ABSTRACT
The public spaces of the Sunni villages are dominated by men, who worship together, without women, in the village mosque. This dominance and segregation are found also within their respective households, where men and women lead largely separate lives but the men possess overall authority. One conception of the relationship of men to other men, and of men to women, serves to regulate both domestic and public relations. By contrast, in the Alevi villages, relations between the sexes and between men differ sharply depending on whether they fall in the public or the private sphere. In the private sphere of the mahalle and the household, dedes are treated differently from other men. But there is no segregation of men and women, and both sexes worship together in the cem. In the public sphere, to be from a dede lineage carries no special rights or privileges; women are secluded and men worship alone.
