BY REBECCA SPARROW
At 9.47 pm last night while I was feeding my six-week-old son, checking my emails and wondering at what point my three-year-old daughter had decided I was on her payroll … my head exploded.
I was watching Germaine Greer ruffle feathers (as she is prone to do) on Q and A and this is what unfolded:
Can’t watch the clip? I’ll give it to you in a nutshell … An Australian feminist icon, a woman who is rightly described as an academic, an intellectual, a trail-blazer, a woman who has spent decades fighting and arguing and agitating for the rights of women goes on national TV and mocks the size of our Prime Minister’s arse.
Oh yes she did.
Are you X&*$%# kidding me?
The fact that Greer had some interesting points to make about Gillard and the media’s role in the dumbing down (and fabrication of) news in this country before she went on to criticise the weight and size of our Prime Minister is irrelevant.
Why? Because that one comment, that one cheap shot, that one moment when Greer decided that it was okay to criticise a woman based on her size, saw everything Greer has fought for over the past thirty years unravel like the yarn of an ill-fated scarf. [ She has spent decades pointing out that a woman's physicality is irrelevant. Her comment last night essentially gave everyone permission to bring 'arse size' back into the conversation.]
Germaine Greer
Last night, Greer took the easy pot shot and feminism paid the price.
And now I’m left wondering what the hell Greer stands for? That’s not rhetorical, I’m asking you. Because clearly supporting and nurturing other women isn’t in Greer’s feminism hand book.
It pains me in part to write this post. Germaine Greer has done much for which I can be grateful. But the truth is that, for me anyway, she is now officially irrelevant. She’s like this crazy aunt who needs to say shocking things in order to get media attention. She’s verging on being all sound bite and no substance. And the Germaine Greer that I have known (through the media and her writings) in recent years has frequently spoken with a nastiness that doesn’t sit well with me.
It just doesn’t.
Not last night. Not when she showed such a lack of compassion in criticising Steve Irwin just days after his death in 2006. Not when she so openly mocks and ridicules those around her.
We get that you’re smart, Germaine. We get it. So stop trying so hard to remind us of your superiority.
To me feminism is all about the fact that women don’t have to behave like Carol Brady (if we don’t want to). That we should feel free to be bold and opinionated and argumentative. That ruffling feathers and standing strong and voicing opinions (even if unpopular) is our right. And thank God for that.
But feminism is also about judging a woman on her ideas, beliefs and behaviours. Not the size of her arse. Isn’t it? ISN’T IT? As for behaving with decency, integrity and compassion … well that’s not feminist. That’s called being a decent human being.
I’d like to say that what unfolded last night saw me handing in my Germaine Greer Fan Club badge. But it didn’t. That’s because I tossed my badge away years ago.
** The sentence in brackets [ ...] above was added at 8am on Wednesday morning to better clarify my point.
Here’s what people were saying about Germaine on Twitter last night:
Tweets in response to Germaine Greer on #qanda
What do you think?
Comments
357 Comments so far
While I think it was quite silly of her to mention the PM’s dress/figure at all, they were on the topic of the PM’s image and why there is a disconnect with the public. GG said that the PM had a ‘big butt’ but not that big butts were bad, just that they needed to be dressed for their size.
For someone who has grown up only knowing GG as a the crazy, deluded woman the media has painted her as, I was actually quite surprised to see how cluey and intelligent she was on Q&A.
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“For someone who has grown up only knowing GG as a the crazy, deluded woman the media has painted her as, I was actually quite surprised to see how cluey and intelligent she was on Q&A”
Exactly! How sad.
Not much tolerance for a bit of ‘colour’ or character amongst the sisters is there?!?!
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Indeed! She is always described as irrelevant these days but she seems to have an informed and intelligent opinion about everything.
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It’s easy to write her off as being a mad old woman. She’s not. She’s incredibly intelligent, well informed and she’s not afraid to open her mouth.
Does she get it wrong? Sometimes. But she’s not afraid. She won’t be put in a box.
The woman is a legend.
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No big deal, the woman has a rather large backside so she was just exposing the truth. I found the author of this posts comments on a fertility doctor a while back more offensive when she wrote about him not long ago when she asked if he smoked crack.
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What a dreadfully misleading article. Germaine Greet was making a broad comment our prime minister looking poorly presented. What she SAID was that her jackets are ill-fitting. She was criticising the jackets, not the arse at all.
You can even see from the twitter comments that that is how other’s understood it too.
To say that GG’s comment on JG’s jackets fitting poorly, “saw everything Greer has fought for over the past thirty years unravel” is delusional.
How can you blast her for not “supporting and nurturing other women” (when she makes one flippant remark following a series of very positive and meaningful comments I might add) and then you create this skewed fiction out of what she said and tear her down yourself? Badly done, Bec. Badly done indeed.
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Well said, Seahorse.
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Agree Seahorse. Also, wasn’t this the site that not long ago said we ought to forgive Yumi for her ill-thought comment? (To which I agree). So let’s not be hypocritical now Mamamia. Why create a hoo-haa over nothing.
Isn’t criticising GG and name-calling her like the ‘Crazy Aunt’ pretty much equal in nastiness to what you are accusing GG of?
Come on Mamamia – I love your work, don’t bore me with this tripe.
GG Is eccentric. But she is a brilliant woman, who does, and continues to do a lot of good. I think she just showed she’s human and has flaws. Like all of us.
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I think the Yumi thing was widely different – especially because it was a silly comment in a silly context (morning TV) AND Yumi apologised and still copped really horrible things said about her, and threats of violence to herself and her family.
I don’t think “crazy aunt” really falls in the same league.
I also agree that GG is eccentric, and brilliant, and has done wonderful things for feminism…. but I don’t think this makes her exempt of criticism when she says something harsh and belittling about the PM’s dress sense.
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See your point Nelly. But I disagree that crazy aunt and fat arse aren’t about on par. One criticised a women about the looks, the other about their mental capacity. Same / same.
I agree people should be able to take criticism is order to better themselves. I don’t agree with attacking people on looks at all, but I think is was an error in judgement and to suggest that the comment takes away from all over the very insightful comments she made last night and historically, is a hyperbole.
To me, the article suggests that this destroyed GG’s credibility as a feminist – that, for me is an over reaction. That is my point.
And the analogy with Yumi’s situation above, is to say, in both cases we are dealing with a an ill thought out comment about someone regarding assumptions around looks, and both are forgiveable. The hypocrisy is, in one scenario Mamamia’s stance is forgive and move on, and the other is to insight outrage and to challenge credibility. That’s where it doesn’t add up for me.
And I’ve seen a few comments about dismissing Germaine as irrelevant because she’s an old feminist from yesteryear. That is ageism, and her contribution to feminism has helped change the world for my generation. She is not always right, and I can’t always agree with her, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t deserve the title of trailblazing feminist.
I can see why Bec was annoyed by the comment. I just think that historically GG has said and done more good than evil for the plight of woman.
Thanks
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Come on Mamamia. You could hardly be shocked by anything Germaine Greer says.
The fact is the manner in which our prime minister presents herself is very important to how Australia is perceived internationally and how Australians perceive the prime minister.
Just like if a male prime minister wore ill fitting suits, GG was pointing out that Julia Gillard’s outfits affect her level of influence on others.
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It’s not the outfit comment that had me stopped (I see it was related) but she didn’t need to stray into big arse territory. Come on, indeed.
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Hi Rick,
I understand what you are saying, I just don’t think this is a shocking comment. Had she pointed to Clive Palmer’s giant stomach would everyone be so shocked?
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Does it make it OK if everyone else isn’t? It’s still not very cool.
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Nelly I see your point. But my point is, I think this reaction to GG’s comment is an over reaction in itself – and there lies the hypocracy. We should all be able to handle a bit of criticism – all of us (Mamamia included, and they usually do, graciously).
I think the whole article is an overreaction, particularly in context of the fact that it was an actual reply to a question citing her dress sense as a reference (? So I’ve heard from what an audience member wrote – I need to watch the first half of the show in full to see, heresay at the moment).
Regardless of that, for mine, the article implied that this really destroys her work as a feminist – I don’t think so. That’s a hyperbole.
I do not agree anyone’s ability as a politician, or otherwise, should be based on looks. So the comment was unnecessary. Do l forgive her? Yep, I do. And the link to the Yumi situation, is the point that people in the spot light, or otherwise, sometimes stuff up with what they say, and it should be forgivable. And it shouldn’t get to the stage of attack (in Yumi’s case), before people step in and say ‘let’s not blow things up to a ridiculous level’. Hence why I’m saying, this is an over reaction.
PS – the Crazy Aunt comment is pretty well on par to the fat arse comment. One is digging on someone for the look of their butt, and the other is attacking mental credibility. Same/ same. Both not the worst thing you can say, and not exactly nice.
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I’m still a fan. I’m not particularly outraged or disappointed, she’s been making little jibes about other women’s appearances for a few years now, which in context are quite funny in an ‘elephant-in-the-room’ type way. I think she does it on purpose because she’s been lumped with this ‘serious feminist’ tag when she’s actually quite naughty. She’s still a super intelligent, quick-witted and interesting woman, and I for one am not ditching her.
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“she’s been making little jibes about other women’s appearances for a few years now”
I don’t see how this should make a difference.
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It makes a difference because she does it alot, to get a laugh no doubt. Why be shocked this time round?
She IS outrageous – that’s one of the things I like about her.
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Oh, I’m not shocked – far from it. I think it’s an assholish thing to say, & it’s not excused by the fact that GG has a history of doing so.
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I like Germaine. You never know what she’s going to say. She’s definitely gone a bit quacky in her old age. I don’t think she should have commented on Julia’s appearance last night. She really should know better. She didn’t do herself or feminism any favours.
I’m sure she’s not the first person to go bed with good intentions, only to wake up with regret.
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I read the article and thought, “Oh no, Germaine has finally cracked” – and then I watched the video. I really think she was making a joke. Perhaps the joke was tasteless or backfired – but what I took from it was “here’s a number of serious things Julia Gillard has done that are great – in fact she’s doing so many things right that the only possible flaw I can find is in her dress sense”.
I don’t think it was intended as a stab at Gillard – if anything I think Greer was pointing out – with characteristic frankness – the lunacy of focusing on Gillard’s dress sense when she holds the highest office in the country.
I also think dismissing her as a “mad aunt” when she is so clearly searingly intelligent and switched on is a little sexist in itself.
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I think the fact that she is so searing intelligent is what gets her into trouble. She doesn’t slow down and spell things out for the lesser-endowed. Which is what happened here, I think.
Whenever she’s being quoted as having said something outrageous, if you get past the journalist and look at what she said it was fine. The press loves a controversy and some journalists are just not very bright. (Not you, Rebecca, please don’t construe that as criticism but just generally.)
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“She doesn’t slow down and spell things out for the lesser-endowed. Which is what happened here, I think.”
Hmm.
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I tend to agree with you Corey. I think what she said was supposed to be light-hearted. She did perhaps go too far in the final comment about the ‘big arse’, but similar things have been said about male politicians and the way they dress too. I don’t think what Germaine said this time was really that big a deal.
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Thinking back to last night, was this conversation in the context of Ms Gillard’s image? Because if it was I think it’s an okay comment to make.
I’m sure I’ll be shouted down here, but the way you present yourself, no matter your gender, is important. Particularly in a public role. Ms Gillard does look silly with her too-tight clothes, it distracts from what comes out of her mouth, which is the point Greer was making.
I think she also said it in the context of praising all other aspects of Ms Gillard, by saying this is the only thing she would change.
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Words of Wisdom. 100% agree
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I have criticized the PM’s politics, her actions, and her words, but I have never criticized her appearance.
And I hope I never will.
Irrelevant, and none of my business.
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I love Q & A and I also love Germaine Greer and I also love Germanine Greer on Q & A.
It seems to me that this is going to be another mamamia fueled witch hunt. This time against germaine Greer.
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THANK YOU!!!
I felt exactly the same way when she started going on about “those jackets” and was mortified when she finished with the “big arse” comment. Seriously WTF?
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To quote C Moran (yes, again) her definition – in fact her husband’s definition – of feminism is simply, ‘everybody being polite to each other.’ Germaine Greer was not being polite.
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I would personally prefer if everyone treated everyone else with respect, rather than politeness. In context, Greer’s entire statement (not just this soundbite, but good on you for accurate and responsible reporting Mamamia) was possibly the most respectful thing I have heard said about our PM in a long time.
Is this polite or respectful: “But the truth is that, for me anyway, she is now officially irrelevant. She’s like this crazy aunt who needs to say shocking things in order to get media attention. She’s verging on being all sound bite and no substance”?
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Hang on, when is political commentary every polite? Or Germaine Greer for that matter!
C Moran also said what’s good enough for the goose is good enough for the gander (or “the guys” as she put it). Germaine Greer described Tony Abbott thus: “he looks and sounds like a clown” after calling him unelectable. Well, the man has big sticky out ears I guess. Didn’t see any MM articles about it when she said that.
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I can’t understand the fascination with Caitlin Moran. Boring bloody book. Chick lit feminism! Having been fortunate enough to study gender studies under some truly brilliant feminist minds … feminism is about SO MUCH MORE than just being polite to one another. Jesus.
Germaine was making a joke and making a point, are we supposed to go around abjectly ignoring bodies and looks and such things because we don’t want to objectify one another? Many women DO have fat arses. Germaine was saying- so what???
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“She’s like this crazy aunt who needs to say shocking things in order to get media attention.”
This.
In recent years, this has been exactly the problem. And to younger girls/women who have only ever seen this side of Greer, well, it makes feminism just look plain unattractive and not something to aspire to. Obviously, this is a problem.
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I watched Q&A last night and was fairly suprised by Germaine’s comment. I also attended the F word where Germaine spoke and she made a similar statement about the PM.
It hasn’t turned me off Germaine though! I do think as women that we need to be able to laugh at ourselves. I mean – we all made jokes about Howard’s eyebrows, Abbott’s ears….. I don’t think we should get caught up on it and make it a feminist issue. I think it’s going to overshadow what Germaine was actually saying.
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Talking of arses, Greer is a giant pain in the arse. We should be grateful, she spends so much time overseas…….
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So, she’s human? I was definitely surprised, yet still laughed?! (Feeling a vague need to apologise here, not that JR would probably give a shit. Have always possessed a somewhat chauvinistic SOH…).
I can sense your disappointment Bec, but please don’t throw the baby out with the bath water by labeling her “officially irrelevant”. Um, hardly!
It just shows (again) some patience and humour could be afforded to those in the spotlight.
GG has spent a lifetime fighting against age-old cultural norms. If she can trip up, then we’ve got a fantastic example of how ingrained those awful norms actually are….
Cheers to imperfections and grey areas!
I’ve had enough of the cardbord cutouts thanks very much.
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Fab post, Bec- I agree entirely, and was aghast when I heard that comment last night. I don’t care if it was meant to be light or funny- to me, it was just sinking to the level that Greer has for so long rallied us to rise above.
By the way, how the HECK is your brain working so well if you have a six week old? Or were you able to stay up late enough to watch Q & A??
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Let me give you a snapshot of my day:
I still havent’ had a shower.
Or brushed my hair.
I dropped Ava at kindy wearing a shirt with an enormous vomit mark down the front.
And my house looks like it was trashed by the type of tenants that are usually featured on ACA
Viva having it all!!
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Hah! You’ve kept your sense of humour though. And internet access. That’s all you really need. x
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Maybe this will be the catalyst for young women to rethink what feminism means to them in the new century.
Worldwide, women still suffer oppression and hardship but Australian women are blessed.
And we should demand more than mediocrity. Personally, as a woman of 50, I’m sick of hearing screams of adulation for any woman simply because she’s a woman.
I want substance and integrity. I want to see the qualities that we associate with being a woman and above all I want to see a woman doing an outstanding job.
I want intelligent and honest dialogue with our girls about the reality of being a woman in Australia in 2012.
I want the man bashing to finish (even though I admit I could bash for Australia) and I want a frank assessment of what career/life balance entails when you are a woman who is exhausted beyond endurance.
Greer lost me years ago. She’s nothing more than a circus act now. She hasn’t moved forward into the new reality.
I cannot stand Julia Gillard on any level and I count down the days until we are free of her (621) but Greer was crass and rude and exposed to another generation her sense of superiority and tenuous balance on her wobbly pedestal.
Neither of these women are role models.
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We still don’t have equal pay, equal opportunities for upper management positions and due to the child care crisis equal opportunity to re-enter the workforce. Oh and we still have laws governing our uterus.
In my opinion I think Greer and feminism is still extremely bloody important.
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Name one job where a woman isn’t paid the same as a man doing the same job.
We have exactly the same opportunities as men. The only glass ceiling for women is of our own making – that being are we prepared to do the hours required in such high pressure jobs and are we prepared to put our families second to do it.
The opportunity is there. If you want it and you’re good enough you’ll get it but there isn’t a CEO in the world who works 9 to 5 five days a week.
Langers, who is controlling your uterus?
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Cazz read this: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/hidden-a-gender-females-get-only-80pc-of-male-pay/story-e6frg8zx-1226291144052
Or google ‘Australia gender pay gap’, there are lots of news stories from the last month alone. I can’t name one job where a woman isn’t paid the same as a man as its across the board (unless you work in a female dominated area, like teaching or nursing).
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Ellie, I can’t reply to your comment below, so I will reply here. My comment about “vaid commercial reasons” was regarding the difference between my salary and my boyfriends salary – I should have made that clear.
Yes, the area he works in is more profitable, but actually, when he was a second year he earned the same salary I earned as a second year – despite him working in a more profitable area than mine. So that was a bit of bad luck for him!
I was trying to make the point that I personally have never experienced a difference in pay purely because I’m female compared to an equivalent male counterpart. Not once. In fact, I have out earned every male colleague of mine who is at the same level as me. I’m not saying it doesn’t exist, I’m saying I’ve never experienced it.
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Hi Whippersnapper,
I guess my point was simply that it may not affect you or I but it is still a problem and one worth getting angry at.
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Hi Cazz, well for starters MY job. We do earn less than men for the same job on average. I know very well the gentleman sitting next to me with the same job title and same experience earns $5k more than me a year; not much but enough to make me furious. I have asked for a pay rise however its not in the “budget”, I’ve taken it to HR.
Also have a look at how many woman are in senior leadership roles…8.4%.
http://www.smh.com.au/executive-style/executive-women/women-still-locked-out-of-management-roles-at-work-20101005-166dj.html
And my uterus have a look at the current abortion laws, or the requirements to be medically fitted with an IUD, or how about the fact we need a prescription for the common pill. Not as bad as woman have it in the US but still shitty enough.
You think there is equality yet. No not yet.
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Langers,
I understand that it is easiest to presume that the man next to you earns more because he is male, BUT have you dismissed his training, experience, number of years in the job? Before you call the feminist call of unequal pay, please make sure it is true… I find myself getting cross with those who say the pay is not equal, but then there is actually women in the same job title who also earn more…. I certainly, support you in going to HR, to ensure you get the correct pay rate, but just because you have the same job title does NOT ensure you have the same pay…
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Hi Mother, yes I have the same years experience but actually more training/education and yes I know how much he earns as he told me. I was poached for my current role from a competitor, he applied for his role. I’ve been with the company 1 year longer then him and manage a larger more profitable portfolio. Tell me why I am not earning the same. Oh I was married recently and I am 31 so maybe they are waiting for baby news
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Mr W is only 6 months ahead of me. He earns more than I do. He also works in an area that is more profitable than mine.
I am also sure I earn more than every other person at my level in my office – male or female (but I can’t be 100% because it’s not something we speak about with colleagues).
I have never ever considered Mr W only earns more than I do because he’s a man and I’m a woman. There are valid commercial reasons behind the difference in pay and I am totally fine with that.
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The issue is equal pay for equal work – the comparison between yourself and your partner is invalid because ‘he works in an area that is more profitable’.
What are the ‘valid commercial reasons behind the differences in pay’ in Langers case?
It is women like her who are victims of the gender pay gap – women who have equal or better experience, education and performance than their male counterparts yet are paid less. And this is the rule and not the exception.
I can’t believe I’m defending equal pay for equal work on a women’s blog!
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“We have exactly the same opportunities as men”
With all due respect Cass, this belief needs to be revisited.
And recently I learnt of one law which controls our uterus’s (or reproductive organs at least ). I met a woman who wishes to donate her eggs. Apparently, because she is married, she had to get her husband’s permission!
Wtf.
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I also take offence to the argument “compared to the rest of the world we have it good”. So because woman get stoned to death in developing countries we should just put up with the small injustices we have here and get on with it. No thanks.
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I think it’s a storm in a teacup, what Greer said was bloody funny.
She’s still at the top of my list of Australians that I admire.
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Although I agree with you that women should not be criticised for their bodies and that it is against the interests of feminism (being a feminist myself), I must disagree with you on one point.
Germaine Greer didn’t criticise Ms Gillard’s bum, she just said that it is big and that Ms Gillard should ‘get on with it’ – in other words, not worry about it and stop dressing like she wants to hide herself, ultimately to her own detriment. Pointing out that someone has a big bum isn’t an insult unless you mean it as one. If you immediately assume that ‘big bum’ is an insult, maybe it’s because you think having a big bum is a bad thing, which is more revealing about you than the person who made the comment in the first place.
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This!!
It is so rare to hear Julia Gillard receive any acknowledgement at all that the audience was actually silent. I’m at a loss to understand how you could listen to that and hear mockery.
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Absolutely agree. It was a throwaway comment that (admittedly, rather bluntly) suggested that Gillard’s “big arse” is not something to hide or worry about. Especially in the context of what she’d just spent five minutes talking about, i.e. Gillard’s strength is that she doesn’t care about appearance or popularity, but actually getting the job done, I don’t think it was as cruelly intended as some are making it out to be. And saying it negates everything Greer has achieved in her long and incredible career as a feminist and intellectual is just silly hyperbole.
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Brilliantly said Allie! It doesn’t even negate everything she had said in that one comment, let alone her whole career!
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Agree.
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She said what I’ve been thinking for ages – her clothes do her no favours and they need an overhaul. The jackets do look shit.
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when is Mia going to weigh in here??
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As a woman in my early 20s, I never fully grasped Greer’s influence on feminism because I only ever heard of her in the media when she was slagging someone off… like saying Steve Irwin deserved to die because he tormented animals. It’s really hard to envisage her as a trail-blazer when all my life I’ve known her as a, for lack of a better term, shock jock.
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It’s a pity you don’t know more about her. She’s one of the most influential Australians ever.
Of course she says some silly things, but we all do that at times. Overall, her contribution to changing attitudes in Australia and worldwide has been substantial.
I wish I had her intellect.
She still does it for me, even if she is a bit of a pain in the arse.
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How about you get researching? Find out why she get the air time to be able to make those comments. I mean, rather than just accepting that she did great things for feminism, go find out what they were… puts things into perspective… well you may need to also research what things were like when your grandparents were your age
Sorry not meant to have a mean or sarcastic tone… wanted to be encouraging you to seek knowledge
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Great piece Sparrow – real food for thought. I totally agree with what you are saying. It’s frankly tough luck for Germaine Greer that she needs to rise above being a falible human being. That’s not me being cynical or ironic either; it really is her tough luck. Her position as an eminent thinker and feminist means her guard has to be up all the time – especially in these sort of public situations. She has to be a thought leader and at very least stick to her own song sheet. No matter what the majority of the public think about Gillard’s dress sense, the fact is Greer and her contemporaries fought hard (and suffered as well) so that the length of your damn jacket wouldn’t matter. Despite their fight, the plain truth is that it does still matter – but Greer should still be fighting the fight rather than buying into it. Otherwise, you’re absolutely spot on; what the hell does she stand for? And how do we, the women and men who have followed in her footsteps look and feel when we have to claw back the ground she just lost us because she took a cheap shot? Sometimes human beings are so damn disappointing.
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Well put, K. xxx
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She has always been a bit of a loose canon. I have always just dismissed her as a nutter because of her inappropriate antics over the years. Her comments last night were awful. Can you imagine someone saying John Howards suits didnt fit him properly and commenting on his size?
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Many people did make jokes about John Howard’s appearance. Maybe not his jacket size but certainly his eyebrows and the way he spoke were common fodder.
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true but saying someone has bushy eyebrows isnt quite as offensive as saying they have a big arse
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But why is that offensive? I have a big arse, that’s a fact, not a put-down.
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If I have to explain that I give up now!
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You mean the way lefties did, and continue to, call John Howard “little Johnny”?
Bob Hawke had a great time ridiculing John Howard as “little Johnny”, and the journalists of the day lapped it up.
What didn’t happen was any of those journalists pointing out that Howard is taller than Hawke.
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Perhaps you mean the way Labour supporters bag the crap out of Tony Abbott because he wears budgie smugglers.
It happens to blokes all the time, but feminists never see things like that.
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If Ms Gillard roamed around in public in a bikini I think she would be expecting ridicule
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Except that Tony Abbott is an extremely fit man, and doesn’t have an ounce of fat out of place. Julia Gillard in a bikini would be like me in budgie smugglers.
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I’m a feminist and I agree with you! Kim Beazley was constantly ridiculed for his weight, John Howard for his height, Kevin Rudd was the milky bar kid and Tony Abbot is all about the big ears and budgie smugglers.
Feminism is about equality and in the political arena that (unfortunately) means being able to handle personal jibes about your appearance that would be utterly inappropriate in other occupations (which I may add Julia Gillard seems to be more than adept at).
As a feminist, I am frankly more concerned about the prospect of a misogynist, racist, alarmist PM in Tony Abbott.
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Very uncool Germaine, though I’m loathe to say it should ruin her entire legacy. People make mistakes. Lord knows I’ve made plenty!
As for Ben Law being the best part, YES!
Mia did a video chat with him at the end of last year it was very cool.
http://www.mamamia.com.au/entertainment/mia-chats-to-benjamin-law-full-interview/
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Agreed Rick, she made several insightful and interesting comments throughout the show even though this was a low point.
This may be another case of “the public” jumping on a prominent, intelligent and successful woman because of one ill-judged comment as per Mia’s discussion of Yumi Stynes last week. Germaine Greer has been and continues to be an important figure in Australia’s fight for gender equality. Only last week she was publicly discussing how women should be ‘difficult’ and forget about constantly trying to please those around them – it made me think about the way I behave in my workplace, constantly taking on others responsibilities because I seem unable to say no, and how I allow others to treat me and speak to me because I don’t like to make a fuss.
Sure, you’re never likely to hear a male PM criticised for having a big arse, but how often to do you hear a male intellectual’s life work questioned (ie “what do you stand for Germaine?”) because of an inappropriate and offensive comment?
Also, Ben Law is brilliant! I love his writing in Frankie. Does anyone else think that Q&A is far more interesting when there aren’t any politicians on?
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This woman has always been the reason I don’t want to ever refer to myself as a “feminist”.
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Now see THAT’S the problem! Anonymous, please, please go and read Caitlin Moran’s brilliant “How To Be A Woman” … it will change your mind. Guaranteed. To me, Moran is the anti-Germaine.
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I quite enjoyed “How to be a woman” but if you are going to put CM on a pedestle while castigating GG for a throw away line you might want to go back and re-read Morans book. Quite a few of the things she wrote were not ‘kind’ or ‘complimentary’ towards women…I was particularly disgusted when she made a joke of that tragic and famous picture of a young vietnamese girl running naked from a fire fight with horrendous burns.
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I find this comment really really sad. That one individual could turn you off a whole movement?
Heroes, villans, deities & demons…..please. If only life were that simple. Most of us are somewhere in the middle…..
People are not sound bites, defined by 140 characters. Or whatever!!
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To me, Ita Buttrose has surpassed Germaine Greer as my ideal of the feminist movement and media spokesperson for it. She lives it, breathes it. A successful and pioneering career woman, mentor and mother. She speaks intelligently, is always compassionate and has always retained her dignity in the face of media speculation. She has never resorted to the equivalent of a five year olds’ “you’ve got a fat bum” comment. GG has become academic to me now.
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Oh I do respect Ita!! She is a fantastic person…
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Totally inappropriate – but i wonder if this comment will have the same backlash as the yumi/george/roberts-smith debacle? A woman criticising another woman… probably not. Unfortunately.
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I was watching qanda last night and I was appalled at Germaine Greer’s comment – not just that she made it but that anyone said that at all on national television.
Julia Gillard is our Prime Minister, to me talking about the fact that her jacket doesn’t fit because she has a big arse is just disrespectful and awful. Makes me shudder
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Personally, I don’t care if Julia has a big arse, if she has kids or not, red hair, horrible voice or that she is unmarried. Those things are her business.
I’ll judge Julia on her performance as Prime Minister.
Everything else is crap.
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Germaine, Germaine, Germaine…. You were making sense talking about achievements, personality traits, but then you had to make fun of her looks and fashion sense, very subjective issues. I’m tired of women always being judged by how they look and dress. We never do that when it comes to men. As a woman you never win, if she dressed too fashionably then people, mostly women, would comment on how she spends so much time/money caring about fashion (as we comment on the Governor General’s fashions). So, let’s stop this nonsense, and concentrate on what matters!
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It’s not just women who cop comments on their looks.
I recall Barry O’ Farell getting a lot of attention about his appearance when he was opposition leader, to quote the SMH, “Barry O’Farrell, in his wider days, was known to friend and foe alike as ”Fatty O’Barrel”
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I’ve never been a fan of Germaine Greer. I find her loud and obnoxious. She gives the impression that she believes she is always right and everyone else is always wrong. And you’re right Bec, her comment about Julia Gillard last night undid all the hard work she has done for feminism. I turned off Q&A last night when I saw that she was on.
But the little bit I did watch, I was very impressed with Benjamin Law.
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Me too. Benjamin Law was the best thing about last night’s show …
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It undid all the good work she has done? Seriously?
Perhaps the fact that she is loud, obnoxious and opinionated is part of the reason why she has been so prominent for the last few decades. Think about it, would a meek and sweet woman been able to confront patriarchy and misogynism in the way that she was able to?
As Bec says above, one aspect of feminism is acknowledging that being female does not equate to being Carol Brady.
Having said that, I don’t care if you don’t like her, it’s not about that. I’m just saying that to instigate change sometimes you need to be loud.
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“I’m just saying that to instigate change sometimes you need to be loud.” – yeah, but not shout down others until they come around to your way of thinking. You’re right, meek and mild wouldn’t cut it. But there are better ways of making yourself heard than Germaine’s way.
Maybe she didn’t undo all the hard work she has done for feminism, but she certainly took a step backward.
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Thank you for summing up what a lot of us were thinking so well, Bec.
I think I’ve spent a single nanosecond of my life thinking about what our PM wears, but have many times reminded others that she should be judged on her policies and achievements, not her fashion.
I never thought Germaine Greer would be one to need reminding.
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It is interesting that our ‘filters’ watching TV programs are all different. Let’s face it no two of us have had the same ‘input’. I actually found this funny in the course of the program. Germaine is Germaine and can always be relied upon to say something controversial. Did I get upset about it, not really. Plenty more heinous stuff in the world to worry about. She has a point – I don’t like the jackets either. Rebecca, you have a column to write, I know, but I feel that for you G’s remarks hit your “react” button and that’s fine- for you. I get your point that it’s a bit of a tatty thing for the goddess of feminism to say – but I think in this instance context is everything.
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Totally agree Bec. I was appalled at what I heard last night. I get that she did some important work but (literally) not in my lifetime. She did Feminism no favours last night…I wonder what Mia’s mum would think?!?
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I’m not sure when you were born, but what about ‘The Whole Woman’? Written in 1999, so quite possibly in your lifetime, and definitely an interesting read!
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You’re right Nico – I got sidetracked by The Beautiful Boy and Celebrity Big Brother and I completely overlooked the book that urged women not to be complacent because there is still a way to go. Oh, hang on, now I get it – maybe she was just trying to make that point last night
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I was very surprised by the comment but I totally agreed with what she said before it – that Julia Gillard needs to ditch the ill fitting jackets. That came about from the question put the to PR guy sitting next to her about what would be the first thing he would tell the PM if she hired him. ‘Get rid of those jackets!’ is what I thought in my head too. Then Germaine said it, and a whole lot more besides.
I am a little sick of people getting flamed for pointing out the facts. We are all too overly PC sometimes. I think it was all said in jest.
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Hi Anonymous, I actually thought the comment about the jacket was fine. That didn’t bother me. If our PM (male or female) is wearing ill-fitting clothes that affects their image and credibility etc etc. But to then make the “big arse” comment????
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the two are linked Bec – they are ill fitting because of the big arse.
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Also, she implied that she was wearing the jackets to try to cover up her “big arse”; I took the comment to mean just accept what you are and wear what’s comfortable for your body shape.
I also don’t agree with everything Germaine Greer has said or done, but she is still a legend in Australian (and world) feminism.
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I agree – not a fan of Ms Greer, but in context I didn’t find the statements offensive. Not a fan of Ms Gillard either – AND hate those I’ll-fitting jackets!
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I had no problem when she said to get rid of the jackets (I agree, and once had an ALP insider saying that they wish they could get rid of Julia’s stylist, I almost choked when I realised she has someone advising her to dress like that). Even saying they don’t fit properly was ok. It was all saying “hey she is doing a good job, I can only criticise her jackets”.
It was then moving on to the more personal big arse comment that got me. It just took it too far and into a mean personal territory that was unnecessary.
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I think you just said everything that my friend & I just discussed. There’s a difference between being controversial for change & being controversial for nasty reasons, knowing that you’re untouchable.
I think there are a lot of women today feeling quite conflicted between knowing that there are things we undeniably owe to her & the feeling that we don’t want to be standing under the banner of “feminism” if that’s what it looks like.
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She was foolish to say it yes, but Bec, you described a Doctor specialising in fertility as a ” man on crack” for not being fond him advising women to get a move on when it comes to having babies. You also retracted your comment very quickly on your article when the backlash arose. We are not all perfect…
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Okay, I’ll take that point. But I haven’t spent my life lecturing the world on why doctors shouldn’t be teased in public. Greer has spent decades arguing that women are more than their breast (or arse) size. So what she did last night – to me – was bizarre.
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Bec, I agree with your comments. Greer was all over the place last night, at some points brilliant and at other cringeworthy. The comment about the cut of the jacket and the size of the arse was cringeworthy.
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Bec
Big fan of GG; I agree that this comment was totally unnecessary. For all of the posts agreeing that the ‘a big arse’ comment is just a ‘joke’; exactly what part of that is funny? It’s tasteless humor to put another individual down; male or female based on the way they look. Check out Miss Representation; women’s continued under-representation in positions of power are trumped by the negative images of women in the media and focus on body image.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gkIiV6konY&feature=share
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I was a bit shocked that Germaine said that stuff last night, because I actually thought almost everything else she said on the show was pretty close to brilliant. I’m still a fan – but it was a silly thing to say.
I also thought it was interesting that the two people who did make inappropriate & shallow comments about Gillard were the two women on the panel (the other singer lady, can’t remember her name, criticised the way the PM speaks to people).
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I struggle to understand your comment regarding the criticism of the way Julia speaks to the Australian public. I do find it demeaning and patronizing the way she talks to those who elected her and that is not shallow nor is it sexist. I’m a smart professional young women and I wish Julia would represent us in a better light! I know the Australian public deserve better, I wish she wouldn’t address us as though we have no idea of what’s going on, nothing to do with being shallow, I just know we deserve better!
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Yes, I guess I just didn’t like her imitation of the PM. A lot of the criticism I hear of the PM is that people hate her voice (which I concede was not the point being made by the panelist, it was about the way she speaks to people) and I just think people should focus their criticism more on what she actually does – or does not do, rather than something she has little control over.
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I agree. Julia is very condescending in her tone and those damn flapping hands. I hate her voice too, but that’s my problem!
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This clip makes me sad because right up until she said what she did, she was making some sound, measured points (well except for the cheap KRudd potshot) about a PM who I think is doing a good job under incredibly tough circumstances.
As you say, going for the cheap and easy laugh just takes away all credibility.
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I didn’t mind the comment. She was pointing out you should wear clothes that flatter your figure. I don’t see having a fat arse as being a negative thing.
Now Benjamin Law’s comment “not all girls like to be sprayed” that made me laugh out loud…
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*Large arse not fat.
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it was “big” actually
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Ha damn it! Large/Fat/Big it’s all good
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That and Christa Hughes declaring “Let’s bring the pussy back into porn”!
And I just had the program on as background noise…
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I fell out of love with Germaine Greer. I always thought of her as Australia’s mad aunt. Everyone needs one. Last night’s Q&A made her seem like our mean aunt.
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It was a feisty Q&A last night wasn’t it? I’ve long considered Germain Geer the crazy aunt, so I wasn’t that shocked by her comment. But what annoyed me about it was that prior to the big arse comment she had actually said a whole bunch of really good stuff about the unenviable position Julia Gillard is in as a leader of a minority government who must negotiate every single bit of policy. That was great and really well articulated and then all the good it was disappeared in some useless and tasteless fashion advice.
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Totally agree. She was making some brilliant points and then the Julia Gillard you have a big arse thing happened. I just … I just don’t get it. And I’m sorry but to me, there’a real nastiness to Germaine Greer. A meanness. It just doesn’t sit well with me.
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I think she’s always had that mean nastiness, its just been directed elsewhere
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Totally agree. She was making some brilliant points and then the Julia Gillard you have a big arse thing happened.
I’m sure that most people who end up commenting on this post wouldn’t have even watched Q & A in it’s entirety. Why didn’t you also include some of the brilliant points that Germaine was making to give this post about her and her character some balance?
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But Ellie, such studies leave out a multitude of factors to get their desired results.
Men travel longer to work, are willing to work more overtime and are more likely to retire later gaining benefits of seniority. Men are more likely to live away from home in order to make higher pay rates and are 20 times more likely to die on the job and receive more danger pay. Men are more likely to negotiate higher salaries than women and are more likely to work outdoors. men are more likely to contract diseases including cancer from their work.
If employers could pay women less they’d hire more women and put their competitors out of business, but I guess business are too sexist to do that?
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