A study of Greek women who migrated to Australia in the 1950s and 1960s is to be released, which explores their experiences and the role they played in maintaining Hellenism down under.
According to Dr John Yiannakis, research fellow and historian at Curtin University, the female voice is one that has only come to be valued in recent years.
“At the moment there’s a growing trend in history and sociology to look at the female migrant experience because it has been overlooked for a long time.
“This study adds to the understanding and appreciation of the female experience,” Dr Yiannakis told Neos Kosmos.
Co-written by Anna Amera and Emeritus Professor Reg Appleyard, Black Night, White Day: Greece Born Women in Australia looks at the experiences of 78 women, most of who came from the Peloponnese and were invited as part of a government scheme to counter the gender imbalance in Greek migration to Australia experienced in the late ’50s and early ’60s.
“They came from villages, some of them hadn’t been further than that town, but they chose to pack up and make their way to Athens,” says Dr Yiannakis.
“There they were given some very basic training on how to use a stove and washing machine because these things were completely alien to them. A lot of these towns didn’t have electricity, or it had just arrived.”
Many of the newcomers didn’t expect to be away from their home in Greece for long, explains the professor.
“A lot of them had the view that whether they did or didn’t find a partner, they’d go back or be sending money back. They were told there’d be opportunities here, they’d be earning good money.”
For many, life down under proved tougher than expected, with difficulties ranging from the language barrier, isolation, and in some cases discrimination.
Their first experience of Australian society was in the rural town of Berri, South Australia, where they were exposed to harsh working conditions and sexism.
“It was harsh and difficult in the sense of being harassed, men trying to get sexual favours from them.
“They’d come from very closed villages where the boundaries between how females and males interact are very established. They came to this environment where there’s all these blokes knocking on the door in the middle of the night,” says Dr Yiannakis.
While some returned to Greece, others were able to overcome the difficulties and through hard work ended up owning properties, with 79 per cent of their children going on to complete their HSC equivalent.
“When you consider the situation the mothers were in, most of them had very basic schooling, a lot of them were raising these kids in rather tough inner suburban suburbs of Melbourne and Sydney, so that was quite an achievement.”
When 56 of the women were interviewed again in 2007, Dr Yiannakis says most expressed the view that they had made the right decision in coming to Australia.
“A number of them who had gone back to Greece expressed the view that they wished they had stayed in Australia. But most who had gone back to Greece to live permanently were glad they had made that decision.”
While the study contributes greatly to migration literature, more than anything the female voice completes the picture; their experiences differing greatly from that of their male counterparts.
“They contributed to the Australian economy, society and Greek communities – that can’t be understated. They proved to be anchors for the family and the male migrants, many of whom were feeling isolated and quite desolate.”
Included as part of the study are examples of poems and songs written by the migrants at the time, which Dr Yiannakis says “are quite telling”.
“That’s where we get the title of the book – Black Night, White Day – that was a recurring theme. It was a lot harder than they thought.”
Black Night, White Day, Greece Born Women in Australia will be launched on Sunday 1 November at 3.00 pm at Castellorizian House, Cnr. Anzac and Kalgoorlie Streets, Mount Hawthorn, WA.