The Female Eunuch

Women are taught to hate and feel disgusted by their bodies so that most cannot feel satisfied with their natural appearance. This lack of satisfaction leads not only to many illogical body modification practices (including depilation, extreme dieting, and cosmetic surgery) that appeal to the male perspective of beauty, but also to a subconscious feeling of profound psychosocial inadequacy. Men are taught to subconsciously hate and fear the natural body of a woman, and patriarchal structures uphold this cycle of disgust. Much of the violence proliferated against women, particularly cases of domestic violence, is the result of repression of hatred: It goes unacknowledged and builds to the point of physical manifestations enacted against the object of hate (the female body). There is much hatred directed at the vagina, to the point that women feel disgust toward their own sex organs and expressions of sexuality.

Abuse of women takes many forms in Western societies. In its most salient forms, such as rape and domestic violence, victims are often blamed, and too little emphasis is placed on sexist systems that facilitate such abuse. Less obvious forms of abuse are present in English linguistic constructions, especially insults that refer directly to the female body. For example, “cunt,” a pejorative word for the vagina, is one of the worst insults. Constant abuse, particularly in its sanctioned forms, causes many women to fall into stereotypical roles as responses to this hatred. The “angry housewife,” “dirty slut,” and “perfect virgin” stereotypes are some of the most prolific forms of this response to abuse. Women devolve into exhibiting these stereotypical lifestyles because they neither assess how their internalized hatred has manifested into self-abuse nor question the nature of sanctioned forms of abuse exercised by men or other women. If abuse of women remains sanctioned by society, women are left largely without the tools to process such abuse and are thus left to deal with the trauma alone.

Many women are miserable, even if they are unaware of their misery or the source of their misery. Many women who inhabit the acceptable female stereotypes become miserable not only because they cannot self-determine, but also because they are fulfilling patriarchal values. This misery goes without remedy because the primary solution would be to abolish the systems of oppression that force women into lives devoid of autonomy, and no one individual can reach such a solution in their lifetime. Greer uses the example of the overmedication of housewives that was especially common in the 1950s through the 1970s: Many unhappy housewives were prescribed sedatives to “cure” them of their malaise so that they could maintain the appearance of fulfilling their role as wife and mother without addressing the real sources of their displeasure.

Resentment is the natural response to a woman’s constant feelings of misery. Even if women are unaware of their internalized self-hatred and the external hatred of them, many build a sense of resentment within themselves as a response to living under sexist conditions. Both men and women feel this resentment: Men hate women for their weakness, and women hate themselves for their inability to change the system, leading both parties to act out. Men often interpret acts of retaliation made by women as confirmations of their inferiority because women have such little agency and social capital to leverage to retaliate. Their outlets for retaliation are often violations of social norms (for example, she might intentionally embarrass her partner at a social event). Such retaliation appears not as a significant response to an oppressive system, but rather as a manifestation of stereotypically feminine traits such as weakness, immaturity, or intellectual inferiority.

Rebellion is a necessary step toward women’s liberation and is a more refined form of retaliation. Greer outlines some of the most prominent feminist groups of the 1960s to illustrate manifestations of organized rebellion. These groups are essential in offering women the tools to change the systems that oppress them. These groups do not approach rebellion in the same ways, however, rendering the overall assessment of feminist arguments as incongruous. Although it is necessary for a rebellion that the initial manifestations be diverse, the perception of conflicting ideas can often weaken popular perception of feminist arguments. Greer argues that the contradiction between feminist groups shows the vitality of the movement because it illustrates that many people are considering how to respond to sexism independently. She acknowledges that while there is no one right way to rebel against sexism, it is essential that they refine their goals over time to progress toward equality.

This final chapter of The Female Eunuch discusses the concept of revolution, which Greer argues is the only way to liberate women from sexism. As a radical feminist, Greer does not see modifications of the current sociopolitical systems as a viable option for women’s liberation because sexism is a fundamental component of these systems. Neither men nor women are free under sexist systems, and Greer warns that as the ones with all the social agency, men “will seek to make this an argument why nobody should be free” because even if men are not free, they are still freer than women (371). To overcome sexism, women must not only overturn deeply ingrained social systems (such as monogamy, biological motherhood, female stereotypes, etc.), but also convince men that sexism is a form of oppression that affects them as well. Nobody can be free in a system designed to place one sex as superior to the other. There is no right way or clear path toward such revolution, however, and it will take immense time, effort, and sacrifice to create a future where both sexes are liberated from the constraints of the patriarchy. Greer concludes by claiming that “privileged” and “bitter women” will continue advocating for “reforms” and “rebellion” rather than revolution (371), and as such, she enacts a final call to action for radical, sexual liberation.