Constitutive representation of womanhood

Abstract This article analyzes the speeches of Turkish female parliamentarians during the headscarf debate. We examine how deputies with different political and ideological predilections discursively construct women’s rights and employ legitimation strategies to validate their policy position. The findings reveal that on the one hand, the female deputies use different legitimation strategies to justify arguments for or against the use of headscarves in the public sector. On the other hand, they embed the headscarf debate into the broader political goals they pursue in a polarized political setting. They deploy legitimation strategies around the headscarf debate to rationalize future policy on issues ranging from the expansion of human rights and democracy to the change of the type of political regime.