March 8, celebrates International Woman's Day (IWD). It is a celebration of ordinary women as makers of history; and deeply rooted in the centuries-old struggle of women that want and deserve to participate in an equal society with men.
As a journalist, and woman myself, I can honestly say with great certainty that there are still too many barriers and inequalities facing Greek women today. Beyond the financial inequalities, the modern Greek female caregiver probably performs almost twice the hours of unpaid work as the men in this country, and has to also live in a nation with some of the lowest child care access rates in the industrialized world.
Some Europeans might like to claim that we have achieved equality over the last century and that the struggle for equality no longer exists, but we all know this is not completely true. Figures show that the average gender pay gap in Europe is at least 17,4 percent and that women’s job security is more precarious than those of men, and trust me ladies Greece is no exception.
In this country, not only do women earn less than men, they also find themselves stuck in low-income dead-end jobs. Parallel to this, female divorcees and single mothers are ostracized, there is still domestic violence, abuse of female children, etc.
Unfortunately, male dominance complex traits can still be found in Greece, just like as I am sure they can also be found in many other countries across the world. Part of the problem, as many tell me, is that many of the men have an arrogance that stems from a cultural upbringing, bad habits, and being nurtured by their mothers to the tender age of 40+ (and even 50+, 60+).
Society and the way the country has been evolving still has many harsh and chauvinistic tendencies that appear to deter Greek women. But even if there are still many difficulties left to iron out, things are much better in Greece today than they were 40 and 50 years ago.
So what are these differences and chauvinistic tendencies?
The truth is that many men (and even women) in Greece are in the opinion that when females entered the market force, society was forever changed, and to some degree this is true. Of course as a female myself I would think to the better, but try explaining this to a male who is in his 50s and has been raised to believe that women are there to serve them and them alone. That is because most of the families here in Greece still hold the traditional model family as the right model and are very reluctant to change.
Even if parents are highly aware of gender equality, girls are brought up to believe that their real fulfillment only comes with the creation of a family, which allows them, especially in small communities, to feel socially correct and accepted. Regrettably, this mentality has a deep-rooted history in Greece, since women in this country were always treated as second rate and inferior objects. In ancient times, and until the 1970-80s, they lived under the control of the men in their lives and this was widely accepted.
Unfortunately, the common view of men here about women was, and in very, very few cases still is, that women are inferior objects, sexually dangerous and too vulnerable. In addition to that, it is believed that we should of never been allowed to enter the work force, and let us not even examine the issue of exercising authority over others especially the male species. That is not even debatable!
Aside from the direct family, Greek women were never allowed to voice their opinion and those who did were usually characterized as being "alien" and shunned by their communities. Funny as it may sound they were even called lesbians and too feminist. Today this all sounds very silly of course but 40 and 50 years ago this was how society lived and acted.
In fact just decades ago the perfect woman had to care of her family and remain submissive to her husband, who was the only one allowed to head the family. In villages, things were worse, women were raised to be sexually reserved, and anything opposite of that was unacceptable. Imagine their adjustment with the modern day Greek woman who is very promiscuous and totally sexually liberated.
Indeed it took long for things to change in this part of the world. But they did. After World War II ended, urbanization and industrialization brought about massive change. Western alliances started to internationalize the image of the Greek people and women were, for the first time, finally allowed to vote (early 1950s), thanks to a decision by the late Konstantine Karamanlis. In addition to that, women began to earn more wages than before the war, and female movements were born.
Following this, and in the 1970s-80s, when Western influence began penetrating Greek society and women began to imitate western behaviors which resulted in them losing all of their old world roles, and that is when yet another revolution began.
This new revolution confused and upset Greek males because they were still being raised by mothers who were reluctant to change. You guessed it. A clash began so the 80s disturbed many marriages, and divorce became as common as a glass of water. Parallel to this, it also changed the way in which single people mingled and women became extremely sexually liberated. Now it was the female doing the "kamaki" and not the men. This frightened the men or the "hunters" and added even more confusion to the communication between both sexes.
I guess that is why men have been afraid to approach many women since then, because they do not really like our newly discovered aggressiveness nor can they fully understand it. Personally I like it the other way around ... It's actually flattering when men court you or target you for "kamaki".
Indeed, the 80s were a period that motivated Greek women to go from one extreme to the other. Basically they went from being totally limited and reserved one day, to burning their bras and hunting down men the next. But because there was no in between, it wasn't fully accepted by society and till this day men (and their mothers) still cannot understand it!
Zooming to the present day, Greek men -just like the majority of males worldwide- don't mind that you work, in fact they encourage it because it lifts the burden and responsibilities from their shoulders, but this is just as long as women do not make more money than them. But women are still harassed sexually and to some extent young females in Greece abuse this for their own advantage.
Ridiculous in my book, but then again I wasn't raised here and cannot grasp the mind of an average Greek female, I basically just tolerate it.
In all I would have to say that Greek society's view of the modern woman has changed, but here is where the paradox is, our biggest enemies today are not really the men but are rather all those women who have been reluctant to change.
My real hope is in the youth. Maybe today’s youth in Greece, who is better educated, less-narrow-minded and travels more than their parents did, will one day become more sensitive to human rights issues and will be able to work harder to ensure equality for both sexes.
If I had to explain what a modern Greek woman was in one paragraph then I would say that living in Greece all these years has shown me that although the men in this country truly love the female species, there are very few that genuinely have respect for the woman as a whole. As sad as that sounds it is true but I will explain because this probably is very alive in other cultures and societies as well. Certainly there is a passion for the feminine, but there is no real love for the female. There is admiration for the lady but surprisingly enough there is hardly any real contempt for the woman, and educated women are totally doomed in the face of the ignorant ones.
Yes ladies, Cosmo girls are goddesses in this country, or any country. Cheap lipstick, a low-cut shirt and an asthma skirt (or one that needs to be pulled down every time you breathe) rules. Whereas a woman who reads the Financial Times, or who can actually stand proud in an argument can expect to literally go sexless for ages.
All jokes aside, Greek society can make or break our hearts, but nonetheless we always come back spellbound. No we are not sadistic, but we are enchanted by the old and the new. In many ways it is diverse as the female and just like its geography, this country and its people are as dissimilar as the colors of the rainbow.
We still have a lot to achieve ladies, but hey today it is Woman's Day and time to celebrate so Happy Woman’s day to us all!
Signed
Marina Spanos
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