Germaine
Striding into the Union debating Chamber Ms Greer cut an impressive figure, tall, straight posture and with an undeniable air of self confidence, what else would you expect from the woman once dubbed "The High Priestess of Womens' Liberation"? For this feminist though the expectation was sadly left unfulfilled. After the interview I was supposed to be conducting with Germaine was cancelled at the last minute, due to the highly important business of the traditional Union pre-debate dinner I was consoled by the conviction that in the debating chamber at least I would not be disappointed.
Having seen Ms Greer give a lecture approximately a year earlier on the subject of Shakespeare in general, and Romeo and Juliet in particular, and having been overwhelmed by the amazing presence of this woman and her ability as a public speaker, I was sure that this was going to be an event not to be missed. And I was right, but not for the reasons I had originally anticipated.
The two businesswomen speaking at the "can you have it all?" forum provided a truly interesting twenty minutes, and although clearly a corporate career is not everybody's first choice, it was reassuring to know that despite the hectic lifestyle, a high powered job in the city could be extremely rewarding, and that it was possible to be a successful businesswoman and yet still be a caring and competent mother.
Professor Greer on the other hand seemed content to trot out the same old tired anti-capitalist rant. Let me set this straight from the start, I love Germaine Greer, in fact for a couple of years "The Female Eunuch" and "The Whole Woman" was my Bible (sorry CU). The contribution she has made to the female struggle for liberation, or at the very least, equality, is worthy of great praise, and her charisma and conviction caused generations of thinking women the world over to stand up and fight. Ask pretty much anyone and they will have an opinion on Germaine Greer. When I was preparing for the non-interview I was astounded by the number of my friends who told me that I had to ask her this, and could I find out what she thought about that. There is no doubt about it, Ms Greer is cool. Or should that be was cool.
Lets face it, Germaine Greer has been on the go for a while now. There is scarcely a TV show she hasn't made an appearance on, earning her a reputation as a "shameless self publicist", has produced reams of text, both literary criticism and feminist literature. But this fan feels compelled to ask the question, "Is it time for the High Priestess to step down from the altar?"
In the speech that she gave, she made a number of good points, for example, if we are to discuss whether one can have it all we must first define what we mean by "it", and this must be a personal definition. Fair enough. And these points were put across with the utmost fervour in a witty and enjoyable speech. The problems came when she tried to defend her position and showed herself completely unable to relate to anybody else's point of view. Could she not see that some people find adventure, and yes, even a kind of bizarre poetry in being involved in a major business takeover, or handling an important case?
Pervading through "The Whole Woman" was the ongoing theme that to be a feminist one must necessarily be a socialist. Our speaker raged, or rather whinged against what she called "corporation man" and alleged that corporation woman would be no better. The alternative she seems to suggest, some kind of commune where we are all jointly responsible for the upbringing of children, and schools are used after hours, even at two in the morning, to teach young mothers IT skills. Could she point to anybody who would want to stay up until two in the morning to teach these young mothers? Maybe she sees herself fulfilling this along with many other roles?
Nicola Ralston, former head of strategy at Schroders, previously on a salary of £1m raised what seemed to be an indisputable proposition that companies are made of individuals and that if the individuals who make up the company have integrity, then the company they work for will also bear this quality. Could Ms Greer concede this? No she could not. Could she admit that maybe even she was working for the corporation through her regular stints on television and her newspaper column? No she could not.
Ms Greer's near communist idealism may have been refreshing thirty years ago. And the benefits of having such a strong and committed role model has in the past often proved to be inspirational. But the time has now come for somebody else to fill her flat grey shoes.
31st Jan 2002