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3.38 AVERAGE
3.38 AVERAGE
Germaine Greer is crass, sardonic, brazen, over-confident, dismissive and (as smarter people than me have pointed out) alarmingly transphobic. Yet fifty years after its publication, The Female Eunuch remains a galavinzing call to action that remains uncomfortably pertinent. I was particularly struck by the horrifying way her chapter on 'Loathing and Disgust' echoed the very real misogyny still at work in my country.
This was a great piece of feminist critique! I got through this book a lot easier than Betty Friedan's 'The Feminine Mystique'. This was mainly because Greer split her chapters into subcategories while Friedan didn't. As a result, Friedan's chapters ending up being between 30-50 pages long, which can be quite tiring to read.
While I don't agree with everything Greer argued, I would still highly encourage both men and women to read this book.
Overall,
⭐⭐⭐⭐
OR
While I don't agree with everything Greer argued, I would still highly encourage both men and women to read this book.
Overall,
⭐⭐⭐⭐
OR
While reading the book, I had the persistant notion that it was a very poor imitation of Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex
informative
medium-paced
A key text for the history of feminism but so incredibly outdated for a modern reader - do not read this and expect viewpoints that would align with modern intersectional feminism! This text is unabashedly racist, slut-shaming and incredibly TERF.
I gave this 2 stars as for its historical value, not because my values align with it!
I gave this 2 stars as for its historical value, not because my values align with it!
informative
reflective
slow-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.
What I liked: the section called Hate. I felt like she hit some key points about rape.
What I didn’t like: the writing style. I found the sentences convoluted and filled with unnecessary jargon. I found her spending more time criticising ideas than suggesting any improvements, especially in regards to psychology. When she did suggest ways to improve the living situation for females, it was so odd, bizarre and wrong. The idea of just giving up things we like eg make up, clothes so we can have money to leave husbands we don’t like?? What in the world did I read?
I am glad to say that this is my first read from the second wave feminist movement and I feel more educated already
What I didn’t like: the writing style. I found the sentences convoluted and filled with unnecessary jargon. I found her spending more time criticising ideas than suggesting any improvements, especially in regards to psychology. When she did suggest ways to improve the living situation for females, it was so odd, bizarre and wrong. The idea of just giving up things we like eg make up, clothes so we can have money to leave husbands we don’t like?? What in the world did I read?
I am glad to say that this is my first read from the second wave feminist movement and I feel more educated already
I've read most of the points it's making in more recent books which are less transphobic, racist, sexist and homophobic. I can see that for it's time its pretty groundbreaking but now it is dated and clearly aiming at middle aged, middle class, white, cis, heterosexual women.