The transforming representations and constructions of the "housewife": Encounters of women making and buying home food in Gaziantep

This thesis deals with the transformation of a section of domestic labor into wage labor in the context of gender roles. For this purpose, the commercial activities of women who prepare home-cooked meals in their kitchens and sell these meals to women who order them are examined. Female interviewees who produce and buy home-cooked meals are included in the field study in Gaziantep. The economic activity in question, embodied by the opening of kitchens to the market, is discussed on the axis of the transformed meaning and constructions of the concept of "housewife". At the same time, patriarchal approval and objections to women's signification practices in these processes are analyzed. The data obtained show that domestic commercial activities create various empowerment strategies for women. However, these activities are also found to produce results that confirm traditional gender roles.