Germaine Greer - Women's Liberation

During the post-World War II period, there was much change in society in all difference aspects. The Women's Liberation Movement made some huge differences to society and was influenced by the war, where many changes were made due to the absence of men. The first wave of feminist activism took place in the late 19th century and focused on women getting suffrage. The second wave took place in the early 1960's to the late 1970's, focusing on deeper issues of alienation and prejudice with the aim of educating women of their lack of rights through literature and protests. Germaine Greer was a woman who influenced the movement greatly and did so very successfully, playing a significant part in history, and is one of the reasons for the rights women are entitled to today.

The Women's Liberation Movement challenged the injustice of society and it's system. It started with small 'consciousness-raising groups' and quickly expanded throughout Australia in a very short time. This movement was concerned with all sorts of issues relating to women, usually about their rights in education, work, health and family. Through lobbying, protesting, consciousness raising, pamphlets, books and lectures, women campaigned for equal pay, equal opportunities and maternal, divorce and childcare laws. It wanted women to have fair access to their careers while maintaining family life and also reduce language which implied women were inferior such as 'housewife, chicks or manmade'. Feminists wanted to remodel society and to have them perceive them as equally capable as men.

Germaine Greer is a feminist and activist and one of the leaders in the Women's Liberation Movement. She was born in Melbourne, 1939 and was an academic, writer and journalist, writing a book in 1970 called 'The Female Eunuch'. This international bestseller caused great controversy and is therefore an extremely important text of the feminist movement. The resulting publicity turned Greer into a key figure in the movement, bringing her both acclaim and criticism. It was anti-family and anti-male, encouraging women to rebel against male oppression and embrace gender differences in a positive fashion and was based on the idea of anarchy. This book plays a significant role in the movement declaring to women that "sexual liberation is the key to women's liberation."1

Germaine Greer was a very influential woman during this time period because of The Female Eunuch. It helped women embrace their sexuality and challenge female stereotypes that have been shaped by society. It made women realise that they were powerless and unhappy, yet men were complete opposite, having all control over them. Greer also gave motivational speeches and lecturers, as she was an academic, encouraging female identity and freedom in each woman's individual life. She educated women of their lack of rights and helped them realised that they were slaves of men and this was unacceptable with the idea that "girls are taught to be submissive females from childhood through rules which make them consider themselves inferior to men"2. Germaine Greer, through her book and her works, can be described as 'the cornerstone of the women's movement of the 1960's and 1970's'.

The movement impacted both men and women on a private and public sphere and therefore is significant in all aspects of Australian society. Greer's book challenged marriages since husbands did not want their wives reading it as they thought it would corrupt their minds. Women had to hide the fact they were reading the book and copies