Introduction

Abstract

Selen¹ is a 21-year-old high school graduate wearing a headscarf. She sells scarves and tesettür clothing in Denizli, a city in the Western part of Turkey famous for its textile production. She tells me about her previous search for jobs over a cup of tea in the small kitchen at the back of the store where she works. As a young woman who donned the headscarf at the age of 17, during years of the headscarf ban in university and public sector jobs in Turkey, her brief history of “trying to become someone” (in her own words) through education and employment is permeated with continuous negotiations revolving around her headscarf. She has been working in this store for a year from 9:00 A.M. to 9:00 P.M. and says it is better than staying at home, which she finds depressing. This job is a far cry from her dream job though; she tells me how badly she wanted to become a policewoman. I ask her whether it is because of the headscarf ban that she could not enter the police force.