FREEING TURKISH WOMEN,

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 325, 12 October 1908, Page 3

FREEING TURKISH WOMEN,

Since the new constitution was promulgated' in Turkey women have already, obtained emancipation from' some' of tho restrictions, imposed on them by long usage. So far they have been allowed to receive their lady friends, call on them, and go for drives (reports the'"Daily Telegraph"). The veil will not bo done away with, but a lighter one will.be worn, and tbis will be more-often lifted; Gradually, as time'goes oh, the veil will disappear. At. present-the only knowledge the Turkish lady has of the outside world is what she has read in books,' and what she has heard from her foreign sisters; but in the future the women folk will be : allowed' to travel. ' Very few Turkish women have ever been away from the place they were born in; a few have got away, and under the old regime would not have been allowed to return, but now that is all changed, and in future wives will go abroad when their husbands are'sent.' ' ' • The 'present dress will only undergo a slight modification. Instead of the shapeless'. outkif-door cloak, the Turkish lady can now' wear welWitting dresses, or jackets and skirts, and .be as _ smart .'and trim as: her European sisters in public, but she must.- rtot wear a hat yet, and' her head will be entirely, enveloped in a sort of hood attached .to the neck of her dress or coat, and. matle of .tho same material as-her costume. The women will no longer bo kept shut up in a closely-shuttered house on a hot.-,summer's' day. - They even already, go about, in open carriages; and are to.be scon enjoying ' themselves on the water .in .the afternoons ■ and evenings. Beforo tho constitution a boat would not bo seen out after sUiiset,- and-jf a lady wanted to be put in tho open ■ sho appeared covered up. with a heavy veil. . ' _ " _ '■■ Later on ladies will go out and mix in tho! society of-foreigners, but just now they will, only: "go •to see their intimato .friends. Should men bo present when'they go to a house to call, they will not .'-have to bo received in a sopurnt-o room, as before. Should a gentleman call at a Turkish house with his wife or friends ho will be received. . Tho v/onio'ii, litco tlio reformers, look at things in a sensible light, and are not going to ask for too much at once. Their present idea is to work gradually, and by degrees' cast-off the old, strict, and unnecessary customs, and become more like their sisters of other nationalities.