Letters to the Author: Late-Ottoman Debates About Equality Between the Sexes, An Extract from Hamil Hamid's Müsavat-ı Tamme
Abstract
The 1908 restoration of the Ottoman Constitution had a transformative impact on the values associated with notions that had long been in circulation and under deliberation. Among them were liberty (hürriyet), equality (müsavat), fraternity (uhuvvet), and justice (adalet), along with the constituency's role in their achievement and maintenance.
First published in 1910, Halil Hamid's Müsavat-ı Tamme [Complete Equality] provides a glimpse into some of the many debates surrounding the implementation of one of these aspirations in a single sphere of Ottoman society: equality among the sexes. Below is the translation of the first three letters by authors and activists that precede Hamid's own thoughts on whether 'complete equality' among the sexes is achievable.
These are the perspectives of Emine Semiye (1864-1944), Mehmet Rauf (1875-1909), and Raif Necdet (1881-1936).