The future belongs to crowds

Martha Stewart and Oprah Winfrey are my favorite entertainers when it comes to picking up a few new lifestyle tips.
I learned from Martha’s show and Oprah’s magazine that on the Internet you can rent a handbag. There are two Web sites operating in the US -- BagBorrowOrSteal.com and FromBagsToRiches.com -- plus at least three in Britain, one in Germany, one in Australia and one in Canada.

Isn’t that great? I didn’t know this! Sure, I knew that you can rent a car or a DVD, but a handbag? That’s news. Rent-a-bag is a new concept that seems to be filling a real need -- and a growing number of women are embracing it.

The idea would probably work in Turkey. Turkish women love to have fabulous handbags. We all know you can spend a lot of money on a handbag and two or three months later you see another one that you like better and “must have.” Some even like to tote designer brands. In that case rent a bag might be just the thing for you.

Another accessory that women like to wear is scarves. I have over 50 scarves. Sometimes I like to wear one to add a little color or accent to my outfit. I even have a couple of headscarves that have come in handy over the years. Sometimes I wear one when I have to attend a funeral here. Back in the late 1970s when I first came to Turkey, I lived in Ankara. If I had to go down to the center for errands or shopping, I would wear a headscarf and raincoat so I would not attract attention to myself. My motives in covering my head were as a sign of respect or were for protection.

Probably an Internet site for scarves and headscarves would thrive here.

For TZ readers who live abroad or have not lived in Turkey very long, let me put things into historical context for you:

The university headscarf ban dates back to the 1980s, but was significantly tightened in 1997 when army generals, with public support, ousted a government they deemed too Islamist.

Soner Çağatay, a Turkish researcher at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, in an interview on NPR news explains that the Turkish idea of secularism has kept covered women from universities. Çağatay continues by saying that the notion of secularism was established in the 1920s by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who was deeply influenced by French writers and scientists.

Just this past week a ban on female students wearing Muslim headscarves in Turkey’s universities was lifted. Critics said the law denied women an education and was against religious freedom.

Secularist supporters waving Turkish flags have begun to protest in public.

There has been an ongoing passionate and fierce debate on the issue of headscarves.

I believe it was Tolstoy who wrote, “Happiness does not depend on outward things, but on the way we see them.” I think most would agree that this takes a special maturity.

In my home country a person can wear a cross in public and others don’t care; and Arabs can wear their traditional dress in the university classroom and nobody blinks an eye. But maybe people do not feel threatened because my country’s government is over two hundred years old.

The 20th president of the US, James A. Garfield, was dealing with some similar issues in the 1880s and he said, “Next in importance to freedom and justice is popular education, without which neither freedom nor justice can be permanently maintained.” Garfield had a point.

Here is a thought to consider: Maybe every person should be free to do what he or she wants to do as long as it does not hinder everybody else’s freedom.

Where does the future lie in Turkey?

By the way, don’t forget! If you are having trouble storing all your handbags and hate the clutter in your closet or are bored with your bag collections, maybe a site in Turkey to rent bags and other accessories will open soon.


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