Modern and Virtuous: Gender and Nation in Contemporary Turkey

This article discusses imbrications between gender and nation in Turkey, analyzing how different nation-building projects mobilize gender issues and produce discourses about femininities and masculinities that influence gender policies in the country. We argue that rigid dichotomies between projects considered “progressive” or “backwards” cannot be sustained in the country, given the wide acceptance that women’s bodies and behaviors must be regulated and that the restriction of rights and freedoms are justified in the name of gender (in)equality and (the absence or excess of) sexual freedom.

Gender; Sexuality; Nation; Turkey; Feminisms