Gul Ozyegin
- Published in print:
- 1937
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814762349
- eISBN:
- 9780814762356
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814762349.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Race and Ethnicity
As Turkey pushes for its place in the global pecking order and embraces neoliberal capitalism, the nation has seen a period of unprecedented shifts in political, religious, and gender and sexual ...
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As Turkey pushes for its place in the global pecking order and embraces neoliberal capitalism, the nation has seen a period of unprecedented shifts in political, religious, and gender and sexual identities. This book shows how this social transformation in Turkey is felt most strongly among its young people, eager to surrender to the seduction of sexual modernity, but also longing to reman attached to traditional social relations, identities and histories. Engaging a wide array of upwardly-mobile young adults, Ozyegin links the biographies of individuals with the biography of a nation, revealing their creation of conflicted identities in a country which has existed uneasily between West and East, modern and traditional, and secular and Islamic. For these young people sexuality, gender expression, and intimate relationships in particular serve as key sites for reproducing and challenging patriarchy and paternalism that was hallmark of earlier generations. As the book evocatively shows, the quest for sexual freedom and an escape frpm patriarchal constructions of selfless femininity and protective masculinity promise both personal transformations and profound sexual guilt and anxiety. A poignant and original study, the book presents a snapshot of cultural change on the eve of rapid globalization in the Muslim world.Less
As Turkey pushes for its place in the global pecking order and embraces neoliberal capitalism, the nation has seen a period of unprecedented shifts in political, religious, and gender and sexual identities. This book shows how this social transformation in Turkey is felt most strongly among its young people, eager to surrender to the seduction of sexual modernity, but also longing to reman attached to traditional social relations, identities and histories. Engaging a wide array of upwardly-mobile young adults, Ozyegin links the biographies of individuals with the biography of a nation, revealing their creation of conflicted identities in a country which has existed uneasily between West and East, modern and traditional, and secular and Islamic. For these young people sexuality, gender expression, and intimate relationships in particular serve as key sites for reproducing and challenging patriarchy and paternalism that was hallmark of earlier generations. As the book evocatively shows, the quest for sexual freedom and an escape frpm patriarchal constructions of selfless femininity and protective masculinity promise both personal transformations and profound sexual guilt and anxiety. A poignant and original study, the book presents a snapshot of cultural change on the eve of rapid globalization in the Muslim world.