The Transformation of Motherhood in a Changing Türkiye

Motherhood in Türkiye has undergone significant transformations in parallel with the country’s socio-political and economic shifts from the 1970s to the 2000s. This study explores how motherhood and childhood were conceptualized before the 1980 military coup, prior to the widespread adoption of neoliberal policies, and compares these understandings with those that emerged in the 2000s and beyond. Drawing on a feminist perspective, the article examines how changes in the notion of childhood have directly reshaped women’s roles, responsibilities, and identities, given that child-rearing has been predominantly assigned to mothers. The analysis employs qualitative content examination of Elele magazine, Türkiye’s first mother-and-child periodical, by contrasting its early issues (1976) with its recent digital content. Findings indicate that while the 1970s ideal mother was primarily expected to ensure nutrition, cleanliness, and education, the twenty-first century mother has been burdened with an expanded set of responsibilities, ranging from monitoring children’s cognitive and psychological development to managing risks associated with modern life. Media discourses, state policies, and neoliberal consumer culture have jointly reconstructed motherhood, simultaneously glorifying maternal sacrifice while intensifying surveillance and expectations. Ultimately, the article argues that motherhood in contemporary Türkiye cannot be understood merely as a private familial role but must be situated within broader transformations of gender, state ideology, and consumption-oriented lifestyles. Supporting the notion that “the nineteenth century belonged to men, the twentieth to women, and the twenty-first to children,” the study demonstrates that while childhood has gained unprecedented social importance, both mothers and children remain subjected to new forms of control and constraint.