Women, Advertising, & the Ottoman Empire

In this paper, I intend to seem at the issues of announce and women in the footrest empire. I will identify how publicizing forms had the ability of impacting women inwardly in the drag Empire as tumefy as how the advertize forms had a general impact on Ottoman society as a whole. I will mainly strain on the nineteenth century and twentieth century in my analysis. However, I will make reference to the conditions that preceded the context of my analysis.First, I want to work out on the context from which I begin my enquiry. The Ottoman Empire didnt feel the true forces of modern-day fontization until around the nineteenth century. more or less wealthy person identified the date at which the Ottoman regime faced governmental, financial, and accessible challenges associated with modernization as the 1830s. As the regime began to feel the impacts of modernization, the Sultan mat the pressures from European powers. Soon the military and the bureaucratic apparatus begin t o verbalise signs of strain. Of course, the challenges associated with modernization ultimately r individuallyed the society as a whole.At this measure, t present was a flood of mass-produced goods. Many of these goods came from incompatible trade agreements that had recently been sign with the European states. The influx of goods and increased trade diminished the traditional decree methods of production as well as manipulation throughout the Empire. At the time, the urban areas in the Empire could get hold of been described as cosmopolitan. The major(ip) cities were a combination of minority groups, Europeans, Levantines, and a wealthy bureaucratic kinsfolk who were largely accepting of European ways of living and European ideals.I nominate this context in order to show how modernization had begun to affect the region. I likewise want to highlight how the cities deep down the Ottoman Empire were fit highly diversified. In other words, the Empire was undergoing major s hifts toward a to a great extent multiethnic character as well as shifts toward an acceptance of European or Western ways of living. At the turn of the twentieth century, the piece of music of the Ottoman Empire was a mixture among Turkish Ottomans, Armenians, Jews, Muslims, Greeks, and Europeans. interlocking cultural and religious groupings much(prenominal) as this inherently demand a market for a diverse range of roducts. Not until the 1860s did Western companies give in the Ottoman markets. However, when the Western influences entered the Ottoman realm, a tendency toward liberal stinting policies had already been instituted along with quickly advancing cultural and sociable developments.Many scholars refer to the entrance of, for instance, Western marketing forces, as the systematic Westernization of urban spaces within the Empire (Duben & Behar 1991). During the times between the 1870s and 1914, multinational companies were fueling the appendage of globalization (J on e and only(a)s 2005). This transition in business practice (e. g. lobalization) was thought to transport from the more toss awayd parts of the world to less industrial areas (Wilkins 2005). Of course, the Ottoman Empire was one of the first regions to be affected by globalization. close to donnish surveys focalization on the nonion that Western companies operating in the Ottoman Empire are premised on the ideas of imperialism or dependency. However, these fibers of analysis are lacking in the appropriate scope. To unquestionablely understand the situation of the time from a perspective that moves beyond simple readings that claim imperialistic forces were at play, it is good to anticipate at the Ottoman consumer culture.The consumer culture was perhaps outflank represented in the ways companies advertised their products. It is also important to look at who the buyers of these products were and what the perception of these buyers ultimately was. In this paper, I will be foc using on marketing and advertising in order to advance an analysis of the late-Ottoman Empire as something other than a casualty of modernization. I now wish to transition to my primary topic of women and advertising in the Ottoman Empire. I suppose one could term the era I am looking at late-Ottoman society.Though this term is not extremely laboursaving for the purposes of my paper, I believe it does accurately represent a series of sentiments held by Ottoman scholars, and it seems helpful to at least keep in mind. However, I will primarily be looking at women insofar as consumption or the emergence of modern goods impacted women and catered to the desires of women in the Empire. give the modern emergence I discussed earlier, women were extraction to develop expectations and ciphers of the modern spiritstyle, and this was beginning to attract them.Not surprisingly, advertising around this time focused heavily on womens attitudes toward this attractive bran- recent mannersty le. Since I am primarily bear on with women in my analysis, I will look at publications geared toward women. From these publications and advertisements, the areas of entertainment, wealth, provender, preparation, and so on , will be uncovered for their respective changes that were brought about by modernization. In equipment casualty of gender, the twentieth century label a time of emphasis as it pertained to perceptions of women, peculiarly among the Ottoman elite.This occurred alongside legion(predicate) of the same issues associated with modernization I alludeed earlier. However, other areas of change were universe dis compete by changes in womens education and the increased spread of modern ideals in the media. As womens education was transforming, ideas were be raised in the popular media as to the concepts of gender. Some authors and scholars from the early 1900s even debated the modernization of the Ottoman Empire in terms of the relationship between women and th e Empire itself.As in other parts of the world, the popular themes relating to gendermarriage, womens proper place, divorce, motherhoodwere being politicized and debated. As a response to this shift, some scholars began to focus on the Ottoman states self-initiated reforms and how these reforms brought about things such as a womens popular press. Of course, ofttimes information used in the debate about gender straightaway is drawn from the popular images of the time, which originated from social avenues of biography such as consumption.For instance, advertisements make up in womens journals showed evidence of how women were beginning to perceive, for example, roles of other upper-class women (Basci 2004). First, I think it is important to consider advertising itself in terms of its mien in the Ottoman Empire. Advertising was a brand bare-assed industriousness that had just come about in the early 1900s insofar as the Ottomans were concerned. Many of the first advertisements were specifically marketed to Ottoman women by merchants who were alive(predicate) of their fair game demographic.The women depicted in these advertisements portrayed a largely unmediated image of consumers. These fictitious characters of consumers were depicted as elite women who were educated to a degree (in that they read). forward the establishment of the Turkish republic, there were in excess of forty different womens publications. Most of these womens publications came about after 1908, when the reinstatement of the Ottoman constitution occurred. The reinstatement of the constitution, or the event that was referred to as the constitutional revolution, gave the Ottoman press and curious amount of freedom.An article I referenced by Palin Basci looked at the libber journal entitled Womens population. This journal came about in 1913 and was in print for eight years. The journal was thought to represent a program for discussing gender relations. Furthermore, it was believe d that Womens World was a symbol of a new type of world for Ottoman women (Cakir 1994). In fact, the publication was actually produce by the Association for the Defense of Womens Rights. For my enquiry, I want to look at this journal due to the particularly thorough amount of scholarly research that looks at this publication.Furthermore, Womens World is believed to have been one of the nearly consistent and visible publications for women during the Ottoman period. The journal was also published by women. Within the journal there were editorial articles, stories, letters, translations, and advertisements. Basci argues that the advertisements in the publication, contri anded to, and were, in turn, regulate by the emergency of new avenues of power and elaborateness for women (Basci 2004, 37). After one year in publication, the weekly issue of Womens World began to concur notices for goods and operate that focused on a female consumer base.The types of goods being targeted to the readers were goods that would have been considered natural goods for the time for a female consumer. For example, these advertisements covered topics such as fashion, health, and beauty. Additionally, the featured advertisements were created in large part to appeal to womens awareness of self-image issues. The other types of advertisements focused on issues relating to entertainment, leisure, food, wealth, and education. The types of advertisements commonly found in Womens World portrayed women of all standings in life.The advertisements also had the effect of portraying women who were teachers, mothers, and wives as consumers of health books, movies, delicatessens, restaurants, legal services, and maid services. The advertisements also give brain wave into the broader questions of the time period, such as the consumption patterns of women, and how these patterns were influenced by an internationalized market. In the following, I will mainly focus on the issue of education, and h ow this theme played an important role in late-Ottoman advertising and its impacts on women.Many female readers of the popular publications of the time were being subject to further solicitation from educational publications. Interestingly, women were targeted by magazines that covered politically and social relevant issues that pertained to the development of the Empire. Basci points out that these advertisements ranged between books on womanhood and love, to issues of national interest and casualness. As an example, Womens World advertised the journal entitled Ictihad, which was intended for individuals who supported the ideas of free thought, liberty from oppression, and intellectual evolution.One provoke trend that I would like to identify here is how the publications such as Ictihad (which stands for opinions) acknowledged how women should be interested in pull round beyond the home and ought to look toward the world and its customs and issues of significance. Within the pub lication, tutors of German, English, and cut offered their services. In addition to these language opportunities for Ottoman women, different ads advertised classes in painting, photography, and music. The ads often expressed a desire in catering to twain Muslim and non-Muslim women, which is also an interesting point to consider.Just prior to the emergence of these type of ads as well as following the introduction of these ads, activities such as arts, piano, and languages were becoming increasingly viewed as lady-like and sophisticated. Many of the available tutors in the advertisements were non-Muslim, which whitethorn have posed an issue in the times preceding. Of course, all of these ideas of education and gaining the skills of refinement had an effect on Ottoman society as a whole, in that it complicated the common female conventions that had existed for umteen years. Furthermore, the skills being taught were accentuate Western ideas and techniques.In terms of music lesson s, Western music and instruments were being used. vulgar religious and folk songs were being taught in introductory courses, which would have been looked fell upon in times prior. Perhaps roughly importantly, the skill of mastering a European language was viewed as more socially important than being well-versed at the Arabic language or Koranic scholarship. I mention these examples to emphasize how once conservative Islamic regions were beginning to favor European ideas and skills over the historically important skills such as Islamic scholarship.Another interesting thing to note is that the tutors offering their services in Womens publications were not only female. Some male tutors were offering their services to women, which radically disrupt the conventions of Ottoman women. For instance, most upper-class Ottoman women carried a stereotypical notion that they lived segregated lives. Furthermore, men would sometimes taste the services of women who advertised services in the w omens publications. Some Ottoman women began offering their services as domestic maids until they married.In total, I want to portray how the Muslim women who read womens publications around the turn of the twentieth century were exposed to and encouraged to necessitate with the world around them. They were encouraged to depart from their common domestic spheres and incur what the world had to offer. Of these women, as portrayed by the types of ads in the common publications, many were interested in education as well as issues relating to philosophy, war, and ethnicity. Furthermore, the actual existence of independent womens publications symbolizes a significant shift in Ottoman society.The publications symbolize a type of woman who was clearly active in the social, stinting, and political dimensions around her. A past emphasis on male driven advertisement targeting was now switching toward a focus on women and their relation to the larger Ottoman markets and urban lifestyles. Wo men were starting to fill out their own bullion to a degree and desired to learn new languages. Also, women became actively involved in equipping the homes with phones and electricity. These women were also likely to ensure a drama performance by themselves or have their delineation taken by a photographer listed in the womens publications.Perhaps most importantly, the advertisements offered to Ottoman women signaled the ability for Ottoman women to take full advantage of modern conveniences. Rather than living domestic lives and concerning themselves with child-rearing, women had the time and freedom to engage in activities such as volunteering and socializing. As female socializing became more prevalent, new forms of entertainment and leisure were created. spick-and-span forms of leisure included fine dining, hammy entertainment, musical concerts, etc.What I found particularly interesting was the degree to which advertising in late-Ottoman society linked Ottoman women to Eur opean lifestyles. Ottoman women were straight off exposed to European customs and European styles. Still, women were largely subjected to forms of exclusion within the Empire. For instance, even though women were engaging in a way of life that resembled the European lifestyle, Ottoman women were still given separate forms of transportation, rooms specifically for women, and womens matinees. Still, the increased presence of women in all aspects of Ottoman life brought about questions bout instituting a new dress code. It is important to take to be that womens increased profile and participation was not fully original by all. In many ways, the visibility of women led to greater interrogation of women and greater debate over the appropriate social boundaries in the Empire. Pelin Basci also points out in her article that Ottoman modernity brought about the tie beam of guilt and decadence with modern consumer practices. The guilt was a result of consumerism during a time in which t he Empires military was undergoing great losses. As the Empire lost militarily, it also lost territorially.Thus, men and women within the Empire began to accuse one another of irresponsibility related to spending money on consumer goods and leisure activities. Some writers (e. g. Karaosmanolu) believed that womens engagement with modern lifestyles marked the descent of the Ottoman Empire into corruption and moral chaos. The article by Basci points out a cartoon that I actually came across in another article on this issue. The cartoon portrays the Ottomon nation as a pure and virginal woman who becomes threatened by the overeating and lust of European influences (Brummet 1998).Many male writers at the decline of the Empire attributed the female fondness to modern lifestyles as catastrophic to the society. However, men also blamed each other, accusing their fellow men of indulging in the lust and gluttony associated with entertainment and leisure. These men believed that leisure had ultimately distracted them from paying aid to their home and their country. By loosing focus on the home, they believed that they allowed women to gain too overmuch freedom in economics and politics.Despite the accusations thrown at either side, it seems sure that advertising played a significant role in find out womens perceptions toward modernity. Womens publications literally offered them new and intriguing ways of experiencing life and growing personally. However, it is possible that publications such as Womens World precisely revealed a marketplace that was already largely composed of Muslim women who were spying and offering modern services in a market that was already buzzing with contention.The dynamic between modern consumer culture and women seemed to be base on womens economic influence as well their political influences. One example of this was the womens boycott on Austrian goods as a response to Austria-Hungarys annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina (Quataert 1983). In terms of the influences that prompt advertisers, it is important to mention that womens increased economic and political activities was being recognized by merchants. This led to aggressive marketing campaigns targeted directly toward women. The competition to secure the female market led to tensions between players in the markets.One of these tensions could be represented as a general tension between Muslim and non-Muslim businesses. From these religious tensions, certain religious symbols often entered ads in the womens publications, such as the crescent and star. Other companies focused on nationalistic issues, and emphasize their pride with national issues and with women who purchase domestic products such as food and oil. Some non-Muslim companies took advantage of advertising to emphasize how money spent with Muslim companies would ultimately return to use as guns and bullets in war.In its attempts to overcome social disintegration, the environment in the Ottoman Empire f ostered a milieu of economic nationalism, particularly among Muslims. This fact may have also led to greater ethnosocial tensions in the society (Balabanis 2001). I highlight this point to demonstrate how advertising played a role in pitting Muslims against non-Muslims. Either way, some(prenominal) saw a common confrontation in the Western companies. Paradoxically, this enemy was also a friend of sorts. Ultimately, advertisements targeted toward women can best be seen for their disposition toward a common conflict.This conflict is the conflict between the spread of the modern lifestyle and the ads themselves, which seemed to portray contempt for the overall lack of female participation in the social life of the country. This fact seems to indicate to me that the involvement by women in the social, economic, and political spheres may have not been as enounce as scholars seem to argue. Granted, it may have increased to a degree, but I see no evidence that this increase was substan tial profuse to be deemed a descent into moral chaos. Still, it is clear that late-Ottoman advertising did seek to appeal to a new type of woman. This woman had a type of agency, and was willing to make her own choices. This was wanted to play an active role in shaping her interactions with the outside world and establishing herself as a workable consumer. It is now believed that the period between the revolution (1908) and World War I marked a time of significant female visibility. Increased visibility came alongside new platforms for women to assert themselves in issues of political and social importance.Since many issues of political and social importance were seen to relate to consumption, women were also establishing firm connections with avenues of consumption and leisure. Ultimately, advertising in the late-Ottoman Empire seemed to be united by a cohesive theme. That theme is, in my opinion, one of heightened self-awareness. As women became more aware of their political and social powers, women also became aware of the disparities between the different classes, especially the classes of women.Works Cited Basci, Pelin. The New Woman Fashion, Beauty, and Health in Womens World. International journal of Turkish Studies 11 (2005). Brummett, Palmira. New Woman and Old Nag Images of Women in the Ottoman Cartoon Space. Fatma Muge Gocek, ed. , Political Cartoons in the Middle East. Princeton Markus Wiener Publishers, 1998. Serpil, Cakr. Osmanl Kadn Hareketi. (Ottoman Womens Movement). Istanbul Metis Yaynlar, 1994. Duben, Alan, and Cem Behar. Istanbul Households. Marriage, Family and Fertility 18801940. Cambridge University Press Cambridge, 1991. Jones, Geoffrey. Multinationals and globose Capitalism from the Nineteenth to the ordinal Century. Oxford, UK Oxford University Press, 2005. Quataert, Donald. Social Disintegration and Popular Resistance in the Ottoman Empire, 18811908. New York New York University Press, 1983. Wilkins, Mira. Multinational Enterpri se to 1930. Discontinuities and Continuities. InLeviathans. Multinational Corporations and the New Global History, edited by Chandler Jr. , Alfred D. , and Mazlish Bruce , 4579. Cambridge Cambridge University Press, 2005.