Equality Still Failing Women in Greece
By Kathy Tzilivakis, Athens News


THE FACTS of life: Women earn less than men. And more women than men find themselves stuck in low-income dead-end jobs.

Greek women have made impressive progress in academia – the majority of university graduates are females. But there is still a long way to go before they achieve absolute equality with their male counterparts in the work force. Few women hold high-end and decision-making posts in the corporate world, even fewer in political affairs.

Angela Daifa-Frantzeskaki, president of the Panhellenic Women's Organization, is a prominent figure in the local women's movement. She firmly believes the decades-long struggle for equality has not been in vain.

"Greece's legislative framework is one of the best in Europe," Daifa-Frantzeskaki told the Athens News. "We must take advantage of this and promote the right initiatives. We must also raise awareness among women. The Greek movement has made considerable headway, and we are now at the stage of discussing with state agencies about many issues… I believe, as one of the older women in the movement, that we are on the right track."

Work-wise

European Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs Anna Diamantopoulou has made mainstreaming gender equality in all community policies and activities a top priority. She told a recent Athens conference organized by the interior ministry's General Secretariat for Equality that women have a greater presence in the labour market in recent decades.

 The employment rate of females in the EU has increased from 50 percent in 1997 to 55 percent in 2001. The jobless rate for women, however, is higher than for men in all the 15 member states.

"The gap is smallest in northern Europe," she said. "Larger gaps exist in southern member states like Spain, Greece and Italy. And mothers with young children have the lowest employment rates.

Another problem facing women in all countries is their position in the labour market. Women are concentrated in low-income jobs, service work, the public sector and part-time jobs. Across the Union, the largest occupational group among women is salespersons, followed by domestic and personal care workers. All low-skill jobs."

Diamantopoulou cited statistics depicting a rather disappointing reality: men take up to two-thirds of the high-skilled jobs and the promotion of women in decision-making positions is still poor.

"The so-called glass ceiling is preventing women from accessing jobs with higher levels of responsibilities and high pay," said Diamantopoulou. "The gender pay gap is real."


In Greece, women take home about three-quarters what men earn at the same job. Reports published by the Statistical Office of the EU (Eurostar) show that the greatest pay inequalities are found in the higher income groups, the older age groups and among the highest educated.

In Greece, women take home about three-quarters what men earn at the same job. Reports published by the Statistical Office of the EU (Eurostar) show that the greatest pay inequalities are found in the higher income groups, the older age groups and among the highest educated. More than 50 percent of university graduates in Greece are female, yet women make up only 37 percent of the country's workforce. According to the Centre for Economic Research (KEPE), women's unemployment rate is at 15 percent – twice that of men at 6.7 percent.

"One in four women over the age of 20 is jobless," President of the General Confederation of Workers in Greece (GSEE), Christos Polyzogopoulos, told reporters on March 4. "The percentage of long-term jobless women is three times that of men…More than two-thirds of temporary workers are women, while 28 percent of females work less than 30 hours a week."

On an equal footing with men

Addressing the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) during the United Nations' 47th session at its New York headquarters on March 3, Interior Minister Costas Skandalidis vowed that Greece and the EU are determined to promote gender equality in the workforce. He said the EU is set to increase female participation in the labour market to 60 percent by 2010. It is currently 53 percent. This policy is based on a decision taken at the March 2000 Lisbon European Council.

"The legislative framework exists, both at the national and the EU level," Skandalidis told an Athens conference on women's rights in January. "Consequently, our efforts must focus on implementing existing legislation…The working women themselves must know about their labour rights and demand them. The state deals with the matter through legislation to protect citizens, but the citizens themselves must demand their rights."

Skandalidis reiterated Prime Minister Costas Simitis' pledge last year to do away with gender inequalities and promote equal opportunities for men and women in society. Ahead of last year's International Women's Day, Simitis said his government was striving to shatter the glass ceiling. He had admitted that women were clustered in lower-status jobs and under-represented in top-end posts in local and central government.

"The EU is on the eve of a historic enlargement…making a Union of some 450 million people. Yet over half of the women are still, to a considerable extent, being excluded from the work of building the future of Europe," said Diamantopoulou at a European Council meeting in Brussels on March 4. "Our goal is clear. Women and men must have equal rights in all fields, irrespective of their race, ethnic or social origin, religion or beliefs."

According to women's rights advocates, gender equality means that females and males are equally represented in committees, government, parliamentary assemblies, managerial posts, unions and public and private bodies as well as in all public institutions. Society, they say, also needs to change attitudes, norms and values that define gender roles.

The way women are portrayed by the media also needs to break away from stereotypes. In a March 3 press release, the Greek Consumers' Institute (INKA) criticized nationwide advertising campaigns targeting women. The consumer watchdog pointed to three areas of concern: women are portrayed as sex objects, the ones in charge of the whole household and all family responsibilities, and intellectually inferior to men. "Advertising today is backwards and does not seem to have been taught very many things from women's new social role," said INKA in the statement.

Affordable child care

Greek women, however, have greater family responsibilities and many shoulder an unequal distribution of work in the home. In fact, studies show most men spend much less time than women on domestic chores. And, women significantly reduce their time spent in paid employment after the birth of a child.

"The role of men and women in marriage remains traditional," Haris Symeonidou, research director at the National Centre of Social Research, told the Athens News, "Few men do housework and care for children. They mostly do outside repairs. Women handle the chores."

Champions of gender equality are calling for more accessible and affordable child care. Last year, Labour Minister Dimitris Reppas unveiled plans to inject billions of euros from the European Union Social Fund into the creation of some 500 child care centers across the country over the next two years. He said this would also create as many as 8,000 jobs to be filled mainly by women. Families in Athens, however, still face long waiting lists at most state-financed child care services. New Athens Mayor Dora Bakoyianni recently promised the municipality would extend the hours of day care centers to meet the needs of working mothers. Still, many resort to private centers, but this is a costly alternative.
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※academia  
the life, community, or world of teachers, schools, and education
※high-end
higher in price and of better quality than most others
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Dionysus

 Dionysus was the god of fertility and wine, later considered a patron of the arts. He created wine and spread the art of viticulture. He had a dual nature; on one hand, he brought joy and divine ecstasy; or he would bring brutal and blinding rage, thus reflecting the dual nature of wine. Dionysus and his followers could not be bound by fetters.

Seduction by Zeus and birth of Dionysus
In one version of the myth, Semele was a priestess of Zeus, and on one occasion was observed by Zeus as she slaughtered a bull at his altar and afterwards swam in the river Asopus to cleanse herself of the blood. Flying over the scene in the guise of an eagle, Zeus fell in love with Semele and repeatedly visited her secretly.

Zeus' wife, Hera, a goddess jealous of usurpers, discovered his affair with Semele when she later became pregnant. Appearing as an old crone,Hera befriended Semele, who confided in her that her lover was actually Zeus. Hera pretended not to believe her, and planted seeds of doubt in Semele's mind. Curious, Semele asked Zeus to grant her a boon. Zeus, eager to please his beloved, promised on the River Styx to grant her anything she wanted. She then demanded that Zeus reveal himself in all his glory as proof of his divinity. Though Zeus begged her not to ask this, she persisted and he was forced by his oath to comply. Zeus tried to spare her by showing her the smallest of his bolts and the sparsest thunderstorm clouds he could find. Mortals, however, cannot look upon the gods without incinerating, and she perished, consumed in lightning-ignited flame.

Zeus rescued the fetal Dionysus, however, by sewing him into his thigh. A few months later, Dionysus was born. This leads to his being called "the twice-born".

When he grew up, Dionysus rescued his mother from Hades, and she became a goddess on Mount Olympus, with the new name Thyone, presiding over the frenzy inspired by her son Dionysus.
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※ usurpers :to seize and hold (as office, place, or powers) in possession by force or without right
※crone  :  a withered old woman

※perished:  to become destroyed or ruined 

※ fetal :of, relating to, or being a fetus(a developing human from usually two months after conception to birth)

※whence :from what place, source, or cause 

Dionysus was the son of Zeus and Semele, and he was the only god with a mortal parent.
 Zeus went to Semele in the night, unseen by human eyes, but could be felt as a divine presence. Semele was pleased to be the lover of a god, even though she did not know which one. Word soon got around and Hera quickly assumed who was responsible. She went to Semele in disguise and convinced her she should see her lover as he really was. When Zeus visited her again, she made him promise to grant her one wish. She went so far as to make him swear on the River Styx that he would grant her request. Zeus was madly in love and agreed. She then asked him to show her his true form. Zeus was unhappy knowing what was about to happen, but bound by his oath, he had no choice. He appeared in his true form and Semele was instantly burnt to a crisp by the sight of his glory. Zeus managed to rescue the fetal Dionysus and stitched him into his thigh until he would be ready to be born. His birth from Zeus conferred immortality upon him.
Hera, still jealous of Zeus' infidelity and the fact that Dionysus was alive, arranged for the Titans to kill him. The Titans ripped him to pieces; however, Rhea brought him back to life. After this, Zeus arranged for his protection and gave him to the mountain nymphs to be raised.

Dionysus wandered the world actively spreading his cult. He was accompanied by the Maenads, wild women, flush with wine, shoulders draped with a fawn skin, carrying rods tipped with pine cones. While other gods had temples to be worshipped at, the followers of Dionysus worshipped him in the woods. There, they might go into a state of ecstasy and madness, ripping apart and eating raw any animal they might come upon.
Dionysus was also one of the very few characters able to bring a dead person back from the underworld. Even though he had never seen Semele, he was concerned for her. Eventually, he journeyed into the underworld to find her. He faced down Thanatos and brought her back to Mount Olympus.
Dionysus became one of the most important gods in everyday life and was associated with several key concepts. One was rebirth after death; his dismemberment by the Titans and his return to life was symbolically echoed in viticulture, where the vines must be pruned back sharply, and then become dormant in winter for them to bear fruit. Another concept was that under the influence of wine, one could feel possessed by a greater power. Unlike other gods, Dionysus was not merely a god to be worshipped, but he was also present within his followers; at those times, a man would possess supernatural powers and was able for things he would not be able to do otherwise.
The festival for Dionysus was held in the spring when vines would start bearing leaves. It became one of the most important events of the year and its primary focal point was the theater. Most of the great Greek plays were initially written to be performed at the feast of Dionysus. All participants, writers, actors, spectators, were regarded as sacred servants of Dionysus during the festival.
Dionysus Is also called Bacchus.
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※cult:a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious
※draped:to cover or adorn with or as if with folds of cloth
※fawn :  a light grayish brown
※viticulture: the cultivation or culture of grapes especially for wine making
※dormant :  represented on a coat of arms in a lying position with the head on the forepaws