Skip to content
Greek American Girl
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Greek Goddess Gifts E-shop
  • Contact
  • Privacy and Cookie Policy

#metoo You've got issues

Untitled

  • August 3, 2018August 3, 2018
  • by irene Archos

With all due respect to the #metoo movement, I have to say that it’s not men who are oppressing women, it’s women themselves.  In my experience I have never been so demeaned, criticized, ostracized and vilified by any man as much as I have been by women.  The adage holds true: a woman’s worse enemy is still another woman.

Of course, I understand there is a certain amount of healthy rivalry needed to keep relationships on their toes.  But the amount of scathing hatred disguised as superficial care that women posit towards other women makes every feminist bone in my body quake.  I have seen women deliberately stand in the way of another woman’s success, never mind help them up the ranks. Back stabbing and worse of all the “frenemy” fronts that stand in the way of genuine communication.  The jealousy and envy that women feel towards the other is on the same level as the disrespectful oppression men charter out.

This is not to say that meaningful relationships between women cannot be fostered.  There are deep, lasting trusting relationship between childhood friends or work colleagues.  But is it only me or do I sense that there is a lack of cohesion, a lack of organization that women from more traditional ethnic groups, including the Hellenic one?  It boggles me to see other women who are so hell-bent on tearing each other apart when some like myself would like to see mutual support and empowerment.  Why does this happen?

Is female-to-female aggression a sign of the internalized traumas of patriarchy? Is it a psychological manifestation of “divide and conquer”?   Does it have to do with insecurity? Maybe. Someone who is grounded in her sense of worth does not see another, however more gifted, as a threat.  Sometimes I despair that women of my ethnic group will ever attain to the type of female solidarity that can topple the power dynamics of corporations and send CEOS and other power mongers scrambling from their thrones. How can they? They are too busy pulling each other’s eyes out. Or rather giving them the silent treatment. I would love to find out from other professionals how to counteract this tendency. How to switch women from turning on each other to turning against their real oppressors?

Nah. It will be a far distant future before a #metoo happens for ethnic minorities: Latinas, Chinas, Hellinides.

Have you experienced something similar–women who are supposed to be supporting you wind up ostracizing, belittling or in any case making it harder to come together as a united front to fight gender inequality to benefit women as a class?

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
The Best of Both Worlds: How much of the Greek traditions do you change and give up in order to be a proud American? 
The Bearded Gods Return; Hercules Beard Co helps them groom
irene Archos

Related articles

St Dymphna: Patroness of the…
Kalliroi Siganou-Parren: Women’s Rights Champion…
Rosalia de Castro: Day 1…
street urchins Athens
My Mother and the American…
Greece the omphalos of love
The Cautionary Tale of Caroline…
The Lenten Fast and Cheese…
Tribute to Constance Callinicos: American…

Let us know what you think Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Recent Posts

  • Holy Transvestites! The Story of St Apollinaria and Other Cross-dressing Female Saints of the Desert
  • St Hermione: A Superhero Saint of Epic Proportions
  • St Dymphna: Patroness of the Mentally Ill and Victims of Sexual Abuse
  • Saint Thekla, Equal to the Apostles
  • Kalliroi Siganou-Parren: Women’s Rights Champion from Crete

Categories

Top Posts & Pages

  • Greeks of a Different Color: Anneta Koromvli Mukuka
  • Greek Pick Up Lines
  • The Controlling Greek Mother
  • Home
  • St Thomais patron saint against adultery
  • Koukles with Boukles: Greek Girls with Curls: Tips and Options
  • Contact
  • The Benefits of the Hellenic Booty
  • Athena Kottak: Tommy Lee's Little Sister Drummin' to a Greek Beat
  • Do Greek men make good marriage partners?
  • Home
  • You’ve got issues
  • Greek Women Profiles
  • Aphrodite’s Bedroom
  • Culture Connection
  • Fashion and Beauty
  • It’s your Saint’s Day
  • Media Coverage
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Greek Goddess Gifts E-shop
  • Contact
  • Privacy and Cookie Policy

Translate

All rights reserved 2004-2019
Theme by Colorlib Powered by WordPress
  • Home
  • You’ve got issues
  • Greek Women Profiles
  • Aphrodite’s Bedroom
  • Culture Connection
  • Fashion and Beauty
  • It’s your Saint’s Day
  • Media Coverage
Subscribe to our newsletter
Daily Creativity Challenge

Subscribe to get a daily creativity challenge sent to your in-box every morning.  Research shows creativity creates well-being, resilience, centeredness, and more creativity! From art projects, to clay crafts, to raps and rhymes, journal entries, drama role plays, poetry–every day is another chance to get your creative juices flowing! Snap a pic and tag #dailycreativitychallenge on Instagram and join our community of creatives.