The transformation of the islamic women's discourses in Turkey: The case of Alâ Magazine

After 1980s, Islam started to rise as a political movement in Turkey. In 1990s, Welfare Party which had an Islamic background came to power both in local and national level and gave way to the rise of an Islamic bourgeoisie. This has caused Islamic groups to have high standards of consumption and to integrate into the modern life. Thus a luxury way of consumption and a modern lifestyle were normalized for Islamic groups and fashion became an indication of the high-standard life for Islamic women. Âlâ magazine, published by the Islamic women groups, seems to be a fashion based magazine which has aesthetic concerns and encourages readers to have a luxury way of consumption. This study, analyzes the normalization of headscarf in the public life through fashion and consumption and the transformation of the Islamic women's discourses in Turkey over Âlâ magazine. Such questions as "how Âlâ magazine perceives the luxury consumption" and "what role it gives to the Islamic women in the public and private domains" are analyzed through the review of articles, advertisements and fashion shoots published in the magazine. This study also compares the new Islamic women model proposed by the Âlâ magazine with the women type proposed by the traditional Islamic point of view which was politically active in Turkish public sphere during the 1980s.