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Product Description
Review
‘A dazzling tract, erudite, outrageous, funny.’
Cosmopolitan
‘Brilliantly written, quirky and sensible, full of bile and insight…The best feminist book so far’
New York Times
‘A dazzling combination of erudition, eccentricity and eroticism.’
Newsweek
‘Intelligent, funny and beautifully written’
Vogue
‘Germaine Greer in THE FEMALE EUNUCH converted me to Women’s Lib, as much by her bawdy sense of humour as by the bite of her polemic’ Kenneth Tynan, Observer
‘A fine, continuous flow of angry power…terrific polemical force’ Listener
Product Description
A new cover re-issue of the ground-breaking, worldwide bestselling feminist tract.
A worldwide bestseller, translated into over twelve languages, THE FEMALE EUNUCH is a landmark in the history of the women’s movement. Drawing liberally from history, literature and popular culture, past and present, Germaine Greer’s searing examination of women’s oppression is at once an important social commentary and a passionately argued masterpiece of polemic.
Probably the most famous, most widely read book on feminism ever.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
34 of 37 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
It's important to remember that this book was written in the 1970s when the workplace didn't look the way that it looks now. Women now may complain that they still don't have equal pay for doing equal jobs - but in the 1970s they didn't even expect equal pay. We didn't have girls doing better in schools than boys - it was a world where women genuinely saw themselves as second class citizens and many had a feeling of inferiority to men that was deeply ingrained. Young women leaving university in 2007 have very little trace of this and are aware that a woman's brain is in many ways and in many subjects better for many jobs than a man's is. It isn't that either is better - they are just different.
Germaine Greer wrote a book that influenced her generation and a stunningly written book it is too. She is erudite and full of passion and, much to my surprise - not really anti men at all. It was the status quo that Greer hated - the two up two down slavery that she saw enslaving women. (Wouldn't it be good to have someone whose job is to keep your house clean, bring up your children, have a meal ready when you get home and 'provide' sex whenever you want it. This book needs to be read in that context.. the alarming thing is that so much of what Greer attacks so brilliantly is still around us today. Despite her warnings - in some areas we have made very little progress.
This is a classic - read it. And you may need a dictionary. I did. :-)
Germaine Greer wrote a book that influenced her generation and a stunningly written book it is too. She is erudite and full of passion and, much to my surprise - not really anti men at all. It was the status quo that Greer hated - the two up two down slavery that she saw enslaving women. (Wouldn't it be good to have someone whose job is to keep your house clean, bring up your children, have a meal ready when you get home and 'provide' sex whenever you want it. This book needs to be read in that context.. the alarming thing is that so much of what Greer attacks so brilliantly is still around us today. Despite her warnings - in some areas we have made very little progress.
This is a classic - read it. And you may need a dictionary. I did. :-)
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book needs to be read in the context of the time in which it was written - late 1960s - early 1970s. Were things different then? You could be forgiven for thinking that not much has changed today. Yes we have anti sex discrimination laws and equal pay laws but have things changed for the better? More married women work outside the home - some of them in better paid jobs than they did then. Married women are treated as individuals by the tax system - whereas their income was treated as belonging to their husbands back in the 1960s and taxed accordingly. In 1964 it was enshrined in law that married women were entitled to keep amounts left over from the housekeeping money. Divorce was easier than it had been and women were generally awarded custody of children - because they were the ones who brought them up anyway - not much has changed as far as that's concerned today.
Full of shrewd comments on life as lived by women, this is an invigorating read. Greer points out how many men hate women and would do without them if they could. She criticises patriarchal society which assumes men have a monopoly of knowledge and are the only people who have the right answer to every problem. But she does not spare women and there are many comments on how women see themselves as victims when some of the answers to their problems are in their own hands. She deplores the concentration by women on their appearance, clothes and make up and castigates the manufacturers who are peddling impossible dreams at extortionate prices. These chapters apply even more to today's woman with the accessibility of plastic surgery and the desire to resemble a Barbie doll. These themes are echoed even more strongly in Nina Power's book - `One Dimensional Woman' published recently.
Greer's last chapter postulates a different way for organising society with women banding together to co-operate on sharing the chores they dislike with people who like doing them and points out that the nuclear family is a means to divide and rule. She also suggests that equality will never be achieved until men see the household chores as their responsibility as well as the child rearing. She paints a graphic picture of families - mother, father and children - living in their little boxes in suburbia and not mixing with the neighbours so that they are isolated in their own little world.
She suggests there are other ways of organising society which could be more beneficial to everyone - not just women. Some of the things she advocates do happen today - such as the alternative currency schemes which involve people swapping their skills - but they are the exception not the rule. She also suggests clubbing together to buy basic unbranded foodstuffs in bulk at discounted prices - which should appeal to today's credit crunch strapped families.
Above all this is a book about remaking society so that it is fair to everyone and to do that it may be necessary to think the unthinkable. Just because society has been set up by men to suit them does not mean it should continue in the same way. She urges women not to fight men but to work co-operatively to achieve a society which ensures everyone can lead a fulfilling life. This book is still an inspiring read for anyone who is interested in an age old problem
Full of shrewd comments on life as lived by women, this is an invigorating read. Greer points out how many men hate women and would do without them if they could. She criticises patriarchal society which assumes men have a monopoly of knowledge and are the only people who have the right answer to every problem. But she does not spare women and there are many comments on how women see themselves as victims when some of the answers to their problems are in their own hands. She deplores the concentration by women on their appearance, clothes and make up and castigates the manufacturers who are peddling impossible dreams at extortionate prices. These chapters apply even more to today's woman with the accessibility of plastic surgery and the desire to resemble a Barbie doll. These themes are echoed even more strongly in Nina Power's book - `One Dimensional Woman' published recently.
Greer's last chapter postulates a different way for organising society with women banding together to co-operate on sharing the chores they dislike with people who like doing them and points out that the nuclear family is a means to divide and rule. She also suggests that equality will never be achieved until men see the household chores as their responsibility as well as the child rearing. She paints a graphic picture of families - mother, father and children - living in their little boxes in suburbia and not mixing with the neighbours so that they are isolated in their own little world.
She suggests there are other ways of organising society which could be more beneficial to everyone - not just women. Some of the things she advocates do happen today - such as the alternative currency schemes which involve people swapping their skills - but they are the exception not the rule. She also suggests clubbing together to buy basic unbranded foodstuffs in bulk at discounted prices - which should appeal to today's credit crunch strapped families.
Above all this is a book about remaking society so that it is fair to everyone and to do that it may be necessary to think the unthinkable. Just because society has been set up by men to suit them does not mean it should continue in the same way. She urges women not to fight men but to work co-operatively to achieve a society which ensures everyone can lead a fulfilling life. This book is still an inspiring read for anyone who is interested in an age old problem
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is product of its time, but still makes for a thought provoking read in this so called post-feminist age.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Get over yourself sweetheart
If you are a man.........man, man, man you will probably love this. If like me you are actually a Eunuch, then forget about it. Modern classic......me thinks not. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Mr. R. Higgins
Value in 'retro' feminism ...
Although the world and feminism has moved on since 'The Female Eunuch' was first published there is such a wealth of knowledge, experience and information in this book that is... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Becca James
female eunuch
picked this for my book group as a classic. not so popular! pretty outdated and dull now
Published 22 months ago by sarah adams
If you are a fella, bare in mind that you are not the target audience
Only so far into this, and I find a lot of the problems that she says women have to endure are not exclusive to women alone. Read more
Published on 4 April 2010 by Dougie Hawes
book
good xmas gift just what she asked for. Good price and arrived in good time
Published on 4 Feb 2009 by Mrs. Me Wyatt
One in a long line
GG is obviously an intelligent and erudite woman who articulates this page by page in an academic style. Read more
Published on 18 Dec 2008 by SJB
Very difficult to get on with
I found this book very difficult to get on with, as I just couldn't identify with a lot of what she was saying, I did try and imagine what it would be like in the 70s etc thinking... Read more
Published on 11 Sep 2007 by I. Thomas
A bit dissapointing
I had been looking forward to reading this book after hearing how Germaine Greer has influenced so many women throughout the years. I was, however, dissapointed. Read more
Published on 28 Oct 2003 by Ms. D. Hutchison
Personal bitterness fuels every sentence
Having been told this was a book all men should read I did my duty. I then read a bio of her life. Sadly much of what GG says has little to do with the real world and most of her... Read more
Published on 1 Aug 2001
Over-rated sensationlist and hate-filled
This book only deserves attention because it is so sensationalist. When I first read it at the age of 18 I felt that, as a young woman, I was being mentally assaulted by the author... Read more
Published on 30 April 2001
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