Ian,

Haven't time to post a longer comment at the moment, but just wanted to say that your article was insightful and accurate from my point of view.
Women have only managed to gain the liberty to jettison their innate identity in order to join the boys club, which in turn is driven by worship of consumer culture...sad, but true.

"What we need is to change the game so that both sexes get all the benefits of living in a humane and caring community."....agree!

Will try and post some more when time permits.

@Ian Robinson: Where in my piece do I argue "that women are being persecuted because they find the thought of what men might be thinking or doing in their own private space abhorrent"?

So you are saying when you wrote the words "One of the areas that the latent Australian male fear and hatred of women is most evident in is the realm of pornography", you weren't describing "misogyny of Australian male culture"?

You say I have it wrong, but if so it is not because I wasn't paying attention. Whether I was before or not, I definitely am now and if that isn't saying women are being persecuted because of what men do or look at in the private arena, then it would be helpful if you could explain what it does mean.

You say "gross inequalities still persist in most areas of society, especially as measured by access to power and money". Why, rationally, would I believe that? You don't quote any references, and I distinctly recall reading differences in pay rates between men and women are explained by the time women take out rear the children.

It has, I suspect, always been that way. 100 years ago women spent near 100% of their time looking after the domestic side of life, and thus their pay rates for the short time they did work were truly abysmal compared their much more experienced men. But as far as I can tell, that wasn't considered a serious issue back then. It only became an issue when home automation gave the women free time, and understandably enough some wanted to use this new found time generating income from paid work. Yes, them entering the workforce on equal terms did lag behind this trigger - but as asocial changes go it wasn't bad. Within a single generation women's educational opportunities were the same, their legislated pay rates were the same, discriminating against them in the workplace is illegal, and behaviours women find discomforting that that were acceptable in a male only workplace are illegal.

(cont'd...)

(...cont'd)

If you can put up a rational argument that gender differences you see in today's society aren't mainly driven genders liking different things then I would like to see it. But that isn't what you did here.

@Ian Roberson: I was not mounting an argument anyway, but reflecting on my own experiences and on the current situation.

Which goes a fair way to explaining the difference between what I read, and what I expected to see from a spokesperson of the Rationalist Society of Australia. I guess it's my mistake for assuming you would doing more than expressing your opinions on a site that is after all called On Line Opinion.

It's refreshing to read some raw criticism of Australia's blokey culture from a bloke, and to see some of OLO's chauvinists getting put in their place.
I agree completely about the porn, though degrading women in the most appalling ways imaginable to titillate men seems to be a global phenomenon. Be the victims of this deranged fantasy industry women or children, men seem latently possessed of a pathological need to cathartically enjoy supreme power. I'm no prude, but it depresses me no end that it's just a matter of time before one way or another my kids access this demeaning material and are affected by it.

It's sad that so many males are incapable of assessing arguments such as Robertson's thoughtfully and self-critically, rather than in the usual knee-jerk manner. In my anecdotal experience, Greer must be one of the most hated expats Australia's ever produced--by both sexes. This kind of "consensus" doesn't make her wrong of course, it merely points-up the extent to which so many Australian women are blithely tolerant and even self-loathing, as well as incongruously proficient in mouthing male propaganda. In my experience the football and military sex scandals Robertson alludes to are routinely dismissed as the fault of the victim--as if gang-bangs and voyeurism are acceptable expressions of mateship and honour!

Greer is an excellent writer and polemicist, and not so watered-down as Clive James, or egotistical as Robert Hughes. As Oscar Wilde observed, "Whenever people agree with me I always feel I must be wrong". By the same token, the fact that so many disagree with Greer and Robertson's "effrontery" indicates they must be right!
Polemic is meant to ruffle feathers, but ideally it's meant to make the reader reflect and consider critically the validity of cherished opinions. Opinion is passe at best and ought to be despised by its owner.

But where are the women on this thread? Are they so habituated to their lowly station they won't speak up?

Jeez Squeers,

Why so grouchy all the time.

Here’s something that could cheer you up.

All male group, but women seem to like it, even women in Australia.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GnWRjoP9mQ&feature=related

Ian,

You talk about porn in society but like all feminists portray women as passive victims. What about their role in society? Do they bear no responsibility?

I don't watch the MTV type video clips anymore but when I flick across they are more like soft core porn than music videos. Even when I go to the local mall I see women and girls wearing things that just make me pause. Have you ever asked yourself why women wear sexual clothing or are all women just automata responding to societies 'expectations'?

This gets to the crux of the equality debate. Women are not equal with men and will not be so long as they don't take responsibility for their own agency. So long as they remain passive 'victims' blowing in society's wind they can never be equal with men. Men are expected to be agents of their own destiny. They reap the rewards when things go well and suffer the consequences when things don't. That is called responsibility. How can women ever be equal when they don't take responsibility for their actions? When everything they do is expained by 'society's expectations'?

The fact is women wear revealling clothes because they learn from a very early age that female sex = power. All girls from a very young age know this. They want power over men and the social status this brings. Instead of just blaming men why not ask what is it that makes so many women 'need' the recognition that sexual clothing brings?

When feminists stop trying to redistribute what men have created; when women stop complaining and start offering solutions; and when women and society expect women to take responsibility for their actions as men do, then we may be approaching equality. I'm not holding my breath.