In the most talked-about moment of last night’s episode of Q&A, Germaine Greer asked Julie Bishop if she would “free the nipple” for Bali Nine.
Feminist and The Female Eunuch author Germaine Greer has never shied away from controversy.
But she’s drawing a whole new wave of criticism this morning for asking our Foreign Minister on last night’s Q&A program if she would take topless photos if it would save the Bali Nine.
The eyebrow-raising remarks came after a member of the audience asked the panel to share their thoughts on the “free the nipple” movement sweeping social media.
Host Annabel Crabb asked if Julie Bishop was ever inclined to take her top to make a statement.
“It’s not something I’ve ever had the desire to do online. I’m quite adept at my emoji language and that’s about as radical as I get,” she said.
Related content: The 7 best moments from last night’s Q&A.
Greer interjected: “What if it got you commutation of the life [sic] sentences for two Australians?”
The panel and audience gasped at the comment, as the Minister shook her head and cooly responded: “Please don’t go there, Germaine.”
Earlier in the panel, Minister Bishop made an eloquent speech on hoping to secure a stay of execution for the Bali Nine, appealing to the grace and mercy of the Indonesian government.
The Free The Nipple campaign started after social media sites required photos of women’s nipples to be censored, but images of men’s nipples and the rest of the female breast were deemed tolerable.
This was Q&A’s first all-female panel, featuring Annabel Crabb as host, Germaine Greer, Julie Bishop, ‘Bad Feminist’ Roxane Gay, Best and Less CEO Holly Kramer and Youth without Borders boss Yasmin Abdel-Magied.
What did you think about last night’s Q&A?
Top Comments
Heart-broken about convicted drug smugglers awaiting execution
yet Australians proclaim enlightenment by *murdering over 80,000 of
their own innocent unborn children each year* so that they can continue
to lead lives of debauchery, fornication, booze & drug parties.
I've thought about her comment a little more. It came off more as a bad joke so I didn't think it deserved the fuss it received...
BUT
Maybe the point was (or a point that can be taken away) is that why are we freeing the nipple?? Does it prove a point? And what is the point? Germaine had just given a diatribe about women stripping for unrelated human rights issues as an attention seeking way to raise awareness.
(granted she went on an irrelevant segueway of "but the only women who do these things have small boobs" or something equally random and pointless so I'm not sure if I fully understood her).
So maybe her point to Julie Bishop was "if freeing the nipple and using your feminine bits would actually achieve something of great value ...would you do it?"
Having said that though - I agree I felt that her arguments were far less interesting than the others and more random ramblings.
Germaine Greer is a accomplished feminist ( As oppose to gaining an arts degree and lecturing others on specialist knowledge far beyond one's academic capacity) I will give her that. With that said she is well and truly past her used by date. Far too many people associate feminism with being people like Greer. Who think being snippy, foul mouthed and crass denotes strength. Like wise with the year Mia was chastisted for questioning the feminist merit of prostitution. So much of these feminist ideas are all theory and conjecture and no grounding in reality and make them look mentally unbalanced. For example in reality, down here on earth. Can any really imagine a hypothetical situation where the president of indonesia would grant these men a pardon based on the request that Julie Bishop flashes her breasts. in feminist liberal colleges yes, in reality, not so much.