The personal is political!

Article by Anna Karamanou

Published in the newspaper Ta NEA

Friday, 29.01.2021

In Greece, modern currents of thought and social change often arrive with delay. However, when they do come, they can be powerful forces, sometimes even hurricanes. This is how the shocking public confession of Sofia Bekatorou, regarding the sexual violence she suffered, unfolded. The first pan-European campaign in 1999, along with many others that followed, with the slogan “break the silence,” found few women willing to report their rapists. However, Sofia’s courage sparked many other women to reveal their own silenced stories of sexual harassment and violence: in politics, universities, the media, and workplaces. Particularly in the world of sports, which has always been a breeding ground for intensifying masculinity and the illusion of male superiority, sexual violence and harassment are pervasive. Football fields and battlefields of tough competitions are the very places where macho culture is celebrated, urging men to be strong, aggressive, promiscuous, and harsh towards women.

Paraphrasing Beauvoir, what applies to women also applies to men: one is not born a man, one becomes one! However, if “gender” is constructed, it can also change. This is why, after the upheavals brought about by the feminist movement, one would expect to see a similar liberation movement among men, freeing them from the pressures, compulsions, and limitations imposed by male identity and the ideals of masculinity and “manliness.” To praise a man, it is enough to tell him how much of a man he is! This culture is responsible for emotional mutilation, gender-based violence, and the unhappiness resulting from the famous phrase “men don’t cry.”

These issues in Greece have never been the subject of a serious and sober public debate, nor have they been part of the education system to find new balances in gender relations. On the contrary, in our traditional society, the strategy of covering up and “not touching upon the wrongs” is followed. See the announcement of the Hellenic Olympic Committee! Male violence, particularly domestic violence, is kept like a well-guarded secret, as patriarchy and social propriety dictate that “what happens at home stays at home.”

Top social and religious institutions (Taboo), in complete contrast to the values of democracy, still refuse to recognize the equal worth and dignity of women. Hostility toward equality fuels the ever-increasing violence. The main cause, obviously, is the unequal distribution of power between the genders and the structures of male dominance. It is a system of control and exploitation that constitutes an open war against women! The #MeToo movement responds to this war.

The role of the media remains extremely critical. While the #MeToo movement began in Alabama in 2006, it went viral in 2017 when *The New York Times* revealed a series of allegations of sexual harassment and abuse, leading to the downfall of many high-profile men. Greece, however, with the ratification of the Istanbul Convention (Law 4531/2018), has a very strong legal framework for combating all forms of violence against women. Let’s make use of it! The old slogan of the feminist movement, “The personal is political,” remains as relevant as ever—along with “BREAK THE SILENCE!”

Anna Karamanou, Ph.D. in Political Science from the NKUA, former PASOK MEP.