Written for Concrete student newspaper, available here : http://www.concrete-online.co.uk/germaine-greer/ Germaine Greer was born in Australia in February 1939. As an academic and cultural critic, she has been at the forefront of feminist politics since she rose to prominence in the 1970’s, with the publication of The Female Eunuch (1970). Since then she has caused controversy after controversy, her charismatic advocacy for women’s liberation (not gender equality) winning her both admiration and disapproval. Greer’s career began in academia, studying and lecturing at universities across the world, including Cambridge. She then branched out into the media, presenting on Granada TV in the early 70s, writing columns for Private Eye, and later cultural columns for publications including The Times and the Guardian. A polemical work spanning feminist literary and cultural criticism, The Female Eunuch ignited debates that are still going on today, and encouraged women to seek sexual, monetary and political autonomy. Its basic argument, which propelled Greer to a position at the forefront of feminist debates, is that women are “castrated” by the social conditioning they are subjected to. The book’s caustic yet witty style made it and its writer household names. However, Greer hasn’t always been the darling of the...