
based on brain and hormones such as psychoanalytical theory and evolutionary psychology-sociobiological
theory influenced by Darwin, 2) cognitive theories such as cognitive development theory and gender diagram
theory, 3) theories emphasizing social influence and interactions such as social roles theory (See Dökmen,
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2006). Biological theories suggest that differences between men and women come naturally by birth whereas
social theories claim they are acquired characteristics that evolve after birth and are subject to change. In
sociobiological theory, under explicit influence of Darwin, the adoption of different skills by modern man in
comparison to woman is designated as an evolutionary consequence of his centuries old hunter-gatherer
inheritance. However social theories focus more on social powers such as norms, stereotypes and gender roles.
Within the framework of those theories, gender differences in management and powers attributed respectively
to man and woman are the results of learned/acquired gender roles (Pines & Baruch, 2008).
Gender stereotypes are a summary of our comprehension about certain groups. They provide us with
heuristical mental shortcuts and information about these groups. That, in turn enables us to pre-adjust our
expectations and attitudes towards a member of these groups in case of an encounter and help us define the
‘‘reality’’ (Kağıtçıbaşı, 1999:124). Gender stereotypes emerge from a social perception of differences between
men and women; is consolidated through division of labor based on gender, and affects the way men and
women think, behave and feel. To exemplify, men are defined as independent, rational, competitive, winners,
strong, active and emotionally stable, whereas women are taken to be weaker in terms of those qualities
(Dawley et. al, 2004). On the other hand, people tend to associate power with leadership and thus uphold men
as powerful leaders. (Temel et. al, 2006:36). The persistence of male sexism or gender stereotypes is posited
to be the reason behind low-rating of women in evaluations particularly by men. (Elias & Cropanzano, 2006:
121).
Division of labor based on gender stands out as the exceptional circumstance in which to display and follow
up gender differences. All in all, it would be a mistake to reckon gender inequality as an only “women’s
problem” instead of addressing it as a product of power discrepancies between men and women.
For Dökmen (2006) one prominent feature of gender stereotypes is the fact that gender differences are based
on huge social power discrepancies. Power is a relational concept (Koçel, 2003:565) and the most important
facet of the relationship between managers and subordinates as an extent of organizational life (Ward,
1998:364).
2.1.2. Power and Power Sources
According to Hodgkinson (2008: 26) management is an art of exercising power. Power is defined as the key
factor of managerial performance (Ragins & Sundstrom, 1990), the fulcrum of management functions and the
manifesto of an asymmetry in a two-person relationship (Rajan & Krishnan, 2002). In a broader sense, power
is a concept that incorporates authority, centralization, decision-making rights and participation, influencing
and politics. Power might arise from any culture, source, knowledge or pressure (Yaylacı, 2006: 36). French
and Raven ‘s (1959) model comprising of five power sources including legitimate power, reward power,
coercive power, expert power and referent power is widely acclaimed as a prominent model of social power in
organizational studies (Raven, 1993). These power sources might be formulated as follows (Bağcı, 2009: 25-
26): Referent/Charismatic power stems from subordinates’ feeling of respect and admiration towards their
superordinates. Referent power might serve as a significant tool in augmenting personal power and a
charismatic leader is frequently characterized by his subordinates as an unmistakable, honest, virtuous and wise
person. Reward power stems from a subordinate’s perception that his superordinate will reward him in case he
performs a desired attitude. Every system goes with its own formal reward and punishment factors (status,
promotion, advancement, research fund, vacation, extra allowance, and etc.). Individuals practicing control
function through those means are regarded competent in influencing others. Legitimate power depends on
legitimization of authority. The acknowledgment of the existing social structure confers on some individuals
the right to exercise legitimate power. The extent of an individual’s legitimate power is dependent on being
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appointed to that power. Within organizations this power qualifies the manager for expecting conformity from
employees. Power belongs not to the attendant but to the position. Expert power stems from the distinctive
knowledge, capability and experience of a superordinate. Employees tend to think that rather than the
legitimate, coercive or reward power that stems from appointment to a leadership position, expert power is
more of a personal power featuring a higher degree of respect. People are more disposed to monitor and
recognize the directives and suggestions of individuals who are authorities in a specific discipline. Finally,
coercive power depends on a subordinate’s perception that the superordinate has the right to punish in case of
noncompliance with the exercise of influence.
Gender differences based on power prevail in accounting for gender differences in managerial echelons
(Ragins & Sundstrom, 1990). Traditional stereotypes are among the primary reasons why female managers
face a lower degree of acceptance in comparison to their male fellows (Klenke, 2003; Dawley et. al, 2004).
Traditional masculine traits are highly welcomed compared to their feminine counterparts and stereotypes
illustrate men with power-loaded adjectives like aggressiveness, ambition to progress, headstrong posture,
athletic and competitive manners, dominant and oppressive attitude, self-confidence, independent and attitude-
defining character whereas women are associated with warmth, intimacy and compassion (Sargut, 1994:113-
115; Rigg & Sparrow, 1994; Dawley et.al, 2004). Such gender role differences might lead to different social
behavior within the occupational life in the social values pattern (Okurame, 2007). As a result, the qualities
associated with managerial success become synonymous with the social roles attributed to men.
‘‘Women in management’’ studies demonstrate that women place more value on interpersonal relationships
and depend on legitimacy in experiencing power whereas men focus on power largely to maximize personal
benefits. Women are perceived positively as long as they adopt a collaborative, sharing and participative
leadership style and are stigmatized and rated negatively as aggressive, dominant and male-like leaders in case
they adopt masculine leadership styles (Klenke, 2003). Historically leadership has been a trait ascribed
principally to men rather than women and these prejudgments are among the primary reasons for negative
perceptions towards female leaders (Dawley et. al, 2004). There is a deep-rooted belief that managerial
positions belong ‘‘only to men’’ or ‘‘just men are fully equipped’’ for the task. The need to traditionally regard
women as unqualified for male ranks, which is an indication of the endeavor on men’s part to keep their
advantage in the workplace, might find its roots in sexism and power issues (Schein, 2007).
3. A Study on Private Sector Employees’ Perception of Power based on Gender
3.1 Research Hypotheses
The findings of gender-based studies about organizational use of power are quite mixed. A study conducted
by Korabik et.al. (1993) which is based on managers’ and subordinates ‘evaluations of supervisor conflict
management and leadership styles revealed that although there were no significant gender differences regarding
the conflict management and leadership styles used by managers, subordinates evaluated male and female
supervisors differently. Ragins and Sundstrom (1990), in their study on 110 managers, demonstrated that expert
power comes into more prominence with female managers in comparison to their male colleagues. In another
study women are stated to be disadvantageous in use of social power as compared to men. It is alleged that
women are taken to be ‘‘punishers’’ when they resort to coercive power sources and lose effectiveness whereas
with men it is vice versa (Carli, 1999). Johnson (1976) found that legitimate, expert and coercive power
exercised by men is perceived much more than that by women whereas with referent and reward power bases
there is no discernable difference (Ragins & Sundstrom, 1990). Elias’s study (2004) reveals that male
subordinates particularly grade their female managers lower as regards the coercive power. A study conducted
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by Moshavi et.al (2008) demonstrates that expert power of male managers is perceived to be higher whereas
with female managers legitimate power takes the lead. As a result of our relevant literature review, we might
say that the research is largely inconclusive. Hence the research hypotheses are constructed on the “gender
variable’’ concerning the power sources as perceived by employees.
Hypotheses;
H1: Perceived referent power varies according to the gender of the manager.
H2: Perceived referent power varies according to the gender of the employees and the manager.
H3: Perceived expert power varies according to the gender of the manager.
H4: Perceived expert power varies according to the gender of the employees and the manager.
H5: Perceived legitimate power varies according to the gender of the manager.
H6: Perceived legitimate power varies according to the gender of the employees and the manager.
H7: Perceived reward power varies according to the gender of the manager.
H8: Perceived reward power varies according to the gender of the employees and the manager.
H9: Perceived coercive power varies according to the gender of the manager.
H10: Perceived coercive power varies according to the gender of the employees and the manager.
3.2. Method
The research was carried out on employees and their managers working in various industries in Manisa and
İzmir provinces via convenience sampling method. Survey method was used for data collection purpose. The
questionnaire consisted of demographic questions and Rahim Leader Power Inventory (RLPI). Dependent
variables are power sources used by managers as perceived by the employees; independent variables are gender
of the employees (the respondents) and the managers.
The 29-item scale created by Rahim (1988) to measure the five power sources (coercive, legitimate, expert,
referent, reward) as put forward by French and Raven (1959) was subjected to a confirmatory factor analysis
on Amos 22. The results of the factor analysis confirmed the original construct with some modifications and
the five-factor structure was preserved (c2=776,109 df=289, c2/df=2,68; RMSEA=0,080; TLI=0,90;
CFI=0,90, GFI=0,90). Reliability tests resulted in the following Cronbach’s alphas for the overall construct
and respective factorial constructs: overall construct (0,90), legitimate power (0,63), coercive power (0,79),
reward power (0,78), expert power (0,89) and referent power (0,76). Three items related with legitimate power,
two items related with reward power, two items related with referent power, one item related with coercive
power and one item related with expert power were eliminated from the scale in order to raise the model fit
and coefficient reliability for the respective factorial construct and the overall construct.
3.3. Empirical Evidence
3.3.1. Descriptive Statistics
Exactly half of the respondents’ (n=164) are women (n=82) and the other half are men (n=82); 54,3% are
between the ages of 26-35; and 61,6% are university graduates. Work experience at the current workplace is
1-5 years for 48,8% of the respondents; total years worked with the current manager is 1-5 years for 53,7% of
the respondents; and finally, total work experience is 1-5 years for 34,8% and 6-10 years for 36,6% of the
respondents (See Table 1). Managers are mostly men (71,3%) and the respondents report being indifferent
(52,4%) as regards to the preferred gender of their superior.
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Table 1. Demographics
F P (%)
gender
female 82 50%
male 82 50
age
18-25 24 14,6%
26-35 89 54,3
36-45 42 25,6
+46 9 5,5
education
primary school 10 6,1%
high school 29 17,7
vocational high school 24 14,6
university 101 61,6
experience at this work(years)
less than a year 39 23,8%
1-5 80 48,8
6-10 32 19,5
11-15 6 3,7
+16 7 4,3
experience with this manager
less than a year 55 33,5%
1-5 years 88 53,7
6-10 17 10,4
11-15 2 1,2
+16 2 1,2
total work experience
less than a year 19 11,6%
1-5 years 57 34,8
6-10 60 36,6
11-15 13 7,9
+16 15 9,1
prefer my manager to be
woman 15 9,1%
man 63 38,4
I am indifferent 86 52,4
Table 2. The Number of Male and Female Subordinates and Managers
Gender of manager
Totalwoman man
Subordinate Gender
woman 32 50 82
man 15 67 82
total 47 117 164
In total, there are 32 female subordinates with female managers; 50 female subordinates with male
managers; 15 male subordinates with female managers, and 67 male subordinates with male managers (Table
2).
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3.3.2. Hypothesis Tests and Empirical Evidence
Correlations among power subscales and combined perceived power are listed in Table 3. Correlations
among power subscales point to an interdependence of all five power bases which means a high level of any
one of those power sources is closely associated with the others.
Table 3. Means, Standard Deviations, Alphas and Intercorrelations among Power Subscales
Subscale Mean SD I II III IV V VI
I. Reward 3,15 ,81 (0,78)
II. Legitimate 3,57 ,77 ,55** (0,63)
III. Coercive 3,03 ,96 ,25** ,26** (0,79)
IV. Referent 3,15 1,07 ,70** ,53** ,10 (0,76)
V. Expert 3,46 ,95 ,64** ,56** ,09 ,71** (0,89)
VI. Total perceived power 3,27 ,68 ,85** ,73** ,46** ,81** ,83** (0,90)
Gender ,24** ,16* ,96 -04 -,03 ,10
Gender of the manager -,15* -,20* ,04 -,30** -33** -,25**
** p< 0.01 *p< 0.05
Table 4 displays the results of t-tests. According to the empirical evidence, there is no significant difference
in terms of employees’ perception with regard to coercive power used by male and female managers. However,
perception of legitimate, reward, expert and referent powers varies according to the gender of the manager.
The employees ‘perception of female managers’ legitimate power (mean=3, 8227), reward power (mean=3,
3574), expert power (mean=3, 9660) and referent power (mean=3, 6738) is significantly higher than that of
male managers (mean=3, 4815; 3, 0803; 3, 2684; 2, 9487 respectively) (p<0, 05). In this case, H1, H3, H5, and
H7 are accepted. H9 is rejected.
Table 4. Mean and Standard Deviation for Employees’ Perception of Power Sources based on the Gender of the Managers (t-test)
n=164 Female Manager (47) Male Manager (117)
Power Sources MEAN SD MEAN SD t p
Legitimate 3,8227 0,52406 3,4815 0,83556 2,599 0,010
Coercive 2, 9681 1,21875 3,0641 0,83894 -,578 0,564
Reward 3,3574 0,74476 3,0803 0,83503 1,980 0,049
Expert 3,9660 0,73226 3,2684 0,96173 4,476 0,000
Referent 3,6738 0,98659 2,9487 1,03632 4,106 0,000
p<0,05
In Table 5 is the comparison of the means appertaining to perception of power sources based on the gender
of both employees and managers. The evidence from multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA)
demonstrates just one statistically significant difference (with regard to coercive power) in perception of power
sources based on the combined effect of gender of employees and managers (p>0, 05). In other words, there is
no difference in perception of power sources for male and female employees based on their managers’ gender
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except for the coercive power. Under the circumstances, H2, H4, H6, and H8 are rejected whereas H10 is
confirmed.
Table 5. Multiple Comparison (MANOVA) of the Means regarding Perception of Power Sources Based on Employees’ and Managers’
Gender and Standard Deviation (SD)
Female Manager Male Manager
n=164 Female Employees Male Employees Female Employees Male Employees
Power
Sources
MEAN SD MEAN SD MEAN SD MEAN SD p
Legitimate 3,7500 0,5219 3,9778 0,5112 3,2667 0,8934 3,6418 0,7572 0,58
Coercive 2,7266 1,2351 3,4833 1,0414 3,0850 0,8308 3,0485 0,8508 0,02
Reward 3,3062 0,7343 3,4667 0,7807 2,7440 0,8806 3,3313 0,7071 0,13
Expert 3,9813 0,7297 3,9333 0,7297 3,1960 1,0973 3,3224 0,8513 0,59
Referent 3,6667 0,9313 3,6889 1,1305 2,9133 1,1641 2,9751 0,9380 0,91
p<0, 05, manager’s gender*employee’s gender F (2,723), Wilks Lambda: 0,92
4. Conclusion
In this study differences between employees’ perception regarding use of power by female and male
managers have been detected. Female managers are perceived to be using more legitimate, reward, expert and
referent power. On the other hand, no interaction is discerned between employees’ and managers’ gender
according to multiple comparison outcomes except for the coercive power. Some of these empirical evidence
correlate with some evidence in the existing literature (Elias 2004; Johnson, 1976; Carli, 1999). Yet, generally
speaking, the findings of the study are contrary to the initial assumptions on which the research hypotheses
were based in that we would expect a lower perception of use of power by female managers and we would also
expect to find that female managers would be perceived as using more of expert and reward power and male
managers would be perceived as using more referent and coercive power, based on the evidence from the
literature. We would also expect to find perception of higher levels of use of power by male managers.
Evidence more feasible for generalization will become available if this study is repeated by future
researchers using different samples from various sectors in different places. This study contributes to the
literature in our country by drawing attention to the significance of studies handling organizational use of power
and power sources from a gender perspective. As stated by Varoğlu (2001:323), gender roles are one of those
aspects of organizational life that has long been neglected but is increasingly gaining in popularity. In addition,
the increasing interaction between men and women in public sphere contributes to the transformation of male
gender roles.
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1. Introduction
Women-centered archives were not established simply because general archival repositories had failed them.
They were and continue to be symbols of feminist power and resistance to patriarchal values.
Gabrielle Lili Earnshaw
I would like to congratulate the Gender Studies Department of Middle East Technical University on the
occasion of its 20th anniversary and thank all the women for such a well-organized symposium. In this
paper entitled How to Encounter the Historical Omission of Women in The Process of Acquisition of
Documents Women-Centered Archives, I would like to present the top representative women’s archives
some major topic of discussion in the movement of women-centered archives and then try to assess the
actual situation of this field in Turkey.
In the period between the middle of the 19th
century and the early days of the 20th
, women all over the
world, were still living in a cloistered world at different levels in their societies, and prevented from doing
and participating in the full range of activities permitted to men. Although some women from time to time,
rebelled against these barriers, and succeeded in breaking through them, they remained individual isolated
cases. In the early 20th
century the struggle to bring down the heavy walls of this restricted domain gradually
became somewhat more of a mass movement, set in motion by pioneering women, groups and
organizations. At the same time as this process of organized struggle was beginning, a wealth of documents,
both written and visual, such as publications, posters, diaries, photos, letters, correspondence, and
reminiscence relating to the fight for women’s right, also started to accumulate in the possession of these
pioneering women groups and organisations. Parallel to this struggle for freedom and equality a new
awareness began to blossom that there was a need for women themselves to look after, acquire and preserve
the documents and archives about the lives and struggles of women in the past, generated by women and
the women’s movement, to serve as witness for future generations. This is precisely how we began the
process of collecting and preserving documents pertaining to women and establishing related archives.
Such archives were established in three main periods: the suffrage movement of the first quarter of the 20th
century, the women’s movement of the 60’s and 70’s, and the 80’s and 90’s. These archives constitute the
memory of women and women’s movement and their growth is parallel to the development of a feminist
consciousness.
2. The memory problem
The establishment of these libraries and archive centers were generally led by feminists. For example,
Marguerite Durand (1864-1936) started to collect and preserve the documents of the women’s movement
in 1897. Later in 1931, Durand donated thousands of documents she had collected to the Paris Municipality.
Marie-Louise Bouglé (1883-1936), on the other hand, converted her own house into a library in 1926.
Eliska Vincent (1841-1914) who is known as the first archivist of the feminist movement in France, willed
all the documents she collected in her lifetime to the Social Museum of Paris. She had chosen Marguerite
Durand and Maria Vérone (1874-1938) to fulfill the duty. Her collection consisted of documents of the
feminist movement of the 19th
century and the beginning of the 20th
century. In her will, she wanted a
feminist institute to be opened as a part of the museum. In 1916 a research department was started by the
museum administration and yet the Vincent’s archive, holding almost 600,000 documents, was rejected in
1919, despite all the efforts exerted by Durand and Vérone. Thus this invaluable collection was dropped
into the dustbin of history. Researchers in this field claim that the archive was either lost or exterminated.
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A similar end awaited the documents collected by Marbel and Chulliat libraries. On the other hand, the
collections belonging to Hélène Brion (1882-1962) and Gabrielle Duchêne (1870-1954) managed to be
protected. The archive of Brion, who was tried by a military court because of her peace-promoting activities
during WWI, is today at the French Social History Institute. The archives of Duchêne, who was the head
of the French branch of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom are kept in the Nanterre
International Contemporary Documentation Library of Paris Nanterre University, which specializes in the
history of the 20th Century.
The Fawcett Library (1926), the Marguerite Durand Library (1936), and the IAV (1935) -International
Archives for the Women’s Movement- can be listed as the top representative trio of first-wave women-
centered archives and libraries. The oldest of these three is the one established by the Women’s Suffrage
Committee in 1866 and run by Millicent Garrett Fawcett for fifty years. The library, which has non-
governmental status, was initiated by the donations of Fawcett - her whole private archive included - and
the members of the Committee in 1926. The building-up process of the Marguerite Durand Library was a
little different. At first it was opened as Durand’s private library, but gradually it started to serve more and
more women. In 1931, when Durand donated her collection of books and documents, which was large
enough for any library or archive, her only provision was that the Paris Municipality would institutionalize
her library as an archival center The Municipality kept the promise and the same year the Durand Library
was launched on one of the floors of their building. With the continuing support of the Paris Municipality,
the Durand Library has been giving service for the last 77 years. Despite staff limitations and other
difficulties, the library is still a landmark in the world-wide studies of this field.
The IAV (International Archives for the Women’s Movement), on the other hand, was established by
the Dutch feminists to enliven the women’s movement after the suffrage activities slowed down, and most
important of all, to pass the recollections of the suffragist struggle onto the future generations. Today,
almost all the women’s libraries and archive centers are supported by municipalities, universities, national
libraries, and culture ministries. In spite of the institutional support they receive, they are generally
independent in administrative respect. Their boards are composed of members of the women’s movement
and women’s centers at universities, women historians, professional librarians and archivists. Due to the
financial strain caused by shrinking spaces and budgets, these institutions which keep on being at the service
of millions of women around the world, nowadays are in an almost compulsory digitalization process,
mostly to ensure their future existence by economizing.
In the 1910’s, at 400 out of the 4000 organizations registered in the German Women’s Associations
Union, there was either one library or a reading room. The richness of the collections in these 400 small
libraries was proof of the extraordinary organization of women at this period. However, after the 1920’s,
with the impact of WWI, most of these archive centers and libraries were shut down and thus the valuable
heritage of the women’s movement in them was lost forever. Even the ones rescued that day were destroyed
afterwards with the rise of fascism. One or two of these collections, however, managed to survive. The
most important one is the Helen Lange Archive, which has about 200,000 documents which went through
a restoration process. This archive is perhaps the best evidence of the lost memory of the German women’s
movement in 1914. Disaster caused by the war in Europe, Nazis who robbed the archives, migration, the
indifference of the state towards women’s records, and most important of all, the financial restrictions were
the main reasons for women losing their collective memory. Apart from all this, there is the censorship
applied by the rest of the family to women’s archives when inherited. For example, the dairies of Lady
Mary Wortley Montagu, who lived in 18th century Istanbul for many years because of her husband’s work,
suffered censorship by her relatives after her death. Are we sure that the memoirs and notebooks of the poet
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Nigar Hanım kept in the Aşiyan Museum in İstanbul has reached us as a whole without being victimized
by censorship?
Mary Ritter Beard (1876-1958) and Maud Wood Park (1871-1955) are the two major figures in women-
centered archiving in the US. As a historian, suffragist and archivist, Beard, who was influenced by the
well-known feminist of the time, Rosika Schwimmer (1877-1948), had extraordinary achievements
between 1935 and 1940, while establishing the World Center for Women’s Archives. Taking part in the
suffragist movement, Beard also did pioneering studies on history and women’s history. The archiving
center she imagined was initiated with the mission of going beyond the borders of the US to reach out to
the women of the world and to save all their documents. Apart from saving documents, this center aimed
at bringing together women researchers overseas to lead the emergence of a new civilization by highlighting
the creative and molding role of women in history. In the women-centered archives envisioned by Beard
the primary goal was the constant circulation of these documents which had been in the dark for long among
women who would regularly visit the center from all around the world. By focusing on social history, Beard
criticized the dominant male perspective in the field of history that emphasized economy and politics only.
In the university model she prescribed for women, she imagined “herstory” as a four-year undergraduate
program. Beard was certainly a faithful follower of the well-known premise of the French historian Fustel
de Coulanges, “No documents, no history!”. Beard was also fond of narrating a story which helps prove
the vitality of women-centered archives and their insignificance for public institutions: 25 years after the
private archive of the American suffragist movement leader, Carrie Chapman Catt (1859-1947), had been
given to the New York Public Library, a researcher wanted to use some of its documents. However, she
was appalled when she was told that there was no such archive in the collections. The truth was revealed
only after her relentless efforts: The boxes had never been touched and the archive was left to decay for
that 25-year period. According to Beard, the archivist in charge not only was unaware of the existence of
such boxes in her department but had failed to acknowledge the archive at all. American historian Anne
Firor Scott noted that the condition of such archives was not much better even at the largest library of the
US, the Library of Congress, which informed historians only about the private archives of men whom they
regularly promote.
After making all the initial preparations for the World Center for Women’s Archives, Mary Beard wrote
thousands of letters to almost all the rich people who might give financial support to the project, along with
feminists and former suffragists. Almost everybody she was in correspondence with showed interest and
thus she started to collect the private archives of women from all parts of society in the framework of an
efficient campaign. During the course of this campaign, Amelia Earhart’s widowed husband donated all of
the pilot’s documents. Although the psychological and financial support Beard marshalled gave signs of a
successful project yet the economic troubles foreshadowing WWII, the never-resolved tension in the
suffragist movement, together with several other dealings of the administrators of World Center for
Women’s Archives, prevented the collection of the funds needed. Beard had to confront an astonishing
remark that an archive focusing so intensely on women was outdated since women had already achieved
the equality they had asked for in almost every field. Even among women there were those who were not
ready for the idea of non-conventional libraries and despite the world-wide increase in women-centered
archives, it was still an alien concept in the USA. Unfortunately, by 1941 it became clear that the realization
of the project was not possible. The major part of the archives collected in the Beard campaign was given
to the Schlesinger Library in the USA. Actually, the foundation of the remarkable collection of this library
was laid by means of this donation. In 1942, at the age of 71, Maud Wood Park, who was a feminist activist
like Beard, donated her private archive documenting her lifelong suffragist struggle to Radcliffe College.
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A year later, the archive she donated was named the Women’s Rights Collection and continued to be
enriched based on the same principles. However, it is to be noted that within this period, while accepting
the moderate suffragist’s archives, they continued to refuse the documents of radical suffragist for a
considerable time. Only after the reception of the archives of the National Women’s Party members did
this wrong strategy come to an end, and so, in 1943, with the contributions of Mary Beard and Maud Wood
Park, the entire collection was opened to public use.
In 1935 three Dutch feminists, Johanna Naber (1859-1941), Rosa Manus (1881-1942), and Willemijn
Posthumus-van der Goot (1897-1989) founded the IAV (International Archives for the Women’s
Movement), which was considered to be the first archival center of the women’s movement on an
international scale. The internationalization of the suffragist movement, especially in the first quarter of the
20th century, has helped the center evolve into a globally acclaimed institution, collecting archives from
all over the world. As a start, Rosa Manus donated Dutch suffragist Aletta Jacobs’ archive to the IAV.
Manus, who became the first director, was diligent in the suffragist movement and also worked as a pacifist,
while actively participating in the classification of the archives at the center. At the beginning, 90 percent
of the donations belonged to the International Women’s Movement. Manus arranged the relations of the
IAV with the Women’s Library in London, and the Marguerite Durand Library in Paris. However, the
center’s brief existence came to an end on July 2nd, 1940, two months after Holland was invaded by the
Nazi Army, which confiscated all the collections, books, furniture and even the curtains. It was not long
before this sad incident that Rosa Manus had brought all the documents of her 30 year-long-collection to
the building. The Germans claimed that the IAV was an international organization and should be closed.
The “reason” of the robbery was that German women wanted these collections. Yet, at the end of the war,
it was the Soviet Army who got hold of them to take to Moscow. For 63 years no proper information were
obtained as to the fate of these documents. In 2003, after tedious and tiresome journey, the archives stolen
by Nazis made their way back to Amsterdam.
Although the attempt to open the World Center for Women’s Archives failed, the vision framed by
Mary Beard was realized in different ways later. In each country women-centered archives were
established. The archives of the pioneering feminist women were no longer scattered all over, or else totally
forgotten. They were systematically collected, catalogued, stored on microfilm and thus presented to the
researchers.
3. The future of women-centered archives
There is a major topic of discussion in the movement of women-centered archive. The views on the
subject have two quiet opposite trends. Although they ask the same questions “should women’s archive
centers continue to exist?” Their answers are not the same, those who answers no, think that they have to
be integrated in the national archival system because the fact of being separated from the system recreate
an exclusion of women and that the final aim is to create a basis of an equal representation and
documentation for women in the national archival system, on the other hand those who believe that separate
women’s archive centers have many positive effects on redressing the under-representation of women, think
that their mere existence serve to promote the study of women history. But today all trends converge more
or less to share women’s records on-line and there is also a special effort done either inside general archive
centers or in the women-centered archive to develop a new acquisition strategy to fill the none-documented
subject of their collection. But they try not to fall in an easy acquisition target in collecting only heroine’s,
pioneers and mainstream organization records. They try to enlarge the scope of their acquisition and
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specially work with under-documented groups of women from “different occupations, political affiliations,
sexual orientations, so with women from all belief, ethnicity and classes”. (Mason & Zanish-Belcher, 2013)
While new collecting strategies and initiatives are developed, a close collaboration of scholars,
archivists and activists should be established. In the future it is highly probable that alternative model of
women’s records will appear. To give only one example: the Jewish Women’s Archive “is an alternative
model of a virtual archive digitalized primary sources by or about Jewish women living the originals to
their owners and this is an easily accessible body of primary sources”. (Moseley, 2013)
If we have to assess the stage or level of development of the women’s archives movement in Turkey,
we can easily say that we are at the very beginning of this historical process. Although individual efforts to
preserve the private papers of women started long ago, a systematic preservation movement started only
twenty five years ago with the foundation of the Women’s Library in Istanbul. The creation of this
institution is a milestone in the field of collecting, cataloguing and disseminating women’s records. On a
national level the archival field in Turkey met, I think, for the first time with the concept of women-centered
archive at the Symposium of the Archival Problems organized by The History Foundation of Turkey in 1995
where I presented a paper on the history of women-centered archives. 20 years has passed over this
symposium, other symposiums have been organized on this topic and to name only one The Problem of
Sources in Women’s Memory organized by the Women’s Library and Information Center Foundation in
2009.
In 1990, the Women’s Library and Information Center Foundation was established in Istanbul and up
till now, one of its aims has been to collect women’s records in Turkey. The donation of private archives
by women is rather a new concept in Turkey. Especially, donation of documents before passing away is
quite rare. But novelist and playwright Adalet Ağaoğlu (1929) and worldwide celebrated archeologist Halet
Çambel (1916-2014), who set an example, donated their archives during their lifetime to Boğaziçi
University. Three thousand books that Ağaoğlu owned, along with her own archive, are now on the shelves
of the Adalet Ağaoğlu Research Room at the university library. Halet Çambel donated not only her archives
but also the Red Yali or Halet Çambel Mansion in Arnavutköy (Istanbul), where she had lived in for over
half a century with her family. The university administration will open the Halet Çambel and Nail Çakırhan
Archeology and Traditional Architecture Research Center in this historical structure after a proper
restoration. Like Ağaoğlu and Çambel to name few writer Buket Uzuner, social activist and lawyer Canan
Arın, former MP Gaye Erbatur, journalist Nevval Sevindi, political scientist and feminist activist Serpil
Çakır, political scientist and feminist activist Şirin Tekeli have donated their private papers themselves to
the Women’s Library.
Most of the private archives of the pioneering women in the social struggle and intellectual life in
Turkey are either not found yet or lost for good. In the preface of the biography she wrote about social
activist Şükûfe Nihal (1896-1973), (Bir Cumhuriyet Kadını Şükûfe Nihal /A Republican Woman- Şükûfe
Nihal) Hülya Argunşah says that none of the private documents of such a productive author, who was also
extremely prominent in the social scene, have lasted to our day and thus gives a good example of the
generation of “archiveless women.” Likewise, only three letters are left behind by Suat Derviş (1903-1972),
a well-known and prolific writer who took part in all levels of the social struggle.
The documents of Halide Edip (1884-1964), Fatma Aliye (1862-1936), Poet Nigar Hanım (1856-1918),
and Emine Semiye (1864-1944), who lived during the transitional period between the Ottoman Empire and
the Turkish Republic, took different routes. For instance, the archives of Halide Edip were dispersed to
worldwide institutions like Columbia University, Illinois University, the Library of Congress, and Medical
History Institution in Istanbul. Today, Fatma Aliye’s documents can be found in the Atatürk Library,
