An examination of the perception of gender among the social groups living in Bursa

Gender studies in Turkey are usually conducted in fields like sociology, psychology and anthropology. However, since gender is directly stems from culture, it is an imperative to do studies about gender in folklore. These studies in folklore have been expanding in folklore since 2000s but it is hard to say that they are at the desired level. We are driven by this want of studies to conduct such research.This doctoral thesis is aimed to determine gender perspectives of Manav, Yörük, Türkmen and Göçmen people living in Bursa via their traditions in transition period. This thesis consists of an introduction, five chapters, a conclusion and appendix. In the introduction, the objective of the study, its method, data collection technique, the process of data collection, population and sample, hypotheses and limitations are defined. Also, essays, assertations, theses and books about gender are sorted in the introduction. In the first chapter, under the title of "Bursa in history and today", The history of Bursa, its geography, socio-cultural atmosphere, population and economy is summarized. The second chapter, "Women on the axis of the transformation of Turkish society", is about the place of women in Turkish society during the matriarchy period, nomadic society, agricultural society and modern era. In the third chapter, "Feminism and gender", the birth and definition of feminism, its historical development and feminist movements in Turkey is examined; gender and the key concepts about gender are explained. The fourth chapter is the field study part of the thesis. In this chapter, traditions of Manav, Yörük, Türkmen, Göçmen people in transition period are revalued in terms of gender. In the fifth chapter, In the fifth part, the information obtained from the questionnaries applied to the source person was collected under the title of "Findings and comments on the survey on gender."