The Lady and the Maid: Racialised Gender Relations in Greek-Cypriot Households

Abstract

Over the last decade the Republic of Cyprus has become the destination of an increasing number of migrants from Third World countries and eastern Europe; many of whom are women who earn their living as sex workers or housemaids. The feminisation of labour migration to Cyprus is related to the increasing integration of native women in the national labour market, whereas the gendered ascription of domestic work has not changed. In view of the emergence of new inequalities within the gendered group of women, this paper will look at different notions of gender equality expressed by Greek-Cypriot women who take an active role in politics. It argues that even though many of the women interviewed endeavour to establish gender equality, the androcentric evaluation of gainful labour versus unpaid or at best lowly paid reproductive work, and hence gender inequality, is reproduced on a racialised level.