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Women’s education becomes a prominent issue in the Ottoman Empire with the modern period, leading to the opening of the first modern public school for girls as a rüşdiyye (secondary) school. This article critically examines the curriculum of girls’ rüşdiyyes from their foundation in 1859 until the beginning of the Second Constitutional Period in 1908. The formation, development and content of the curriculum are investigated both in terms of social demands, and in comparison with the curriculum of boys’ rüşdiyyes. Curricula of girls and boys, women’s magazines and magazines on education of the selected period were analysed via document review. As a historical case study evaluation, this study employs descriptive analyses to obtain and interpret results. We argue that women’s education is perceived as a way of raising a moral generation, as well as keeping the family institution alive. When compared to boys’, there are fewer courses and more simplified content in girls’ curriculum. Although this gap closes in time, these curricula are still different regarding two aspects: domestic courses always exist, and religious content increases in girls’ curriculum throughout this period. Accordingly, women are prioritised in social discipline and their disciplinisation is seen as a priority.

This paper explores how female subjectivities were constructed in the educational discourse in women’s magazines published in the Ottoman language from the first magazine that was published in 1869 until the promulgation of the Second Constitution Period in 1908 in the Ottoman Empire. The study draws on the concept of Occidentalism defined by Meltem Ahıska, as well as on Deniz Kandiyoti’s concept of patriarchal bargain. These concepts are used to identify and explain central tensions emerging in the Occidentalist fantasy in the educational discourse. I argue that, in the writings on women in women’s magazines of the late Ottoman period, we can see, first, the early traces of the Occidentalist fantasy and, second, how it is channelised to shape Ottoman women’s subjectivities within at least three tensions. I also argue that the ambivalent attitudes of the authors in these Occidentalist tensions operated as strategies for patriarchal bargaining for Ottoman women. Thus, this paper contributes to the understanding of the construction of womanhood in the late Ottoman period by showing the complexity embedded in the transnational spread and transformation of educational ideas related to women’s education.

This article explores the role of education in shaping new ideals of womanhood in the Late Ottoman Empire, focusing on the women’s magazine Kadınlar Dünyası (1913–1921). By utilising George Mosse’s conceptualisation of stereotypes as positive constructs together with David Tjeder’s countertypes, the study investigates how the emerging ideal of an educated Turkish woman was portrayed and how education influenced power relations among women. I argue that the roots of the ideal modern Republican woman can be traced back to discussions on women’s education and status in the modernising Ottoman Empire. By analysing articles and visual elements, I highlight the multifaceted nature of these ideals and the complex formation and relationship of stereotypes and countertypes. This study contributes to the scholarship surrounding women’s education and press by demonstrating how educational discourse provided a platform for women to influence sociopolitical changes, ultimately fostering the emergence of a modern Turkish identity.

This article examines the formation and perception of muallimes (female teachers) in the late Ottoman Empire and early Turkish Republic (1870–1933), focusing on how their education and professional identity were constructed through women’s magazines and education journals. Situating their educational and professional trajectories within broader discourses of gender, it scrutinises how the muallime was constructed as a moral guide, national mother, and mediator of modern ideals. Inspired by qualitative thematic analysis, the study identifies recurrent themes of morality, motherhood, pedagogy, professionalism, and patriotism. It contends that the muallime embodied both progressive pedagogical ideals and enduring gendered expectations, symbolising the tensions between reformist ambitions and institutional realities in women’s education and teacher training during a transformative era.