Report by Maggie Rainey-Smith
This particular title
for a session was a huge draw card for me.
I know exactly where I was, in London, reading a first edition copy of
‘The Female Eunuch’, a fledgling feminist, and even having a letter published
in Ms Magazine.
So, what a treat it
was to see on stage, Marilyn Waring, Sandra Coney and Germaine Greer,
brilliantly chaired by Judy Mcgregor.
She was for me the stand-out chair of the festival, so smart, so quick
and on task. Let me set the
scene. The theatre is filled with women
of a certain age and I couldn’t help smiling looking up at the stage to see all
of the feet (chair included), shod in sensible flat shoes. Oddly, shoes become a focal point when
you’re looking up at writers during the festival.
Judy McGregor did
splendid introductions although you imagine that most of the audience needed none
of them. She asked, ‘What was so
special in 1972’ and went on to mention Roe versus Wade, Led Zeppelin climbing
his stairway to heaven and Don McLean endlessly lamenting the loss of the
American dream. She mentioned an
advertisement in MS magazine asking why a woman couldn’t make a good Daiquiri
(advertising Hawaiian Rum), and that Helen Reddy was on the top 100 billboard
with her song “I am woman, hear me roar’.
But of course here in
New Zealand, 1972 is remembered, as Judy McGregor told us, for the time when
Germaine Greer was ‘acquitted on bullsh.t, and convicted for f..k’. There was much appreciative laughter for
this terrific summing up of the moment. But the back story was so much more
interesting than I had ever realised. It
was really for me a vague myth from the seventies that I had missed. It turned out that Germaine Greer had agreed
to use the word bullshit in public because at the time Tim Shadbolt had been
arrested for a similar offence. The
theory was that because Germaine was a woman and a visiting Australian, she
would not be arrested and this would set a precedent for free speech and have
the charges against Tim Shadbolt dropped.
Unfortunately a woman pushing a pram was walking through the university
grounds when Germaine uttered the infamous four-letter f-word. And this woman (I wonder who she is and how
she feels about it now?), took umbrage, even though it wasn’t really a ‘public
space’
Judy McGregor reminded Germaine
(who it seems had forgotten), that she sacked Julian Miles QC and conducted her
own defence. The rest is history, although Germaine added a lovely anecdote
when years later she wanted to return to New Zealand and there were fines owing
with interest that had accumulated relating to the offence. Margaret Wilson
told her not to worry, they had managed to lose the paperwork.
Marilyn Waring (right) spoke of how
amazing it was to be on stage with Sandra Coney and Germaine Greer, two
feminist giants on whose shoulders she had stood as a young woman. They spoke about the fun of feminism and
the prevailing (perhaps male) perspective that they were all dour and couldn’t
get a man. Marilyn went on to say she
lives an international life ‘down among the women’ to quote Fay Weldon and that
is what keeps her going. She said the
age of “IT” doesn’t do it for her and she is not interested in twitter and Facebook,
but wants to be on the street, and that’s where you make a difference, the
revolution she told us is about people in the streets.
Germaine Greer spoke about the
fact that Western Women are no longer directing the Women’s Movement. She said I’m scared, really scared and spoke
of the Islamic brotherhood and that 40% of the woman in Tahrir Square were
wearing the hijab and every version of it. She claimed that American
pornography has penetrated Islamic Society.
Sandra Coney said that men are
her soul mates and she feels young women have been stereotyped. She spoke of her work as a Regional
Councillor and Parks Chair in Waitakere and said they were doing wonderful
things. She was full of hope and felt
that the young women she was meeting were doing Science degrees and achieving
good things, but not getting the attention or recognition for it. Sandra Coney said “I believe there are more
of them than we realise”. This contrasted with Germaine Greer’s lament about
young women being focused on their five minutes of fame, and wanting prosthesis
to look beautiful.
The Chair then asked each woman
to comment on one issue that they felt was most important to them today. Sandra Coney said violence and money,
Marilyn Waring said violence and Germaine Greer felt that equality was an
illusory aim and that women are ‘pretend equals’. She is interested in segregation to empower
women. She said we should go back to
the top table and turn it over.
Marilyn Waring emphasised the search for dignity and spoke with pride of
the work she is involved with talking to care-givers of patients with HIB Aids,
and whether they had capability to do the work they were doing. Issues such as being safe and healthy,
having time off, your own health, the fundamental right to enjoy life.
Sandra Coney made us laugh when
she said that still in meetings, if a woman raises an issue it sits as if not
taken up, but if a man raises the same issue, it will be tabled and
discussed. She said that she and some
of her female colleagues have a running joke if they have a good idea: “can we
find a good man to say the same thing!”
She also spoke of the fun she had when she marched on the weekend for
the Ports of Auckland workers, catching up with ‘every old feminist’ and that
she had a jolly good day.
Germaine Greer corrected the
Chair when she said she was a member of the UK Liberal Democrat Party and said
no, she wasn’t a member, she just voted for them. She pointed out that somehow
Labour has always assumed she votes for them.
She then took Stephen Hawking to task for saying we will have to conquer
space and said he just doesn’t get it, doesn’t he realise “slime mould is our
sister”. Then the tenor turned to banter
about being overlooked as an older woman when you go shopping which was
light-hearted and comedic and of course we all recognised ourselves – the being
overlooked, no longer holding sway.
The session was rounded up by the
Chair asking all of them what makes them happiest and what they were
reading:
Marilyn Waring – happiness for
her is family, friends and novels and the fact that you can’t connect to an
internet in her home. I can’t remember
what she was reading (sorry).
Sandra Coney – happiness for her
is her restoration project planting trees, and more recently the marriage of
her youngest son, and then she mentioned research and learning. She said she was reading ‘A Girl of the
Limberlost’ and ‘Hemingway’s boats’. This caused some laughter when someone
commented “that’s a bit blokey don’t you think?” – and then added, “You don’t
have to defend yourself”.
Germaine Greer told us she had
just discovered Kim Scott at the festival and thought he was genius and a most
extraordinary talent. She called him a
“completely new voice” and said he was “dazzling”. Her rainforest project makes her happy!
In the end, a terrific and highly
anticipated session which I’m certain did not disappoint anyone. There was a small sour note afterwards, when
I queued to have my purchases signed by Germaine Greer. Evidently the Trans gender community have a
problem with her over a dispute she had with a colleague at a university. This issue was raised at question time, but
Germaine vehemently refuted the version presented. Sadly, as she was generously signing books,
someone glitter-bombed her. I heard the
kerfuffle and the festival organiser calling out for help – I’m just glad it
was only glitter, but a shame to denigrate a generous and much-welcome guest to
the festival. I heard from Unity Books
that Germaine had sat for 90 minutes the day previously signing books and
taking a specific interest in each and every one of her audience that came to
talk to her. Still, perhaps an old
feminist would understand the motive behind a high-profile sort of stunt like
that – who knows – I do hope she wasn’t too distressed by it.
P.S. This is not the ‘definitive’ report on the
session. If anyone recollects anything
else or wants to amend or correct anything I’ve said, please do – I was so
absorbed and taking notes but it’s not easy to accurately convey all of the
great ideas and comments conveyed.
Maggie Rainey-Smith
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