Greek Community of Melbourne – Growing up Greek: Intergenerational Dialogues

The Greek Community of Melbourne welcomes you to an evening of discussion to celebrate International Women’s Day (IWD) 2021, on Thursday 18th March, at 7.00pm, where a panel discussion will take place on the topic of ‘Growing Up Greek – intergenerational dialogues. This is a joint event with the Food for Thought Network.

Growing up Greek: intergenerational dialogues:

Greeks have a long and dynamic presence in Australia. Contemporary Greek narratives feature concerns about the ‘second and third generation” of Greek – Australians, discuss the ‘sandwich generation’, point to the ‘older generation’ or the ‘first generation migrants’ and question the future of the ‘new generation’. Throughout all those generations, women have been workers, mothers, wives, daughters, mothers in law, teachers, professionals, volunteers – the list goes on and on. What were the expectations for them and their daughters and granddaughters? Many young women point to family expectations being centred predominantly around academic achievements, but when that is accomplished the pressure shifts towards marriage, preferably to a Greek boy.

Is there a clash of values, assumptions, beliefs and expectations among different generations? If yes, does it influence choices and relationships? What creates friction among the generations and how can we overcome it?

Historically, women have been the keepers of traditions. Has this role changed? How women maintain, protect, challenge and reinvent traditions? Have we been reinventing ourselves as Greek women of the diaspora or have we been quick to fit in the ‘good Greek girl’ mould? A panel of Greek-Australian women from three generations will discuss these issues on Thursday 18th of March. This discussion is in lieu of IWD 2020 which was postponed due to the pandemic.

Professor Joy Damousi will facilitate the discussion.

Panelists: Varvara Ioannnou, Esther Anatolitis, Anthea Tsaousis, Victoria Kyriakopoulos

Presenter: Dina Gerolymou

Details:

• What: Growing up Greek: intergenerational dialogue
• When: Thursday 18 March, 7.00pm
• Where: Online via Zoom
• Participation Link