Greek Men (part two)

I seemed to have got carried away on my Greek men post, and ended up talking about football and politics!!!!! Anyway, I thought that I should go back to the article I was actually referring to. As I said, there seems to be a shortage of Greek men in Greece. That is to say in relation to the Greek women. I am not quite sure what the explanation is, but having had two children, on both occasions the maternity ward was filled with more girls than boys. Now, it may be something in the water, or something in the genes, but whatever it is, the future looks somewhat dim. I did have a theory that maybe the mythological Amazon women warriors had left behind a curse, but then realising that I was possibly talking of my ancestors ( the Amazon women were said to have come from Pontus, my grandparents' birthplace) I quickly dismissed the theory as I was beginning to lose my train if thought again. So what is actually going on. Clearly there has been a change in Greece over the years, and families have drastically reduced in size as they have begun to fall in with the European 2.1 children phenomenon. Analysing the area I live in, I also found an additional problem. There is an outstanding number of thirty and forty something bachelors. Then I began thinking, maybe the problem isn't actually the shortage of men, but the amount of unmarried men, who have yet to start families and begin increasing the male population. My mind again went back to the Amazon women. They were said to have killed all their menfolk, and male offspring were killed at birth in order for there to be a "reign of women". Could this "reign of women", without all the killing, be happening again. If so, should we women be preparing ourselves and our daughters of what is to come? or should we Greeks merely have more babies to increase the population and the chances of having a son. Whatever the answer...there is still one question...where have all the men gone???

Where are all the Greek men...

A report in today's papers claims that there is a shortage of men in Greece. Well, I'm sure that we won't see that shortage today as all the bars and cafes fill with the male species flocking to see the Champions League final between Liverpool and Milan. I am no real football fan, but having grown up in a country fanatic about the sport, shared a house with three men at Uni, and now living with a football crazed man, I seem to have got the point. No world is complete for a man without a sport to be obsessed about. British men have football, rugby and cricket...Greek men have football and occasionally basketball. Unlike other countries though, the obsession here is only with 3 major teams in fact. If you ask anyone who they support 99% of the time they will answer either Panathinaikos, Olympiakos or AEK. When I first came to Greece, I was surprised at how passionate people seemed to be about their team, even to the point of not talking to members of their family for days if they were on opposite sides. Football and politics seemed to be on a par. Men would be in cafes, either squabbling about their teams or their political party. If you watch men carefully their reactions are somewhat like that of lions protecting their territory. Conversations begin lightly, while they test each others' boundaries. They play a little with words, seeing how far they can go. Then, when they see an opening they pounce in, competing on who will have the loudest roar, and of course, the last word. As a woman, not a feminist, I like to look on, but I cannot say that I am ever impressed with what I see. Nowadays, though, hooliganism has hit Greece, and its football mania, in a big way. More and more people are injured at games, and as fans of opposing teams are not allowed to leave the grounds at the same time, the police are on alert for hours on end. It makes me wonder sometimes, why the fans don't just arrange a date and time to meet up, beat each other to bits, and then be able to watch the match without any risk involved. Or maybe they should put up a warning around the football stadium....Being a supporter is bad for your health...

So anyway in response to the Greek governments' dilemma on the shortage of Greek men, tonight they will all be down the pub watching the cup final...(and they won't be causing trouble because their teams aren't playing) and being a Brit deep down inside I now who I'll be supporting (Walk on...walk on...)