Germaine Greer Fan Club

(I mean, I wish she hadn't done Big Brother and I don't agree with her AT ALL about felling Thetford Forest. But everything else about her is top drawer.)

Neither a woman nor a feminist but I have a lot of time for Greer as she's always got something original to say (rather than merely trotting out the same old lines) and is also happy for others to have their say too.

Total contrast with those (and it's not limited to OJ and TRAs) who simply look to bulldoze the opposition. It can be effective but works against them in the long run as they forget how to debate and argue properly (which, if their causes are as righteous as they say that are, shouldn't be difficult).

An example would be the activist who interrupted a Rees-Mogg talk and then said he "wasn't worth" debating. Had he tried to do so, odds are he'd have lost, as simply shouting slogans wouldn't have cut it.

To get back to GG, I do hope she's not the last of a dying breed. Would be a shame if people were reduced to checking what their ideology/dogma says they should say before answering, rather than giving their own opinion as an individual.

Germaine Greer is a force, she is hugely intelligent and will state her opinion without worrying if it's pleasing. Not only is that rare it's also brave in this strange new world of ours.

I saw her last year and was in awe, I am glad we never spoke as I would have turned into the most ridiculous fangirl.

So enraging to see Germaine treated like this, it doesn't really matter if you agree with her or not.

As a PP said she is too straight talking for society now, which tells you what a mess we are in. No wonder she prefers her rainforest these days...

There was an ageist slant to quite a lot of the debate. I use the term debate loosely. The host was rude and abrasive to Germaine Greer in a way that none of the other guests were subjected to.

If the 'debate' had been genuine, I would have assumed all the participants would have been prepped beforehand. Instead it looked like a set up.

There were several vile comments about age, then a libfem gaily announced that support for the issue was divided into older and younger women.
I don't know who you were, but when GG was your age she was already a published author, and had a better grasp of feminism than you do.

CN may as well have put GG on a chair with a gag over her mouth. She ridiculed her and told lies (GG has not appeared on Victoria Derbyshire, she submitted a statement). It was a total disregard for a feminine academic.

That is it she didn't get to finish her reply I was really angry then it just descended into chaos after that.I am not sure what the presenter was but she was a total shambles.

Greer was totally ambushed by those 'quotes'. Really unfair. And then Jenner gets some nicely set up anecdote chances 'tell us about going to the bathroom in Trump towers lol lol.'

I think she’s brilliant. Some of the best quotes from last night were from GG. And there was a bit near the start when she started talking about stereotypes that I felt it was very clear that her intellect was skyscrapers higher than the others, who just sort of stared and then dismissed her.

I’m a huge GG fan. She was my gateway feminist and I spent my teen years feeling like finally, I was understood by someone, just by reading her books.

Really disgusted that she was made out to be an idiot last night. They played the same tired misogynistic card that once a woman reaches a certain age she becomes worthless. Absolutely appalling of the show and she deserves an apology.

GG isn’t always right (who is?) but she is always worth listening to. Will (re) watch all of the links later. Thank you

She's amazing. I cannot understand why she's being treated so badly.

Badly done indeed. Cathy seemed really out of her depth/genuflecting to Jenner. She had an opportunity to re-word that question to Greer re the quotes, but she just dogmatically repeated them. She didn't seem very secure with her material, or able to put it into context.

And Greer was about to make an interesting point I think. She was qualifying her 'just because you lop your dick off' quote by trying to put it in context - I think she was about to say that she was talking about the surgery enablers - so the medics and counsellors etc who are making money around transgenderism, but she didn't get to finish.

Yes asking her about a non-existent TV appearance and then implying she had dementia because she couldn't remember something that never happened.

What the actual fuck? Someone actually did this? And on TV? Thats horrid

I do have her on a pedestal but don't think she did herself - or the case- any favours last night. Having said that, it was the badly chaired Caitlyn Jenner show so it was never going to be an authentic, incisive debate.

I can't imagine anyone putting David Attenborough in this sort of position in a debate on Global Warming............ Not that this was a debate anyway - scripted set-up.

I misspent my youth reading Jane Austin instead of The Female Eunuch

Why is it that people like Noam Chomsky become living Gods when they get old but old women all become witches or doddering old grandmothers? She's one of the most influential living thinkers but she's patronised like a doggering old aunt. It's wrong

This is why Cathy Newman's treatment of her, compared to the fawning over CJ, put me in mind of Emma which I put on the other thread. Here it is again:

“It was badly done, indeed! You, whom she had known from an infant, whom she had seen grow up from a period when her notice was an honour, to have you now, in thoughtless spirits, and the pride of the moment, laugh at her, humble her–and before her niece, too–and before others, many of whom (certainly some,) would be entirely guided by your treatment of her"

Badly done, Cathy.

Why is it that people like Noam Chomsky become living Gods when they get old but old women all become witches or doddering old grandmothers? She's one of the most influential living thinkers but she's patronised like a doggering old aunt. It's wrong

Yy

I'm a huge fan of GG.

Hang on not read the other threads, on the channel4 debate they implied or said she had dementia or was doddery? They said/implied that about Greer?! How fucking rude. I was going to watch it but I'm not keen on seeing her being disrespected it's took disheartening.

Agree with mrsjayy I feel similar.

The woman is an icon and a role model. Adore her....she also looks fab but that is obviously besides the point but alas it's true.

Watched the 93 debate was very interesting and recommend.

I like that I can disagree with her sometimes and still admire her if that makes sense

From the article in The Independent which includes the open letter in full:

"Questioning whether Channel 4 is whipping up transphobia for commercial gain, the letter points out that trans women are not a threat to anyone: in countries where similar gender recognition laws are already in place, there have been no incidents of people changing their documents for malicious purposes. In fact, trans women are already entitled to single sex services and facilities under the Equality Act (2010) in the UK.

The concerns held by Greer are misplaced and misinformed, claims the letter, which urges us to fret over the injustices overwhelmingly face by trans people instead. For example, a recent study by King's College and All About Trans showed 78 per cent of participants thought that media coverage about trans people was inaccurate."

www.indy100.com/article/genderquake-the-debate-transphobia-channel-4-open-letter-campaigners-germaine-greer-8341481

thread link:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3243464-Channel-4s-Genderquake-Debate-is-heavily-criticised-boycotted-by-prominent-transgender-activists-allies

Yes, very. I love her. The female eunuch was one of the first feminism classics I read.( Took me forever though! ) Shes an icon.

Phht. Older woman!

I am an huge fan. Even when she says stuff I disagree with, she's out there saying it. As a feminist and as an older and as a scholar, she does us proud.

The Female Eunuch was one of the century's most important books. And I love the way she'll take a new look at things we think we know and turn them upside down and shake the bag until everything looks different. You don't have to agree with her conclusions to find the process exhilarating. "Sex and Destiny" was like that for me.