hurtloam wrote:
SoftwareEngineer wrote:
After looking her up, I realized I've watched a TV special on her, but I've never seen her books. She sounds very close to Brownmiller in philosophy. That's very interesting, because Brownmiller is usually credited with creating the central organizing document that energized NOW, plus the global feminist movement. In 1977, when I was an undergrad, a lot of women carried Against or Will like a Bible. From the WiKi writeup, housewives in England traditionally threw Greer's book physically in their husband's face as his introduction to the subject. Well, both books had an impact, and still do.
That's curious. Greer's
The Female Eunuch was one of the first feminist books I'd ever heard of... I still have never got round to reading it though. I am not keen on her idea that all men secretly hate women. I hope I have heard a misquoted soundbyte about that and she didn't really say it because I really don't believe that all men hate women. I am sad to say I've skipped over the 60s and 70s and have been reading articles online written by the likes of Tanya Gold, Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett, Suzanne Moore, Zoe Williams and Laura Bates.
was published in 1970 and was very popular by 1971.
Against Our Will was published in 1975 and was popular by 1977. They both seem to have the same view of men and women. And, both cast men as villainous, hateful, and abusive by nature, from birth. Greer was born in 1939, so she was a child at the end of WWII. I've traveled through Europe three times. Twice, I ventured into Eastern Europe. There, many women rejected feminism based on their affections for men in their families and the men who defended their countries during what they call "The Great Patriotic War," which is WWII. When I was in Kiev and visited the Museum of the Great Patriotic War, everyone said a prayer outside and at each place something indicated a soldier died, like a helmet with a bullet hole. However, the women always said a second prayer because the soldiers were fighting for the women and children of Ukraine. The war left the women, even women born long after the war, with a cultural affection for their men. Obviously, during the Cold War, feminist books probably didn't make it into Eastern Europe. The last time I was in Eastern Europe was about fifteen years ago. I wonder if Brownmiller's and Greer's books are popular there and what effect they've had. I wonder if those authors are persuasive in that region.
Post edit: The rumors are true, the women can cook and the men can drink vodka. A traditional dinner, where the women show off their culinary skills, is a multi-course meal that lasts about two hours. After each course, the men toast something and slam an overflowing shot of vodka. No, I couldn't keep up. No person should try to keep up with Ukrainian soldiers when they are on a mission to get drunk. That said, those guys are tough as nails. Actually, they were all really nice.
22 May 2014, 4:24 pm
