Assessing 200 years of struggles for gender equality

As we approach the end of the anniversary year 2021, it is reasonable to seek a brief assessment of the 200 years. The Revolution of 1821 is the pinnacle historical event, a source of pride, reflection, and self-awareness. Gender equality certainly constitutes an essential part of the self-awareness of Greek society. 1821 was the first victorious independence war, with the participation of female fighters, against the Ottoman Empire. The national uprising proclamations of Rigas, regarding “freedom, gender equality, and the ability of women to bear arms” had inspired a critical mass of women. The participation and bravery they demonstrated during the armed uprising was the first tangible challenge to the patriarchal order. In the shared struggle for liberation, the equality of men and women was achieved on the battlefield. The protagonists Manto Mavrogenous and Bouboulina, along with thousands of other volunteers, emerged as models of combativeness and self-sacrifice within an absolutely patriarchal and hostile regime towards women. They were dynamically present in the uprising of 1821, in the “unfortunate” war of 1897, in the glorious Balkan Wars, in the peace initiatives of the interwar period, in the National Resistance against the Germans and against the junta of the colonels. Women were always present in the building, institutional formation, and modernization of the modern Greek state!

The marginalization of women in post-revolutionary Greece, the ingratitude of their male counterparts, their exclusion from political, social, economic rights and freedoms, demonstrates the deep roots of the Ottoman legacy. The Ladies’ Newspaper (1887-1918) of the circle of the most prominent Greek feminist Kallirroi Papageorgiou was the first major step towards the dissemination of humanitarian values, gender equality, and peaceful coexistence among people, at a time when women were not even recognized with the right to education and paid work. The few educated women (mostly teachers) who dared to challenge the empire of male power and the “monopoly of rationality and judgment” deserve the highest honor and gratitude.

Ultimately, after long struggles, feminists forced the patriarchically structured political system to proceed with reforms and changes that strengthen democracy, the rule of law, socioeconomic development, and the European profile of the country: Equality in education, political and social rights, constitutional and legal equality with modern Civil, Criminal, and Labor Law, the right to contraception, decriminalization of abortion and adultery, criminalization of rape both inside and outside of marriage, cohabitation agreements for same-sex couples, a plethora of studies and publications in favor of equality, mandatory quotas for businesses, electoral lists, and decision-making and power centers, laws and structures to combat gender-based violence, #MeToo Movement! The election of Katerina Sakellaropoulou as President of the Hellenic Republic, the first woman in the highest state office, is the culmination of 200 years of persistent feminist struggles, marking further progress and successes of female sapiens.

However, despite the notable progress, Greece ranks last in the equality indicators of the European Institute, while being shaken by the surge of violence and femicides. The year 2021 bids us farewell with the heavy loss of 17 women who were brutally murdered by their partners and with a multitude of reports of violent behavior, sexual abuse, hate speech, and online defamation. Obviously, the root cause of violence, as well as all other inequalities, is the power gap between genders, the indirect and direct exclusion from power structures, and the perception of femininity as a disadvantage and as an excuse for macho culture. The struggle for equality is perceived as a zero-sum game, threatening the privileges of patriarchy. The new “National Action Plan for Gender Equality 2021-2025,” recently announced after a long public consultation, promises, along with the corresponding European 2020-2025 plan, better days for gender equality. Their implementation includes monitoring mechanisms.

Happy Holidays, with health!

Anna Karamanou, PhD EKPA, former MEP of PASOK. Her book “The Peaceful Uprising of Female Sapiens, 1821-2021” is published by Armos Publications.