Old school feminism

[Poopooplop]

Thought I'd try and open a bit of a discussion on (what some might see as) extreme feminist views.

Background, I work with and advocate for women daily and feel that I'm a feminist, I have two degrees, one, I focused on feminist issues in criminal law, and the other relates to my current job ... However, I still don't think of myself as clever or brilliant at debate so go easy on me!

The thing which got me thinking I'd that I used to work with a woman of about 60, she often referred to herself as a feminist and used to frequently tell me that if want for her "burning her bra" I wouldn't be working/wearing trousers/driving etc etc. She was awesome, I definitely admired her but did, on occasion feel patronised by her.

One day we were discussing feminism (a few of us in the office). And she declared that you can't say you're a feminist unless you'd put your finger into your vaginal whilst menstruating and lick the blood off... It stopped the conversation but definitely got me thinking. What do you think?

As I recall Germaine Greer actually said that you weren't a proper feminist unless you had sucked your menstrual blood off your lover's penis. - Oh, good, I'm a proper feminist after all

I'm 60 and I do get the hives when younger women (so, most women!) take basic rights - like paid mat leave, equal pension, theoretically equal pay, educational & financial rights, etc - for granted. They're very recently won in historical terms and there is sufficient pressure to rescind them that we should be cognisant of the need to keep defending & expanding them. I'm pretty sure no self-identifying feminist would need reminding, though, and wouldn't dream of setting any kind of spurious feminist test. Feminism gets tested enough as it is!

She sounds like a bit of a prat.

Garlic, sure was being a bit of a prat. I totally agree that people take things for granted (me included at times!). The thing which I used to find hard to deal with though, was her telling me that if it wasn't for people like her, none of it would have been possible. The way she used to phrase it implied that I should be personally thanking her.

I used to often think "you don't know me, you have never asked my opinion on feminist issues, and how do you know that I wouldn't have joined you if I was older?" it's just the implication that she was super cool and extreme and clever, and I (and all of my generation) take it for granted and wouldn't fight for anything.

I thought what Greer said was more like 'taste your own menstrual blood - if the thought disgusts you, you've got a long way to go, baby.' Surely penises didn't come into it? And I doubt it was as stark as 'if you haven't done this you're not a proper feminist'.

According to Goodreads the quote is:

"If you think you are emancipated, you might consider the idea of tasting your own menstrual blood - if it makes you sick, you've got a long way to go, baby."

Another good quote from that page is:

"The housewife is an unpaid worker in her husband's house in return for the security of being a permanent employee: ..." You see that underlying thought process a lot in response to threads where women find their partners aren't pulling their weight.

Agree that woman was being a bit of a pratt.

Agree with ideas around getting over this tabboo that menstual blood is in some way dirty or revolting, I don't understand why it seems to be in the same category as poo and wee. Our wombs are presumably fairly sterile (not in the no babies way in the no germs way!) and our vaginas are naturally "clean" so it seems all wrong that it's in the revolting category. Staining, and annoying and so forth yes, but not actually disgusting.

Loads of people aren't fussed by it at all apart from the mess factor, well I'm talking about men I guess but I don't see that they would be less squeamish than women about this...?

Countess I would guess the penis came into it as in he was happy to have sex with a woman who was menstruating IYSWIM.

Oh God, have I totally misremembered the quote? I have a vivid recollection of reading it aged about 19 and being - it doesn't feel like something I could have made up, but it's certainly possible I've conflated two quotes together.

Or she might have said something involving penises on another occasion? I can imagine her saying that, with relish.

The thing to remember about Greer is that though she was great in many ways she was a bit of a diva. Liked to shock for shock's sake. I'm afraid I parted company with her over her defence of FGM as a part of cultural identity and it being wrong to outlaw it.

She could have carried on to say that Irene. That's the problem with quotes, there is no context around them. So the next sentence could have been "better still, suck it off a man's cock". Or words to that effect. I won't be making writing my career any time soon.

Ooh ooh found it Irene. You aren't going mad. Suddenly remembered I had Female Eunuch on the kindle so went and searched. And she is relating a story of one of her friends who did exactly that and Greer is confessing to be shocked about it.

"Despite my own proselytizing attitude, I must confess to a thrill of shock when one of the ladies to whom this book is dedicated told me that she had tasted her own menstrual blood on the penis of her lover."

Phew. We can all sleep easier now

Oh brilliant, thanks scallops! I was beginning to worry about my subconscious . Clearly I just conflated the two quotes. That usage makes much more sense, it would have been a provocative thing to say even for Greer!