Family and intergenerational solidarity
The family forms the basic cell of island society and centralizes an important network of solidarity that fills a lack of care at the national level, further increased by the recent years of crisis, and a general mistrust of the central state. This is an age-old reality that was already prevalent in the traditional structures of the North Aegean: isolated and faced with difficult living conditions, subject to Ottoman arbitrary, the islands have developed a tradition of family mutual aid that still applies today. Within the family, it is the mutual aid between generations that prevails. Every summer, many young adults return to their island of origin, to their parents, to help out during the summer season. This system of economic solidarity allows them to earn a living while doing service to the family.
The children are often the kings and the adults are very generous and affectionate with them. This attitude is not limited to the inner circle but is open to others: you will notice it with your own children if you travel with your family. As a symbol of a filiation that continues between generations, newborns are still mostly baptized with their grandparents' names, which explains why the same handful of names are often found on the islands. This is not an obligation and we can see the fashion for ancient names coming back among young couples.
In the family, children are covered with gifts and sweets. And even when their offspring are grown up, parents continue to spoil them with small dishes prepared by mom or an apartment bequeathed by dad. On the one hand, this is fine, because why spoil the fun? On the other hand, it is quite terrible because generations of young and old remain stuck in this permanent infantilisation. And the love shown by force-feeding children results in one of the highest obesity rates in Europe. Another harmful aspect of this cumbersome love is that parents want their offspring to succeed at school at all costs. As a result, from primary school onwards, many children find themselves bogged down in evening classes - the dreaded frontistiria - on which families spend lavishly.
On the other side of life, when old age sets in, the grandfather is in turn taken care of by his children who will help him with food, clothing, shopping: our concept of a retirement home makes many people scream! Retirees who have left their native island for all or part of their working lives usually take the path back to live quietly in their later years. Indeed, the village and the island of origin channel a strong attachment and the return to the native land often remains in the psyche of those who left and wish to finish their days there.
Sense of community and philoxenia
The sense of community extends beyond the family clan into the system of the parea, or the collective, the community. The parea designates a group of friends, formed during a shared experience (school, university, work...). But it is also broader than that and can designate a moment of conviviality: we meet in community to party and have a good time. In the North Aegean islands, this tradition is particularly followed, especially during the big summer celebrations, the panigyria. These celebrations, whether religious or not, are an opportunity for a great moment of sharing, and are part of the tradition of community and hospitality that characterizes these islands, especially the island of Ikaria, known for its community festivals.
This tradition of mutual aid and community helps to maintain a broad solidarity. Philoxenia means "love of strangers" and refers to a strong sense of hospitality. It is a tradition that persists in the islands of the North Aegean, despite the misdeeds of mass tourism that has developed in recent years and could have diluted it. In the less touristy areas, you will easily be invited to share a coffee or a drink, while restaurants continue to offer a sweet or a liquor at the end of the meal. Philoxenia almost naturally became a response to the influx of refugees from the Middle East back in 2015, making up for the lack of national and international response to this humanitarian crisis. Everywhere on the islands of the North Aegean, individual and collective initiatives have sprung up spontaneously to help migrants, multiplying gestures of solidarity despite the economic crisis, while others, with incomparably greater means, were and still are turning a deaf ear. Even if fatigue has set in over the years, and the locals have sometimes expressed their anger in moments of tension, the islanders remain generally supportive of the people they welcome.
Heteronormative society and patriarchy
The role of women in the islands, and more generally in Greek society, is a complex reality. Greek misogyny, like misogyny elsewhere in Europe, is insidiously inscribed in the lives of women. Thus, patriarchy imposes itself everywhere: all his life, in all his administrative procedures, the Greek citizen - man or woman - will only be recognized in relation to his father, while the wife, even in modern times, remains almost non-existent from a legal point of view in relation to her husband, the representative of the father once the woman is married. Women are considered as the pillar of family life, which implies a lot of respect but also a lot of obligations and social constraints for those who have to fulfill themselves and blossom in a family context. Thus, women are busy in the kitchen, taking care of the youngest and the oldest, looking after the well-being of all, without this role of assistance ever being really questioned. And this, while the men hold the floor in the public space...
The heteroparental family unit remains unchallenged in a country where the Orthodox religion is still very present: discussions on adoption by homosexual couples are still far from being concluded. Despite this, the country has seen historic progress under the government of Alexis Tsipras (Syriza), which passed the equivalent of the PACS in December 2015, when Greece had been condemned by the European Court of Human Rights for refusing to open civil unions to homosexual couples. In October 2017, Syriza also passed a law allowing transgender citizens to change their sex on their civil status.
Same-sex marriage seemed within reach, but the July 2019 elections and the rise of the conservative right-wing New Democracy seem to have halted this development for now. Let's see what happens after the 2023 elections. As for heterosexual marriage, it is no longer an obligation and divorce is no longer frowned upon: cohabitation is becoming more and more common, especially because weddings are expensive and young couples can no longer afford to organize big celebrations since the crisis. Indeed, it is usual to make big weddings where everyone is invited, especially in small islands or small villages. However, a divorced woman will always be seen as a threat to the couple, which will not be the case for divorced men.
These social norms are evolving at the margins, and very slowly, as discourses about discrimination against women and gay populations gain momentum in the country. It will take a long time for the revolution in mentalities to take place, here as elsewhere...
