By Stavros I. Charalambous
He had the first say and he decided everything in the house but he was the one who worked to support his family. The wife faithfully followed her husband without questioning or disagreeing with him on all matters that might concern the society of that time. Thus, she had neither an opinion, nor could she develop her own initiatives.
The years passed and the Cypriot woman timidly began to play her own role, both in the family and in society. And she achieved this when the growing needs of the family pushed her to go out to work so that she and her husband could raise their children. This helped her to become largely independent of her husband, since the pocket money she received while working was enough for her to make her own dreams as she wanted, thus gaining the right to take her own initiatives but also to have her her own point of view, contributing through the dialogue that developed within the family but also in society at large, resulting in better decisions being made for the benefit of the family and society in general.
Then, by claiming her rights but also by passing the directives of the European Union, she forced the state, the parties and the Organizations to impose quotas for many male-dominated positions both in the government and in various sectors in the private sector, which the Cypriot woman, wife mother and sister.
However, while the Cypriot woman today has to a large extent acquired almost the same rights as the man in the social-professional sector and we see her in both the private and public sector to win high-ranking positions with her sword, while the we see how zealously professional and entrepreneurial it is dedicated and valued in the socio-economic sector, we see it so far from politics but mainly in its involvement in our struggle for liberation and our homeland. I do not want to say that the Cypriot woman is not anxious and does not care about the future of our country, but she does not convince me that she is fighting with as much zeal as she is fighting in the professional field. She is not the same woman of the EOKA match of '55 -'59 whose involvement was so great that she helped with her fighting spirit to shake off the English yoke.
The Cypriot woman of today with the independence she gained, her education, her dynamism, her intelligence, I expected her to have the courage of her opinion with views on all the problems that concern the Cypriot society, let alone on OUR NATIONAL PROBLEM.
Our homeland is being lost with the Turks becoming masters in the north and partners in the south. The Turkish occupation troops remain and consolidate the accomplishments of the invasion. The refugees remain refugees without returning to their ancestral homes and the women of Cyprus fight in hairdressers, cafes, beauticians, shops, trips abroad, etc. I am sorry to write these things about the Cypriot mother, wife and sister that I honor and respect for her contribution so far in all the struggles of our people. However, I would expect the Cypriot woman of today more sensitized and more involved in the public with her own views, positions and concerns in a semi-occupied homeland.
On the occasion of Women's Day, in good faith, with a good heart and with the hope that the Cypriot woman will become aware and take those initiatives that will give the right course for the liberation of this unfortunate island.