Tesettuer refers to religious clothing in Turkey and is a source of major controversy. Turkish society is deeply divided into secular and religious factions and is shaped by a century long power...Show moreTesettuer refers to religious clothing in Turkey and is a source of major controversy. Turkish society is deeply divided into secular and religious factions and is shaped by a century long power struggle between secularism and Islamism. The secular republic of Turkey saw an increasing Islamic presence in urban areas in the 1970s in the face of Islamic resurgence in the Middle East. Religious clothing, tesettuer, visibly proved the greater power position of Islam in the public. The religious faction claimed tesettuer as the way of life for religious women to be approved by the urban society. The secular part of society regarded tesettuer as ominously signalling the raising popularity of Islam which undermines their secular realm and transformed it into a symbol of threat. Tesettuer became hotly contested and shifted to the centre of the secular-religious conflict and has maintained its controversial position in Turkey till the present day. Thus, religious women continue their claim for tesettuer to be socially accepted in contemporary urban Turkey in an environment where religious women and their clothing are persistently stigmatized. In the face of this conflict and ongoing stigmatization of tesettuer, its role in the lives of religious women is of considerable significance. The decision to wear tesettuer is to live a life in accordance with Islam and directs women in their behaviour. But the evident desire of religious women for tesettuer to be publically accepted suggests that religious clothing impacts women far beyond a mere adherence to religious precepts in their conduct. As such, this paper investigates if and to what extent religious clothing forms the religious identity of women and influences their way of being and acting.Show less
