Germaine Greer has criticised the Hollywood #MeToo movement, saying actresses should stop “whingeing” about sexual harassment if they allowed contact in exchange for a film role.
The outspoken Australian feminist also says she wants to see women react to sexual harassment by taking direct and immediate action, because in the “old days” women were not afraid to “slap down” men who leered at them.
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The outburst has met with criticism.
The Sydney Morning Herald columnist Natalie Reilly claims Greer is out of touch, saying: “It’s not that her views are outrageous (this is hardly news). But that her motivation, once high-minded, is now, in 2018, obsolete.”
“Perhaps Germaine Greer should pause to check her privilege,” says the Herald Sun’s Wendy Tuohy.
“Greer was presumably assigned the privilege of becoming Australian of the Year off the back of her decades-old brand as a women’s rights warrior. It’s sad to think that maybe that, too, is historical,” Tuohy adds.
The Independent notes that this isn’t the first time Greer’s comments have landed her in hot water: her beliefs about transgender women have also been questioned.