Oppression of Kurdish Women: Between Patriarchy and Social Inequality

Mufti Rasyid, Muhammad Khoirul Malik

Abstract


This article examines the representation of oppression against Kurdish women in Honor, Daughters of Smoke and Fire, and Dahlia and Carys. It explores how patriarchy and social inequality intersect in shaping Kurdish women’s experiences as subaltern subjects. The study applies a qualitative descriptive and library research approach, using postcolonialism and intersectional feminism as analytical frameworks. The findings show that Kurdish women experience multiple forms of oppression, including language restriction, ethnic marginalization, subordination within family and society, double burdens in domestic and public spheres, honor-based violence, gender-biased moral interpretations, and racism. The article argues that these oppressions are not solely rooted in local culture but emerge from the intersection of patriarchy, migration, class inequality, ethnic discrimination, and postcolonial legacies. Literature therefore functions as a medium of social criticism that exposes systems of domination over Kurdish women’s bodies and identities.

Full Text:

PDF

References


Abassi, Z., Keshavarz, Z., Abbasi-Shavazi, M. J., Ebadi, A., & Esmaily, H. (2018). Factors affecting women’s sex preference in multiethnic society in North Khorasan Province, Iran. Electronic Physician, 10(7), 7063–7070.

Azzahid, H. W., & Rano, R. (2025). Konstruksi Sosial Peran Gender dan Kedudukan Sosial Komunitas Nelayan di Desa Tasik Agung. IJTIMAIYA: Journal of Social Science and Teaching, 9(2), 183–202. https://doi.org/10.21043/ji.v9i2.33264

Bayram, T., & Sakarya, S. (2023). Oppression and Internalized Oppression as an Emerging Theme in Accessing Healthcare. International Journal for Equity in Health, 22, 6.

Beauvoir, S. de. (1997). The Second Sex. Vintage.

Bengio, O. (2014). The Kurdish Women in Turkey: Nation Building and the Struggle for Gender Parity. In Kurdish Awakening: Nation Building in a Fragmented Homeland (pp. 175–190). University of Texas Press.

Bourdieu, P. (1993). Language and Symbolic Power. Harvard University Press. https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674510418

Collins, P. H. (2000). Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. Psychology Press.

Crenshaw, K. (1991). Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color. Stanford Law Review, 43(6), 1241–1299. https://doi.org/10.2307/1229039

Dailey, J., & Singh, R. (2025). Honor killing | Causes, Consequences & Solutions | Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/honor-killing

Dewi, N. R., Irsyad, M., Mufarikhin, M., & Feriansyah, A. M. (2020). DINAMIKA KEMANUSIAAN MUSLIM UYGHUR DI CINA. IJTIMAIYA: Journal of Social Science and Teaching, 4(1), 62–71. https://doi.org/10.21043/ji.v4i1.7452

Efrati, N. (2012). Occupation, Monarchy, and Customary Law: Tribalizing Women. In Women in Iraq: Past Meets Present (pp. 20–50). Columbia University Press.

Fanon, F. (2008). Black Skin, White Masks. Grove Press.

Federici, S. (2025). Wages Against Housework. In Feminist Studies. Routledge.

Goffman, E. (1963). Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity. Touchstone.

Gregory, G. A., Fox, J., & Howard, B. K. (2020). Honour-based violence: Awareness and recognition. Paediatrics and Child Health, 30(11), 365–370.

Gunter, M. M. (2004). The Kurdish Question in Perspective. World Affairs, 166(4), 197–205.

Hapsari, R. D. (2019). Aliansi Etnis Kurdi di Perbatasan Selama Krisis Politik Suriah Tahun 2011-2016. Global and Policy Journal of International Relations, 07(01).

Hochschild, A. R., & Machung, A. (2003). The Second Shift. Penguin Books.

Homa, A. (2020). Daughters of Smoke and Fire. Abrams.

Irigaray, L. (1985). This Sex which is Not One. Cornell University Press.

Kawa, A., Sherwani, K., & Barlik, M. (2020). The Present Status of Kurdish Language in Turkey; A Sociolinguistic Study of Van Community. Journal of Xi’an University of Architecture & Technology, 12(3), 748–766.

Luckyto, M., Oktaviana, S., & Fu’adah, L. (2021). Analisis Promosi Jabatan Berbasis Kesetaraan Gender Pada Birokrasi Pemerintahan. IJTIMAIYA: Journal of Social Science and Teaching, 5(2), 211–220. https://doi.org/10.21043/ji.v5i2.11164

McDowall, D. (2021). A Modern History of the Kurds. Bloomsbury Publishing.

Misiągiewicz, J. (2013). The Kurd Issue in the Middle East. Facta Simonidis, 6, 127–149. https://doi.org/10.56583/fs.233

Mojab, S. (2012). The Politics of Culture, Racism, and Nationalism in Honour Killing. Canadian Criminal Law Review, 16(2), 115–134.

Otte, G., Boehle, M., & Kunißen, K. (2021). Social Inequalities―Empirical Focus. In B. Hollstein, R. Greshoff, U. Schimank, & A. Weiß (Eds), Soziologie—Sociology in the German-Speaking World: Special Issue Soziologische Revue 2020 (pp. 361–380). De Gruyter Oldenbourg. https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110627275-025/html

Quijano, A. (2000). Coloniality of Power and Eurocentrism in Latin America. International Sociology, 15(2), 215–232.

Rasyid, M., Latifi, Y. N., Burdah, I., & Malik, M. K. (2026). Framing Honor Killing in Turkey as a Kurdish Problem: A Postcolonial Analysis. Moestopo International Review on Social, Humanities, and Sciences, 6(1), 147–160. https://doi.org/10.32509/mirshus.v6i1.157

Safran, W. (2021). Diasporas in Modern Societies: Myths of Homeland and Return. Diaspora: A Journal of Transnational Studies. (world).

Said, E. W. (1979). Orientalism (First Paperback edition). Vintage.

Salih, H. (2023). Dahlia and Carys. Conrad Press.

Shafak, E. (2013). Honor. Penguin.

Shakiba, S., Ghaderzadeh, O., & Moghadam, V. M. (2021). WOMEN IN IRANIAN KURDISTAN: Patriarchy and the Quest for Empowerment. Gender and Society, 35(4), 616–642.

Sheyholislami, J. (2022). Linguistic Human Rights in Kurdistan. In The Handbook of Linguistic Human Rights (pp. 357–371). John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119753926.ch25

Spivak, G. C. (1994). □ Can the Subaltern Speak? In Colonial Discourse and Post-Colonial Theory. Routledge.

Turgut, S., & Çelik, Ç. (2024). Kurdish students’ perceptions of stigma and their destigmatization strategies in urban contexts in Turkey. Race Ethnicity and Education, 27(7), 1125–1140.

Walby, S. (1991). Theorizing Patriarchy (1st edition). Wiley-Blackwell.

WEF. (2020). Global Gender Gap Report 2020 | World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/publications/gender-gap-2020-report-100-years-pay-equality/

Woolf, V. (2022). A Room of One’s Own: Including ‘Three Guineas’. DigiCat.

Yahya, Y. K., Sholeh, B., & Rasyid, M. (2022). Treatment of non-Muslims in moderate Saudi in Muhammad Bin Salman’s religious reform. Australian Journal of Islamic Studies, 7(3), 76–100. https://doi.org/10.3316/informit.T2024080800020200220160289




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21043/ji.v10i1.36992

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Creative Commons License

Ijtimaiya Journal by Prodi Tadris IPS Universitas Islam Negeri Sunan Kudus is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.