[nickcarraway]

No, it wasn't Gloria Steinem. It was an Australian woman, but I can't remember her name.

[john drake]

Germaine Greer. Although I never agreed with her either, she was the most intelligent of this bunch, and for a woman of her views, not the least bit unfeminine. One of the best debates on Bill Buckley's Firing Line back in the early 70's was between her and Bill. It was a draw, believe it or not, if I remember correctly. This was one smart chick. I wonder what her attitudes are like now?

[Torie]

That was Germaine Greer! I liked Germaine. I liked her because she had a good sense of humor and was honest. She said that she would have been a terrible failure as a mother and traditional women, and would have gone insane in that role. Without the feminist movement, she would not have had a clue what to do with herself, as she put it. She was the most honest and articulate and intelligent and effective of them all.

As a highly educated and accomplished British woman that I knew, who served on her local council, and was a loyal Tory in the tightly zoned incredibly beautiful precincts of the borderland between Kent and Sussex near Tunbridge Wells, living in this sumptuous home built in 1575 with hallways upstairs that sloped due to something whenever, a house with a name ("rooted" houses down there all have names), with a solicitor aka lawyer husband, and three sons, told me at the time, somewhat defensively, Germaine is really too intelligent to really believe all of this.

[nightdriver]

"No, it wasn't Gloria Steinem. It was an Australian woman, but I can't remember her name."

You're right, and I don't remember her name, either.

I believe the quote the Aussie said was: "Man needs God like a fish needs a bicycle."

It was about the same time Friedan came out with her "Mystique" opus.