The Free-Range Bookclub
Bookclubbers without boundaries in Nelson, New Zealand
The Female Eunuch – Germaine Greer
READ FOR BOOKCLUB
Chosen by Rachel
A 1970s book that became an important text in the feminist movement
✔ The Female Eunuch is a 1970s book that became of international note for being an important text in the feminist movement. The author’s theory is that the traditional family represses women sexually, and this devitalises them, rendering them eunuchs.
Greer comments on biological differences and historical definitions of the two sexes as well as the psychological differences that result from social conditioning. She examines women’s perception of self and critiques what is considered normal. She also argues that men hate women, though women do not realise this and are therefore taught to hate themselves.
The book was published in 1970 and became an international best seller.
In the popular imagination hairiness is like furriness, an index of bestiality, and as such an indication of aggressive sexuality. Men cultivate it, just as they are encouraged to develop competitive and aggressive instincts, women suppress it, just as they suppress all the aspects of their vigour and libido.
We all agreed this was not our usual kind of bookclub read. Greer is bold, coarse and confronting in her choice of language and subject matter and one must remember the book was written in the 60s, when yes things were much worse for women. We acknowledge there is still progress to be made in accepting women for who they are and not who society wants us to be, and for that reason there were parts of the book that were empowering. But all parts of it were thought-provoking and good conversation fodder, though perhaps not as shocking as it once was.
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Published in 1970
Harper Collins
400 pages
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