Germaine Greer Says Modern Feminism Is 'Ageist' And Society Has 'No Respect' For Older Women

Modern Feminism Is 'Ageist', Says Germaine Greer
Germaine Greer addresses her audience during a media call at the NSW Teachers Federation Conference Centre on March 13, 2008 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Don Arnold/WireImage)
Don Arnold via Getty Images
Germaine Greer addresses her audience during a media call at the NSW Teachers Federation Conference Centre on March 13, 2008 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Don Arnold/WireImage)

Germaine Greer has criticised modern feminism as "ageist" and says that society has "no respect" for older women.

The 76-year-old academic and feminist was speaking as part of a panel discussion at Sydney Opera House to mark International Women's Day.

Greer said that feminism focusses too much on the issues facing younger women who are in reproductive age and in relationships, according to the Guardian.

She also said that there are "heaps" more pressure on women to look a certain way than when she wrote 'The Female Eunuch', which was published in 1970. Kim Kardashian is "no help", she added.

“Give me the right to grow up, let me age,” Greer said, according to the Guardian. “In our society, elder women have no respect.”

Ageing was also hot topic during the Women Of The World festival in London on Saturday.

Speaking as part of a panel discussion called The Truth About Ageing, author Caroline Lodge said that older women are faced with the "brutal" combination of ageism and sexism combined.

Artist, curator and fashionista Sue Kreitzman dismissed the notion of 'age-appropriate' dressing.

Why, she asked, do women wrap ourselves in beige when we get older? Why make ourselves invisible women?

Kreitzman, who is known for her brightly-patterned outfits, asked why women insist on wrapping themselves in beige when they get older. It's almost so as to make ourselves "invisible women", she added.

But things are certainly starting to change. Earlier this year, major fashion houses announced older women as the face of their latest modelling campaigns.

Céline and Yves Saint Laurent starred Joan Didion and Joni Mitchell (aged 80 and 71, respectively) as the face of their Spring/Summer campaigns, while Twiggy became the face of L'Oréal at 65.

What do you think of the issues discussed above? Let us know in the comments below.

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