“A WOMAN’S HAIR IS LONG, BUT HER MIND IS SHORT”: A SOCIO-CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE ON WOMEN IN TRADITIONAL TURKISH SOCIETY
Makaleler > Tam Makale · 2026
Yazarlar: Fatma YILMAZ
Veredas do Direito, ESCI İndekslerine Giren Dergi, Uluslararası, Scopus, 2026, cilt 23, ss e235085-e235085
Özet
Proverbs are one of the most deeply rooted components of culture and function as fundamental references that embody social value judgements and shape the relationship between the individual and society. This study examines the socio-cultural status of women and the gender perceptions in traditional Turkish society through the proverb “A woman’s hair is long, but her mind is short”. The study addresses historical sources, literary texts, and anthropological theories from an interdisciplinary perspective. In Turkish culture, hair has historically symbolized vital energy, power, and social hierarchy. However, the proverb discussed in this study establishes a metaphorical contrast between the concrete physical feature of “hair” and the abstract intellectual faculty of “mind,” thereby distancing women from the rational and public sphere. This reflects a traditional mindset that defines women as aesthetic “ornaments” and confines them to the private domain. Drawing on Delaney’s concept of the ‘open/closed body’ and Foucault’s approach to ‘power and the body’, the study further analyses how mechanisms of social control have limited women’s physical and spiritual existence. Ultimately, the research concludes that such elements of oral heritage function as powerful discursive tools that naturalise gender roles and legitimise their transmission across generations.