I heard that feminist Germaine Greer, author of The Female Eunuch, is in town, where she’s a guest at Readers and Writers Week.
Germaine Greer glitter-bombed by Queer Avengers
Members of Wellington protest group the Queer Avengers have rained glitter down on visiting feminist writer Germaine Greer, who has a history of outing and denouncing transwomen, even describing them as “ghastly parodies” of womanhood.
Glitter-bombing has gained prominence internationally as a way to highlight transphobia and queerphobia, particulalry in the US where a number of politicians have been targeted.
“Transphobic feminism is so 20th Century,” says Stacey of the Queer Avengers. “It wasn’t okay then and it’s not okay now. Women’s liberation must mean the right to refuse imposed gender roles, to fight for diverse gender expression.”
The Queer Avengers also handed out leaflets stating “transphobia is bullshit,” pointing to the fact Greer was arrested in 1972 while touring New Zealand, for saying the word “bullshit.”
Bullshit and glitter-bombs! Greer was not the first to be arrested in New Zealand for using the word ‘bullshit’. In 1971, Tim Shadbolt published his autobiography Bullshit and Jellybeans, supposedly written while incarcerated in prison cells in Mt Eden and Mt Crawford. The title alludes to the charge which led to his arrest.
Looking back, it all seems quaintly absurd. Today I can say, with impunity, “Censorship is BULLSHIT!” I can, but I won’t. Because the adjective ‘bullshit’ is too good for censorship. I’ll cut to the chase. Censorship is EVIL. And, from my point of view as a free thinker, it is one of the worst of evils.
Yes, Christians have been major culprits in the long history of censorship. Yes, that’s embarrassing. Index Librorum Prohibitorum? I deplore the very idea. Nihil obstat! Imprimi potest! Imprimatur! We live in an age of bullshit and when we encounter it we should call it what it is.
Consider the Ninth Commandment.
Thou shalt not bear false witness.
Consider censorship.
Thou shalt not bear true witness.
Now combine the two.
LOL. I just Googled “thou shalt drink a nice big cup of shut the fuck up” and top in the list of search results was Uncyclopedia’s entry on Feminism. Uncyclopedia says
Most men hate feministic bull shit and wish Germaine Greer would drink a nice big cup of shut the fuck up.
I wish that Germaine Greer would say whatever she wants to say. I don’t have to listen to her transphobic feministic bullshit.
Great post. Love the poster.
Did Greer ever used to be a red head? http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10792307
Thanks, Mark. I love you too.
It’s a shame about the latest Tui billboard. The first one in a while to make me laugh out loud.
Ginger Kids is one of my favourite episodes of South Park. Does Greer have a soul?