Kendini ‘Dindar’ Olarak Tanımlayan Erkeklerin Kadının Çalışmasına Bakışı

Regardless of gender, when we say ‘work’ we are talking about an activity as old as humanity for both men and women. Work done by the women is also equally senior both at homes such as cooking, cleaning, childcare, and outside work such as gardening and farming. But the concept of ‘working women’ has a history of just two centuries. The main reason is the fact that, in the process of modernization and industrialization, only that part of work which is done outside of home for money is considered to be valuable and only this part is called ‘work.’ Both demand for and supply of women’s work as part of the labor force has increased due to mass production brought about by industrialization as well as the two world wars. Today women working outside of home for earning money are widely accepted in our society, and accordingly, the number of “working” women who work for a certain amount of wages has been rapidly increasing. This increase in the female la-bor force positively contributes to economic development of the countries. However, the reasons for women working outside cannot be reduced only to economic reasons. Women may choose to work outside for other reasons such as increasing the quality of life, self-confidence, personal improvement, socialization, and self-esteem. Although not very common, there is, to a certain degree, some reservations and a negative view of women being in the economic life working outside for a pay. This reservation and negative view are more common in traditional societies and primarily in religious communities. This study investigates the view of men who regard themselves as religious on women working outside for a pay.