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Trading Masculinity for Leisure: The Disenchantment of Greek Cypriot Females with Traditional Masculine Marriages

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Abstract

This exploratory ethnographic investigation provides a detailed account of the intrapersonal and interpersonal marital and familial dynamics of Greek Cypriot (GC) females’ marriages to foreign males as filtered through the formers’ emancipated gender and sexual roles in the present day historico-socio-cultural environment of the Republic of Cyprus. The primary determinants of this research may be described as micro (concerned with the marital happiness and satisfaction of GC females), meso (concerned with the gender and marital dynamics of the present day GC culture), and macro-ethnographic (providing a rich descriptive context of the GC sociocultural collective). The methodological mode included critical ethnography, a methodology particularly concerned with matters of culture, power, and conflict. Data collection consisted of formal tape recorded interviews, as well as informal behavioral observations with twenty GC female respondents. Results indicate that the contemporary GC female believes that there is a considerable difference between GC Cypriot and foreign men regarding their attitudes, predispositions, and interpersonal behaviors towards them, with the latter considered to be more positive than the former.

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Correspondence to Andreas G. Philaretou.

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Domic, D.I., Philaretou, A.G. Trading Masculinity for Leisure: The Disenchantment of Greek Cypriot Females with Traditional Masculine Marriages. Sexuality & Culture 16, 428–448 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-012-9130-9

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