Saturday 22 August 2009

shadow of a woman

I'd rather saw my own arm off than play competitive sports, but it obviously floats some people's boats. Including Richard's.

He sent me a link to a piece about Caster Semenya, an athlete who is apparently obliged to take gender tests because she trains too hard and doesn't look classically feminine, or something.

It's by Germaine Greer, whom I try to like despite her apparent trajectory into Daft Old Batness... though I'm not trying that hard, these days.

Here's an odd quote from her little piece:

Nowadays we are all likely to meet people who think they are women, have women's names, and feminine clothes and lots of eyeshadow, who seem to us to be some kind of ghastly parody, though it isn't polite to say so. We pretend that all the people passing for female really are. Other delusions may be challenged, but not a man's delusion that he is female.



...which isn't a nice thing to say about Marlene Dietrich, I must say.

...oh, hang on a minute. She's banging on about Them Thar Pesky Trannies again, isn't she?

Here's the story of how Germaine Greer 'outed' a Fellow of Newnham College back in the 90s, if you haven't heard of it already.

I like the way that Germaine said how she liked Dr Padman as a person, but she objected to her on principle. Oh yes, been there, done that. People have objected to me, too, on principle. Funny feeling, let me tell you.

Take principles regularly. Prevents that thinking feeling.

Oh well, that'll do for the mo. Must go and put on my eye shadow. That or strip down and fix the seized brake cylinder on the Traveller, so that I can go bimbling over to Wales in pursuit of William and Dorothy Wordsworth. Now, where's me high heels?


19 comments:

  1. Hmmmm. Interesting. We have a tennis player and there is a lot if is she or isn't she and she's a lesbian which adds extra fuel to those who shout loudest. I’ve always admired Dr Greer and her opposition to trans women is a relatively new idea to me. It puts her back into the days when women burnt their bras and women were expected not to be housewives and look after the children.

    I see that Rachel Padman is still there!

    I rarely wear eyeshadow and never high heels – where does that leave me?

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  2. A personal hate figure. Part of the Greer-Bindell Axis. One of the second generation feminists who taught my ex her gender theory, and who my ex had a great deal of time for. She has a platform, her writing remains respected, and whenever a story like this appears she doesn't miss the chance to be vindictive and arrogant. She causes pain and hurt and damage.

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  3. Same place as me, I suspect. But people who look for parodies don't see realities. I see that Greer said that she liked Padman as a person but was opposed to her on principle...

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  4. cross-posting, Jo. Hi there! Congrats on the project thingy!

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  6. Have to say I have always despised Ms Greer. She is very unpleasant creature.

    For a couple of hundred years, the UK sent its convicts over to OZ.

    Back in the 'sixties Australia got its revenge on the UK; Germaine Greer was sent here as retribution.

    love
    chrissie
    xxxx

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  7. I've just seen that the story on Caster Semenya is covered on French AOL. The way it's written could be a help in drawing to people's attention that it isn't all about whether someone has breasts or a penis. No mention of checking out the men though. I wonder how that would go....

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  8. Even the Olympics gave up on this nonsense years ago after Spanish Hurdler fought back.

    OOppppps, this makes me sound like I know something about stupid competitive sport! Not true.

    Caroline x

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  9. I think you have it there Dru...anyone who objects to another person 'on principle' damns themselves in my eyes (or, actually...erm...does that sound like I'm damning them on principle!?)

    It's very interesting how this story is playing.

    There's the

    1. 'Oooh er missus, titter, maybe she's got a willy!?' angle, which the tabloids will always try and float if they can...

    2. 'Is it cos I is black?' angle - which the South Africans have got in a state about

    3. The 'What an outrageous slur' angle, underpinnning all this. The implicit subtext that there could scarcely be anything worse than being accused of this. She almost refused to accept her medal because of it, and is refusing to submit to the tests, I read...

    Now if it was drugs, she'd take those tests...even if she was entirely innocent.

    But there seems to be something uniquely shameful about even the possibility that your gender may not be what it seems...

    Was she fooling us?!!! How dare she!!? Etc Etc. Richard is good on this theme in Becoming Drusilla :-)

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  10. I love my high heeled shoes. I always read what Ms Greer has to say - no matter what the subject. Then, I tend to look out for what intelligent, perceptive women have to say on any topic - I am always attentive to anything written by, for example, Camille Paglia, who, I think, has an edge on Greer. Pause here for reflection: I actually adore Germaine - always have done ever since I read 'The Female Eunuch' - back in the halcyon days of the seventies. By the way, I never went to Bristol during my time off - too busy doing other things like decorating.

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  11. Good piece by Carole Cadwalladr on this in today's Observer...

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  12. Almost a good piece Jo, she ended by wanting everyone to take a mythical "sexuality" test. Another writer, David Smith does not know his arse from his elbow when it comes to sex, sexuality and gender, mixes them up at random and interchangeably. I have written to the editor pointing out the complete ignorance of their ways and suggesting they get off their arses and report on the subject accurately. Pointed out the 18% suicide rate waiting for CH and asked what they were going to do about that. All in the nicest possible way of course!

    It is raining so I read the paper, only good for cat litter!

    Caroline X

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  13. Poor Germaine can't get into gear
    Her whole domain is that of Lear
    She's mad as a hatter
    Would be happier fatter
    She's the feminine eunuch I fear.

    (Okay not much of a limmerick... but 'tis my own work)

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  14. I wonder if it would be worth writing to Germaine? -probably not, because she's had plenty of opportunity to inform herself if she wanted to. I'm just re-reading Fay Weldon's "Big Women", because I really like it. It's a romp through the feminist movement from the early seventies to almost-now. Description of the new orthodoxies: "Truth can never be too big a price to pay for social change. If you only believe hard enough, what is not true can become true."

    I do have heels, Neil, but I can't recall the last time I wore them...

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  15. Not a good idea writing to Germaine, Dru. Nothing to be gained...her attitudes on this issue are set in superglue.

    The whole piece which inspired you to write this post illustrates this - of all the angles on this story she could have chosen, she decides to go off on on one about about the fallacy of men wanting the world 'to believe' that they are women. Which of course has nothing whatsoever to do with the question of this runner (the reverse in fact). But she couldn't resist...

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  16. I guess so, Jo; I should give up the idea that if only you talk quietly and reasonably to someone, you can persuade them of the truth and justice of your case. Massively presumptuous, that.

    Nice limerick, by the way, Caroline!

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  17. It's got a bit to do with enhancement and sport, hasn't it? And where we draw the line. Some drugs are quite legal, no one's going to stop you wearing glasses/ contacts to play sport. But Oscar Pretorius seems to have them all freaked. They'd let him run if his legs presented a disadvantage. And does women's sport have anything to fear if Caster Semanya is a little testosteroned up after all? I don't watch sport as it's all so dull, but I watched this race on Youtube to see what all the fuss was about. The thing that struck me was the protracted interview with the cute blonde one who was supposed to win and seemed almost to think she still had. Is that what it's about "Uncute woman wins a race"?

    And what is Greer so scared of she thinks she can approve or disapprove of anyone "on principle"! What does that mean? Are we allowed not to approve of Australians because they come from an invented nation that wasn't even there 200 years ago? Does that make them somehow less real as individuals? I rather think not.

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  18. I think that is what it's all about, Liz. And as I understand it, at 3x normal levels, her testosterone is still well within the female range. But the question would probably not have arisen if she'd passed the cute test.

    Apparently Greer featured on something called the One Show a few evenings ago, talking about this stuff. But you can't see it on repeat, unlike the other One Shows. It was pulled, evidently. If would be easy to conclude that she was too stoopid for the BBC, too.

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