Mainstreaming the Headscarf: Islamist Politics and Women in the Turkish Media (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780755643783)

With the rise to power of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the early 2000s in Turkey, the headscarf that used be looked down upon by the secular middle and upper classes moved to the mainstream. It has since become a symbol of desirable womanhood. This development has pushed Turkey's secular feminists, who had been critical of the headscarf ban, to the margins.

This book is the first to trace this new phase of conservative gender politics by examining the images of women's headscarves across secular and Islamic news media. Based on the analysis of photographs and the columns of conservative women journalists, the book sheds light on how the AKP is transforming the image of womanhood. It also identifies the rise of the conservative female journalist as an important phenomenon in the country. Esra ﾖzcan problematizes designators such as "Islamist women" or "Islamic feminists" and instead aims to understand these women in terms of their commitment to right-wing activism and politics, which has so far been ignored. An original contribution to feminist scholarship on Muslim women, this book draws on the unique perspectives of Visual Culture and Communication Studies.

Author: Esra ﾖzcan
ISBN-10: 075564378X
ISBN-13: 9780755643783
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Language: English
Published: 05/20/2021
Pages: 280
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.87lbs
Size: 9.21h x 6.14w x 0.58d