Men s World journal among Ottoman women s journals

Women s problems have been a major social problem not only in the Ottoman empire but also worldwide. Ottoman women have seen solidarity with men as a part of the solution for this problem. Ottoman men, alternatively, have complied with this vision sometimes from within a modernist, paternal-protective discourse and sometimes by trying to challenge this discourse. Mevlanzade Rıfat, who was the husband of a woman who published the Women s World -the journal that has been synonymous with Ottoman women s movement- Ulviye Mevlan, was one of these men. He emphasized that in order for women s movement to be empowered, men should support the movement, and that this was the case in all countries where the movement has excelled. This article introduces Mevlanzade Rıfat as one of the male characters who contributed to Ottoman feminist media even though he struggled with the dilemmas of the male entelegensia of his time.