WOMEN UNDER POLYGAMY
women, the admirers of womanly beauty, grace and wit.
We have noted that the haremlik has reached a stage of something like unpopularity. Polygamy is not likely to give place rapidly to universal monogamy in Turkey. We might as well expect to banish polygny suddenly from Western societies. But the stricter rule of the seraglio is relaxing. Even doctors are allowed to enter the harems. Culture is invading the sacred precints of "the Abode of Bliss," and culture brings a longing for a freer life. The West of Europe is setting Turkey an example, for good or ill, and Turkey is at least heedful and interested. The ground is being sown. What will the future yield?
Is East eternally East? Turkey, at all events, is the most sensitive of all Eastern nations to the influence of outside social movements. In certain respects she admires England, and is willing to imitate English customs. Not even the influence of Mohammedism can withstand the irresistible force of human thought and social progress. Probably much that is admirable in Turkish custom will decline with the incoming of Western industrial and commercial ideals. Possibly there will be social gain also. Who can foretell? That which we laud as progress in the West is not always a boon to the East.
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