Foster‐Daughter or Servant, Charity or Abuse: Beslemes in the Late Ottoman Empire*

Abstract

This paper addresses the complex and contradictory framing of youthful female sexuality, personified in the figure of foster-daughters (beslemes), in the nineteenth century Ottoman Empire. Beslemes were both sexually exploited and attempted to be disciplined under the critical gaze of the upper classes and the state, since they disturbed the accepted rules and limits of sexual agency as sexually active unwed adolescent girls. They were marginalized as indecent and fallen girls, since sexual agency and chastity were considered to be incompatible. Though acknowledging the subordination of foster-daughters, this paper suggests that these young women were not completely subjected, silenced and helpless and that they were able to find ways of taking the initiative in resistive strategies.

The problem with protection: Or, why we need to move towards recognition and the sexual agency of children

“…As a result, when a child's desires and/or behaviours directly contradict adult constructions their manifestation is blamed on 'others' who are deemed to be the cause of such abhorrent incitements Hawkes 2007, 2008b, forthcoming a; Egan 2008a, 2008b, forthcoming;de Coninck-Smith 2008;Robinson and Davies 2008;Angelides 2004Angelides , 2008Robertson 2006;Kincaid 1998). Moreover, if a transgression (perceived or real) goes too far in breaching dominant cultural constructions of childhood and the mystique surrounding its innocence, children may find themselves outside the classification and protection of 'childhood' itself (see Maksudyan 2008;Schneider 2008;Walkerdine 1997). Jennifer Schneider's historical research on moral panics involving intergenerational sex with queer boys in the United States is particularly illustrative in this regard.…”

"Irzimi İsteri̇m": 19. Yüzyilda Ci̇nsel Saldiri Davalari Üzeri̇ne Bi̇r Vaka İncelemesi̇

“…Nitekim Redhouse'da beslemelik "kız ya da kadın hizmetçi, evde hayır için beslenen çocuk" diye tanımlanmaktadır. 67 Osmanlı toplumunda yoksul ailelerin genellikle kız çocuklarını belli bir ücret karşılığında varlıklı ailelere kiraladıkları ve bu çocuklara "besleme", "ahretlik", "manevi evlat" gibi isimler verildiği bilinmektedir. 68 Konuşma dilinde hizmetçilik ve beslemelik, ahretlik birbiri yerine kullanılan ifadeler hâline gelmiş ve aralarındaki farklar zaman zaman muğlaklaşmıştır.…”

Imperiled and Perilous: Exploring the History of Childhood Sexuality

“…When a child's desires and/or behaviors directly contradict adult constructions their manifestation is blamed on “others” who are deemed to be the cause of such abhorrent incitements (Egan and Hawkes 2007, 2008; Schneider this volume, Romesburg this volume, Yuill and Durber 2009, Kincaid 1998). However, if the transgression (perceived or real) goes too far in breeching dominant cultural constructions of childhood and the mystique surrounding its innocence, children may find themselves outside the classification and protection of “childhood” itself (see Maksudyan in this volume and Romesburg in this volume).…”