tell that to this writer
http://web.cocc.edu/hum299/colleen/greek/greek_modern_family.htm According to all my sources below, the male and female roles of the Greek family have not changed much since the days of old. In modern Greece, one can still find a very strong patriarchal society. Women since the middle to late 1970's have been fighting for their rights, but still are burden with a male dominant society. Only men are in political power, thus making it very difficult for women to find their independence. Political powers in Greece do not want to have, what they call, alien influences in their country; thus making it difficult not only for women, but for the European Unification (EU)as well.
A women is looked upon, by their male partners, as evil, because Eve was deceived by the serpent and not Adam. The most important role for a woman is to keep her virtue for the purification of the family's name. Even today, in a upcoming new world order society, a Greek woman has very little rights in her sexuality, education, and employment. The Greek man is the bread winner and the woman is the homemaker. Though the Greek woman has little to say in a predominately male society, she in reality has the most power.
The woman of the house controls all the domestic affairs of the Greek family. Every domestic detail is decided by the wife, ranging from home furnishings to sex. Though her husband is the bread winner and controls the family economics, it is the woman who decides how and where the money is spent. She also controls the sexual relations between her and her husband; if the wife does not want to have relations with her husband, he is simply out of luck. The Greek wife is differently the head of household, while the Greek husband is the bread winner. The different roles of each the wife and husband is a mutual agreement.
Both male and female in the Greek society prefer to live separate lives. The men socialize with other men and the women socialize with other women. After a hard day at work, the men come together at coffee houses to socialize with one and another; most of the male's social life is done in the evening time, since they do work all day. On the other hand, the woman are free to socialize all day. The women either meet with neighbors for coffee and chat, the go to church functions, or they just simply socialize while doing household chores, such as sewing or preparing meals. It is said both male and female alike prefer this type of arrangement, but we can only learn what a woman desires through a male point of view.
It is difficult learning the true views of the Greek female, since only the men are those who communicate with different anthropologist and write the literature that is significant in learning the female role in the country. The Greek family has always been an important study for anthropologists, because there is such little knowledge on that focuses the Greek female point of view. We must rely on Greek men for many of the answers. Read my recommended sources below for a better understanding of the modern Greek family and the male/female roles in the Greek society.
