Since the 19th century, there has been a tremendous
demand for Turkish carpets and kilims. This development was
responsible for the proliferation of carpet companies. Today,
about 95% of women employed in this industry work for these
firms. Some work in their homes while others labor in company
workshops.
Women working outside the home will spend an average of
twelve hours per day in the summer months, from sunrise to
sunset and about 8-10 hours daily during the winter. Those
working in the home alternate their weaving with their domestic
chores. Weaving is done primarily when there is natural light.
Women are not paid an hourly wage, but rather for the completed
carpet or kilim. There are many criteria used to determine
the amount she will receive such as the intricacy of the design,
quality of the materials used, and if it is a carpet, the
number of knots per square centimeter.
In general, women remain anonymous creators of these extraordinary
carpets. Some attribute this to gender. Another reason is
that many people are involved in the production of these carpets
such as dyeing and hand-spinning fibers, particularly under
the workshop model. Finally carpet production is considered
more of a cultural tradition rather than art. Carpets and
kilims are an integral part of everyday life in Turkey.
The Indigo Project, one of 45 carpet projects in the country,
is the only such enterprise that acknowledges the individual
artists for their craft. Each weaver is also strongly encouraged
to weave her name into the kilim. Each customer that purchases
a rug is issued a certificate of authenticity with the name,
age village origin of the weaver, and the kilim design origin,
some of which are completely original. Others use elements
of ancient designs. It will take quite some time for any particular
woman to become well known for her weaving. However, Belkis
Belpinar, the author of several excellent books about kilims
has been recognized for her "designer" kilims.
While rural women play a crucial role in the carpet industry,
they still encounter gender inequalities with respect to control
over their own labor power and household expenditures. Nevertheless,
one must be careful not to make broad generalizations. While
prior portrayals of rural women typically cast them as oppressed
and passive, recent field studies indicate this is not the
case. Genseli Berik, (1995) for example, provides insight
into the gender hierarchy among carpet weaving villages in
Turkey and discusses the structural factors which influence
women's activities, workload, and decision-making power. She
correlates distinct agrarian patterns with the forms of carpet
weaving production. In so doing, she concludes gender inequalities
are more pronounced in areas with mechanized grain agriculture
such as Konya. Here, workshop weaving prevails because most
families can not survive on agriculture alone. Women therefore
become full tome carpet weavers and have little control over
their labor power both in the shop and at home because of
the pressure on them to maximize production. In addition,
the sexual division of labor is more rigid. In areas such
as Milas, where diversified cash crops prevails, the importance
of carpet weaving as household income declines because agriculture
is the primary source of income. Carpet production in these
areas is done in the home, and as a result, women have more
flexibility over their allocation of their time. There is
far less pressure on them to maximize production because they
also assist men in the fields. They also have considerable
say over how weaving and other income is spent. Isparta is
another area where there are diversified cash crops with carpet
production done both in the home and in workshops. However
unlike Konya, the flexibility of workshop schedules is institutionalized
due to the increased workload of women in agriculture. As
in Milas, Isparta weavers also have considerable say how weaving
income is spent.
