Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.38 AVERAGE
3.38 AVERAGE
This book is complicated and messy.
Published in 1970, it's an interesting view into the not so distant past. It's a feminist perspective limited in many ways to the experience of white women in the colonizing populations of the world.
Within this scope, it is an exceptionally interesting read, particularly because it openly confronts the capitalist and colonialist nature of women's oppression. The call to responsibility and self-determination levied at women is inspiring and truly revolutionary, even when it requires an uncomfortable look in the mirror.
Dismissing The Female Eunuch out of hand because it's not PC and does not reflect the experience of every person on Earth is a serious mistake of ignorance and arrogance.
Especially within the target population, the ideas within it are fierce and, once encountered, demand open debate.
Published in 1970, it's an interesting view into the not so distant past. It's a feminist perspective limited in many ways to the experience of white women in the colonizing populations of the world.
Within this scope, it is an exceptionally interesting read, particularly because it openly confronts the capitalist and colonialist nature of women's oppression. The call to responsibility and self-determination levied at women is inspiring and truly revolutionary, even when it requires an uncomfortable look in the mirror.
Dismissing The Female Eunuch out of hand because it's not PC and does not reflect the experience of every person on Earth is a serious mistake of ignorance and arrogance.
Especially within the target population, the ideas within it are fierce and, once encountered, demand open debate.
challenging
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
After recently becoming increasingly interested in Feminism I thought what better place to start with the so called Feminist Bible. Like a lot of people have heard there has always been a lot of hype around this book and there still continues to be despite the book being published in the seventies. Whether this was because of the controversy of it all or the actual truth that there was in this book, as a result, is of course open to interpretation.
I'm still debating whether this was a good place to start on the topic of Feminism because of this book's controversy and how heavy it actually is. If you're looking for a feminist book for dummies then I don't think this is the best place to start. In retrospect I think I would have enjoyed this book much more if I was a more advanced reader on the topic of Feminism, and as a result would have most likely understood the theories and ideas much more clearly.
For me personally, I was absolutely desperate to enjoy this book, and there were some sections which I found beyond interesting and agreed with. But for the majority this was not the case. I think even if you aren't a Feminist than this would still be a good book to read as you can imagine yourself arguing with Greer in your head.
All in all, I am glad I read this book and stuck with it- and she definitely raised some valid points which really got me thinking about today's society. But some of the theories were far too complex for my little brain which is why I have given the Female Eunuch three stars, through no fault of its own.
I'm still debating whether this was a good place to start on the topic of Feminism because of this book's controversy and how heavy it actually is. If you're looking for a feminist book for dummies then I don't think this is the best place to start. In retrospect I think I would have enjoyed this book much more if I was a more advanced reader on the topic of Feminism, and as a result would have most likely understood the theories and ideas much more clearly.
For me personally, I was absolutely desperate to enjoy this book, and there were some sections which I found beyond interesting and agreed with. But for the majority this was not the case. I think even if you aren't a Feminist than this would still be a good book to read as you can imagine yourself arguing with Greer in your head.
All in all, I am glad I read this book and stuck with it- and she definitely raised some valid points which really got me thinking about today's society. But some of the theories were far too complex for my little brain which is why I have given the Female Eunuch three stars, through no fault of its own.
"Hopefully, this book is subversive....if it is not ridiculed or reviled, it will have failed of its intention. If the most successful feminine parasites do not find it offensive, then it is innocuous. What they can tolerate is intolerable for any woman with pride (Introduction, p. 11-12)."
Published in the seventies -- I did not read an updated edition, which I presume exists forty years later -- Germaine Greer critiques femininity in a variety of arenas with "The Female Eunuch." Through a series of short chapters each riffing on a specific topic such as "work" or "romance", she calls out double standards between men and women in the work place, posits causal factors behind negative female stereotypes that she feels has a degree of truth to them, argues against Freudian analysis that drains women of agency, laments the deemphasis of female sexual pleasure in a status quo sexual arrangement, and more. Her "female eunuch" seems to be the oversexualized female target of the male gaze who is paradoxically far removed from her own sensuality or her full potential -- castrated -- unless her sisters (or pithy third party quotes sprinkled throughout the texts between heavy bars) cause her to reflect upon her situation, gain awareness, and act.
What I enjoyed most about the text was Germaine Greer's writing style, which leans towards the poetic and sarcastic and not the overtly academic. For instance, she conveys a nascent but not-yet-organized body of discontent women with just four efficient but somewhat unusual words (emphasis mine): "The most dubious aspect of academic liberationists is their assumption of leadership of a vast murmuring female proletariat, and their adoption of male kinds of grouping and organizational structure to which most women have little success in adapting... (p.300)." I also found it prescient that Greer offers suggestions but leaves open-endedness to the call to action, quite literally in ending with "what will you do?" but also in raising smart questions such as whether an end goal should really be to achieve assimilation into dysfunctional, cutthroat male systems of doing, as in any revolution, there is a dividing line between the rebels who aim to infiltrate the existing system and achieve mainstream acceptance, and the rebels who wish to create their own new state and achieve legitimacy only on their own (often underground) terms.
The cons: the text tends to incorporate scenarios (are trophy secretaries really that big of a thing anymore?) and mindsets that kept reminding me I was reading an artifact of the mainstream women's movement at a place in time, and not something current. For, though she leaves room for multiplicity in things like her outcomes, she misses it in addressing her target audience, as her advice always seems to come from a white middle class perspective. I couldn't find analysis noting where factors such as race, income level, sexual orientation, transgenderedness, or able-bodiedness intersect with her points. The conversation revolves around the binary between "men" and "women" with only fleeting (or even condescending) references to race or lesbianism or what a call to action might look like if you are poor and dependent upon the existing system for survival -- her analysis might seem relevant to women with origins similar to herself but leaves a lot of others, well, castrated.
Published in the seventies -- I did not read an updated edition, which I presume exists forty years later -- Germaine Greer critiques femininity in a variety of arenas with "The Female Eunuch." Through a series of short chapters each riffing on a specific topic such as "work" or "romance", she calls out double standards between men and women in the work place, posits causal factors behind negative female stereotypes that she feels has a degree of truth to them, argues against Freudian analysis that drains women of agency, laments the deemphasis of female sexual pleasure in a status quo sexual arrangement, and more. Her "female eunuch" seems to be the oversexualized female target of the male gaze who is paradoxically far removed from her own sensuality or her full potential -- castrated -- unless her sisters (or pithy third party quotes sprinkled throughout the texts between heavy bars) cause her to reflect upon her situation, gain awareness, and act.
What I enjoyed most about the text was Germaine Greer's writing style, which leans towards the poetic and sarcastic and not the overtly academic. For instance, she conveys a nascent but not-yet-organized body of discontent women with just four efficient but somewhat unusual words (emphasis mine): "The most dubious aspect of academic liberationists is their assumption of leadership of a vast murmuring female proletariat, and their adoption of male kinds of grouping and organizational structure to which most women have little success in adapting... (p.300)." I also found it prescient that Greer offers suggestions but leaves open-endedness to the call to action, quite literally in ending with "what will you do?" but also in raising smart questions such as whether an end goal should really be to achieve assimilation into dysfunctional, cutthroat male systems of doing, as in any revolution, there is a dividing line between the rebels who aim to infiltrate the existing system and achieve mainstream acceptance, and the rebels who wish to create their own new state and achieve legitimacy only on their own (often underground) terms.
The cons: the text tends to incorporate scenarios (are trophy secretaries really that big of a thing anymore?) and mindsets that kept reminding me I was reading an artifact of the mainstream women's movement at a place in time, and not something current. For, though she leaves room for multiplicity in things like her outcomes, she misses it in addressing her target audience, as her advice always seems to come from a white middle class perspective. I couldn't find analysis noting where factors such as race, income level, sexual orientation, transgenderedness, or able-bodiedness intersect with her points. The conversation revolves around the binary between "men" and "women" with only fleeting (or even condescending) references to race or lesbianism or what a call to action might look like if you are poor and dependent upon the existing system for survival -- her analysis might seem relevant to women with origins similar to herself but leaves a lot of others, well, castrated.
An important book in the feminist canon, there is no doubt; but neither the words 'enjoy' nor 'agree' spring to mind regarding this modern classic. Aside from a few choice points (such as the fact that overt "rebellion" can do damage to the cause, and that the 'struggle' should be 'joyous' in that it should be buoyed by its own sense of sympathy and purpose), there is much that smarts of folly, prejudice and, occasionally, misandry. Thank goodness feminism has progressed since then! This being said, we may not have it all right, but we are all learning, and The Female Eunuch is certainly an important marker in that learning journey.
I must confess...I zoned out occasionally and will likely have to re-read/re-listen to this at a later date. There were a lot of things that I'm already aware of which were well expressed, other things seemed a little out of date or somewhat unconvincing, still others belaboured.
An aside: although I recognise why it was done (I think), I wasn't keen on the use of vulgar terms and racial or homophobic slurs for emphasis/shock value...I have difficulty seeing any of that language usage as a reclamation and it just ended up feeling unnecessary and distasteful.
An aside: although I recognise why it was done (I think), I wasn't keen on the use of vulgar terms and racial or homophobic slurs for emphasis/shock value...I have difficulty seeing any of that language usage as a reclamation and it just ended up feeling unnecessary and distasteful.
2020 update: Greer hates trans people, so please disregard this review. No wonder her attitude towards homosexuality bugged me.
Female Eunuch is an eye opening book, for sure. It feels a little dated in some parts and I’d love to see a revised version which includes data from 30 years later (I am aware that Greer wrote a ‘sequel’ but it is more concerned with more mature women instead of young women). Greer’s arguments struck deep in me and the stories she told or behaviours she described mirrored so many patterns of behaviour and thinking in my life and my family that it was rather uncomfortable to acknowledge just how chained to society I am. IT is definitely a book I’d recommend everyone should read, men and women alike.
One thing that bothered me throughout the reading of the book was Greer’s attitude towards homosexuality. It felt like she thought it quite, well, queer in the sense that it was unnatural? I certainly expected more from a woman like her. It would have been nice to see more on how exactly lesbian women are made impotent in our culture – just because we reject the patriarchy or however Greer put it in the book, doesn’t mean we are not made impotent.
Female Eunuch is an eye opening book, for sure. It feels a little dated in some parts and I’d love to see a revised version which includes data from 30 years later (I am aware that Greer wrote a ‘sequel’ but it is more concerned with more mature women instead of young women). Greer’s arguments struck deep in me and the stories she told or behaviours she described mirrored so many patterns of behaviour and thinking in my life and my family that it was rather uncomfortable to acknowledge just how chained to society I am. IT is definitely a book I’d recommend everyone should read, men and women alike.
One thing that bothered me throughout the reading of the book was Greer’s attitude towards homosexuality. It felt like she thought it quite, well, queer in the sense that it was unnatural? I certainly expected more from a woman like her. It would have been nice to see more on how exactly lesbian women are made impotent in our culture – just because we reject the patriarchy or however Greer put it in the book, doesn’t mean we are not made impotent.