Mustafa Akyol offers another fascinating discussion of feminism and its struggles in Turkey, which of course is at the crossroads of Europe and the Middle East. Thus its foundational debates about Christianity, Islam and secularism colour its perceptions of most topics, not the least of which concern women.
To understand the debate, one must consider the history of Turkey, which has been in turn the home to the Christian apostles, fervent Muslims, and subsequently radical secularists -- namely the "father of modern Turkey," Attaturk.
Those advocating the rights of women in this setting come from three camps -- those who see their rights granted by the state, those who see them as more fundamental and not able to be "granted" by a mere government, and those who find their equality as a gift of Islam to be distinguished from the man-made traditions that are unfortunately tied to that religion.
Our Catholic traditions offers concete observations on this very question, founded specifically in Mulieris Dignitatem:
1. THE DIGNITY AND THE VOCATION OF WOMEN - a subject of constant human and Christian reflection - have gained exceptional prominence in recent years. This can be seen, for example, in the statements of the Church's Magisterium present in various documents of the Second Vatican Council, which declares in its Closing Message: "The hour is coming, in fact has come, when the vocation of women is being acknowledged in its fullness, the hour in which women acquire in the world an influence, an effect and a power never hitherto achieved. That is why, at his moment when the human race is undergoing so deep a transformation, women imbued with a spirit of the Gospel can do so much to aid humanity in not falling"...
2. This eternal truth about the human being, man and woman - a truth which is immutably fixed in human experience - at the same time constitutes the mystery which only in "the Incarnate Word takes on light... (since) Christ fully reveals man to himself and makes his supreme calling clear", as the Council teaches.12 In this "revealing of man to himself", do we not need to find a special place for that "woman" who was the Mother of Christ? Cannot the "message" of Christ, contained in the Gospel, which has as its background the whole of Scripture, both the Old and the New Testament, say much to the Church and to humanity about the dignity of women and their vocation?
4. Thus the "fullness of time" [i.e. the Incarnation] manifests the extraordinary dignity of the "woman". On the one hand, this dignity consists in the supernatural elevation to union with God in Jesus Christ, which determines the ultimate finality of the existence of every person both on earth and in eternity. From this point of view, the "woman" is the representative and the archetype of the whole human race: she represents the humanity which belongs to all human beings, both men and women.
Perhaps this document should be on your summer reading list to remind you of where we get our dignity -- both as humans in the image and likeness of God, but specifically as women -- "the archetype of the whole human race (!)"
You won't find that reference in any constitution, any UN document, or in any party platform. That marvelous and sublime truth is fundamental to Catholicism alone, which bestows the greatest dignity on women to be found on the planet.
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