Liminal Lives in Rural Anatolia: Patriarchal Veils Dragging Infants to Death

This paper focuses on my field experiences from Turkey Demographic and Health Surveys, Turkey Maternal Mortality Survey, and extensive use of qualitative research on family planning and induced abortion in Turkey since 1993. During the surveys, I had the opportunity to gather substantial amounts of information about women’s everyday experiences in relation to traditional practices, approaches to health and health care, and women’s attitudes and emotional contexts. The narratives of women included heartbreaking and tragic experiences due to traditional gender norms within the families. In this paper, I examine the effect of patriarchal/gender hierarchies on the experiences of the brides in relation to infant mortality data through a qualitative approach based on observations, field notes, and in depth interviews with women. The research questions the impact of the culturally determined gender and age hierarchies within these extended families on the liminal life of infants and their mothers in Anatolia. How do these relationships determine the life courses of the infants during their initial years? The concepts of ‘liminality’ and development of ‘personhood’ frame the theoretical grounds to further articulate bride/mother/infant visibility and invisibility within these families and the experiences of infant mortality.