Germaine Greer - Wonderful Woman No. 41

Germaine Greer - Born 1939
Australian Writer, Journalist and Television Personality

Added to the album by a wonderful woman called Jules

Like a selection of other women in the album, such as Sarah Daniels (Wonderful Woman No. 26 - http://iamawonderfulwoman.blogspot.com/2012/01/sarah-daniels-wonderful-woman-no-27.html) and Andrea Dworkin (Wonderful Woman No. 36 - http://iamawonderfulwoman.blogspot.com/2012/02/andrea-dworkin-wonderful-woman-no-36.html), Germaine Greer is a woman who is both revered and despised for her views. She is also often maligned, said to be a man-hater, she is not, though she has stated that many men have a deep-rooted hatred of women.

In 1970, Germaine became an international best-seller with her most famous work, The Female Eunuch. The book is widely considered one of the most important pieces of feminist literature and was published at a time of enormous cultural change in western society. It completely sold out on it's second publication and has been a much used source for feminist arguments since. The text discusses the traditional female role in society and cites suburban, capitalist lifestyles as being repressive, rendering the females of such society eunuchs (castrated from an early age). The book received critical acclaim from some sources and was widely criticized by others.

She wanted women to undergo a profound change in the way they viewed themselves and their relationships with men.
Louis Nowra, Playwright

Since The Female Eunuch, Germaine has written many other books with a wide range of subject matter, including female artists and society's unwillingness to consider them great as they do with men - a subject discussed in the blog entry for Frida Kahlo (Wonderful Woman No. 37 - http://iamawonderfulwoman.blogspot.com/2012/02/frida-kahlo-wonderful-woman-no-37.html), she has written about sexuality, fertility, family, travel, history, female genital mutilation, art and the menopause. Germaine has also written and spoke about Australian Aboriginals, their suffering as a result of the English colonising Australia and the racism they still receive from many corners of Australian society.

Germaine has written for a number of newspapers and magazines, including Private Eye under the pseudonym Rose Blight. She has written columns in a number of national newspapers including The Guardian and The Sunday Times. And, has carved out her own role as a TV personality, appearing on everything from Celebrity Big Brother to Question Time, in her own inimitable style, passing comment on everything from glamour models to the war in Afghanistan.

Love her or loathe her, Germaine has been an inspiration to many. Her arguments have been consistent, intelligent and passionate. For these reasons, she is a fabulous addition to our Wonderful Women.

All societies on the verge of death are masculine. A society can survive with only one man; no society will survive a shortage of women.
Germaine Greer

Thank you, Jules for this and your other suggestions (to follow).