Relations between men and women (1st interview)

The people that participated in the interview were Constantis Fragakis, aged 79, farmer and Maria Patera, age 24, private sector employee. The interview was coordinated by Evangelos Eliades. The interviewer and the participants are all Halki residents. Questions dealt with  the relations between men and  women, the young and the old, and also family relations, then and now (past and present).

The following conclusions were drawn from their answers:
Relations in the past between men and women were very good . They loved each other and enjoyed their time together. The wife always helped her husband. She used to assist him with his every day duties. Men and women were cultivating their land together . In harvest , for example, women always helped men . Today, women do not deal anymore with their husbands’ jobs.

A woman today is more independent. She does more outside the house and relationships are well set. A man is usually busy with the heaviest of duties whereas his wife performs the lighter ones . Previously , they worked together. Today, yes, there are differences , they do both work , but not in the same profession .
There is absolute equality nowdays when it comes to employment . There is no direct or indirect discrimination , definitely not in Halki, where society is more enclosed . In Halki, there is not a huge amount of clashing interests as in other cities.
Μen used to have the leading opinion about all matters at home. They often though collaborated with women on various issues that were concerning them. Some women used to drive the house economics and management.  But the captain was the man. Today, they both can have it all. And in terms of finances, everyone has his/her own money. None has the leading say any more.
Our occupations at the time were a lot . Then we had the “machines” – the boats that were departing for collecting  sponges . Most people were farmers, but often they left for Africa with their boats and returned by summer. In the winter they were digging their land – cultivated , they owned animals and produced a lot of cheese , butter and sold them in Rhodes, Kasos and Karpathos .
There was a lot of green on the island – not liketoday . Then there were two areas , the top seed and the lower seed . They cultivated large quantities of cereals and vegetables . And of course the animals were limited in order not to damage the crops . They were milking animals together ( the different owners) , collaborated with each other and together they made cheese , myzithra cheese and butter – something like a cooperative scheme . There were many goats and sheep and cows and all animals were able to get food. Often, the same people or others , were also occupied with fishing.
Today it all about the fishing and tourism when it comes to income. There must be about 20 people involved with fishing and this is somehow puting Halki under the spotlight. But of course they are involved with their shops and tourism during the summer months, which can bring in a lot of money. Today both women and men are involved in all this, women maybe more, as they seem to attract tourists far more easily.
From a social perspective, there were many groups of people back then. People were enjoying themselves , they were friends and In peace . They were having fun with the so called ‘ stubbornly ‘ songs – i.e.  the impromptu serenades . Anyone could say anything  they wanted for each other over the songs. And at the same time the other person was never misunderstood and, if he could, he replied with another song. There was never any trouble. Now every year things change . Now it’s worse. People are better off and can live more comfortable in terms of money , but  they are more alone. Today you cannot really talk , you cannot say anything to another , for example, you cannot say that what you do is not right – you will be misunderstood . Women participated in the same way as men. In particular, dances, like the sousta dance, were led by women . The celebrations in the village involved them big time.
Today things are very different . Young people have found the easy way in meeting  virtual friends – on the Internet and on facebook. It is rare today to keep company with people. In the older times everything was better and there were real relationships that do not exist today. Women now participate in having fun the same way as men . Of course, in many cases, they are not participating in parties with so much innocence , in fact they want to provoke other men. Maybe in the old days things were not like this . We think that nowdays we women are better and more beautiful . Previously there was love and understanding , but today this is very rare.
As to the relations between the young and the old, the young ones were not cut off from their elders . We, as young people want their friendship in order to learn from them. But they always wanted younger people to be close to them.
Today, young people  do not associate with the elders at all . They are not interested to hang out with seniors and they are not interested in  their opinion . This happens everywhere of course , not just in Halki. The boys, occassionally, want to hear some stories of the old . The girls, however, have other interests . In difficult times, a young person will seek the opinion of a peer rather than an older man.
When comparing between older days and nowdays, women were somehow considered as lower class to men. There was no freedom of speech for women. Today things are better. On the other hand, today’s young men and women do not embrace the old and do not respect them.