>Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2002 16:44:37 -0500 (EST)
>X-PH: V4.4@cecasun
>From: Jack Sasson <[log in to unmask]>
>X-Sender: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: NEWS: Role reversal
>
>A colleague posted this story from
><www.athensnews.gr/athweb/nathens.print_unique?e=C&f=12944&m=A10&aa=1&eidos
=S>
>===================
>
>When women hold sway for a day
>
>Midwives preside over an ancient fertility-based custom which mandates
>a once-a-year reversal of roles between men and women in northeastern
>Greece
>
>WOMEN took power for a day in several villages in northeastern Greece as
>the ancient custom of "female rule" was once again adhered to on January 8
>to mark the importance of fertility, with the midwife honoured as the
>central person of the community's celebration, reports the semi-official
>Athens News Agency (ANA) in a dispatch from Kavala.
>
>Male offenders against the once-a-year order of things have to submit to
>being drenched with cold water as a 'punishment' at the hands of the
>arbiters of Women's-Rule Day.
>
>former stay at home to take care of the children and do the housework
>while the women take to the streets and indulge in all the pleasant
>activities of men, barring, of course, work.  Probably among the most
>gratifying moments for the women in many northeastern Greek villages is
>the sight of their menfolk washing up in the kitchen - even if it is only
>once annually.
>
>Women visit the traditionally male preserve of the coffee shop to play
>cards and backgammon. They parade the streets and set up impromptu
>parties, "blessed" by the midwife, who is their "ringleader" in this
>reversal of roles. Of course, as in any "established order", there are
>violators of Women's-Rule Day and - as in the case of offenders against
>any other established authority - these are "punished" by being drenched
>with cold water, and in the middle of the winter at that.
>
>The ancient custom, whose origin has long since been lost in the lore and
>mists of olden times, was brought to Greece by ethnic Greek refugees from
>eastern Romylia, now eastern Bulgaria, who arrived in Greece during a
>population exchange in the early 20th century.
>
>
>
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>
Dr. Yigal Levin
Dept. of Philosophy and Religion
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
615 McCallie Avenue
Chattanooga TN 37403-2598
U.S.A.