THE FEMALE EUNUCH?

It seems ironic that Germaine Greer chose the title A Female Eunuch for her seminal 1970 work. Greer aimed to argue that the suburban female stereotype stripped women of their sexuality, thus drawing comparison to eunuchs - the dictionary definition of which is a man that has been castrated. The emphasis here is on libido, on the genitalia - a man stripped of his testes is comparable to a woman stripped of her sex drive. Greer’s obsession with genitalia reared its head again this week in a now-famous interview with BBC Newsnight in which she claimed “trans women are not women” - a salacious soundbite which understandably pissed off the entire LGBTQ community. 

She continued - “I’m not saying that people shouldn’t be allowed to undergo that [gender reassignment] procedure. What I’m saying is that it doesn’t make them a woman”. Greer’s statements are problematic for a number of reasons, the first of which is that it completely ignores the progress that queer theory has made over the last few decades. It was Judith Butler that (convincingly) argued that biological sex and gender identity are two completely separate entities - essentially, you don’t have to be born with female genitalia to identify as a woman. Gender dysphoria is real, it’s relevant and it’s extremely important. The second problem is that Greer fails to talk about the transgender community without referring to surgery, thus demonstrating complete a complete lack of awareness with regards to the difference between transgender and transsex. 

She then continues in the same offensive vein by stating that many women feel that trans women “don’t look like, sound like or behave like women” - a statement which is not only offensive, but also hypocritical. Greer quite literally built a career by stating the problems with stereotypes - the sexless housewife, the promiscuous whore. Feminism argues against a stereotypical portrayal of female “behaviour” - the principle of feminism is that a woman should be liberated, free to express herself as she chooses. Greer apparently doesn’t think this of trans women, insinuating they must assimilate in order to be “accepted” by biological women. 

Her statement also reiterates the pressure placed on trans women to aspire to ideals of feminine beauty. A large part of life as a trans woman is based on attempting to “pass” for female - if you look and act convincingly female, there’s a chance that people won’t notice your trans status and thus the likelihood of you being abused or beaten is significantly lower. The irony is that Caitlyn Jenner (who Greer accuses of “transitioning to steal the limelight of the other Kardashian women”… yes, really…) faced heavy criticism by the trans community for focussing too heavily on designer dresses and high heels and not enough on the struggles of less-privileged trans women and trans women of colour. 

Finally, Greer rounds off her rant with the age-old accusation of misogyny - “men think that they can have their penis chopped off and become a better woman than somebody who was born female”. Statements like these are the reason that, for many years, “feminist” became a dirty word. The notion that a biological man would consent to surgical castration to enter the female realm and become “a better woman” is completely nonsensical, yet this is apparently Greer’s stance. Honestly, seeing this interview shocked me - it probably shouldn’t, but it did. It seems bizarre that queer theory itself is a radical variation of feminism - indeed Greer herself was praised for her radical views. It seems that her views aren’t so radical with regards to intersectional feminism - if anything, it seems that her views are archaic and, more often than not, entirely hypocritical.

THE PROBLEM WITH 'GIRLS TO MEN'

Ever since Caitlyn Jenner ‘came out’ as transgender on the cover of Vanity Fair magazine, the mainstream media has been more preoccupied than ever with discussions of gender. Sometimes, these discussions are positive for the LGBTQ community - they highlight the issues faced by the transgender community, illustrate the difficulties of daily life (a lack of gender-neutral bathrooms for example) and, most importantly, humanise transgender people. However, these discussions can result in negative consequences - one example of this is the show ‘Girls to Men’, which aired recently on Channel 4. A quick Twitter search of the documentary title shows “girlstomen consent” and leads to a statement from CJ Bruce, an individual that claims they were deceived by the show producers - just one of many accusations of deceit levelled at the show's producers.

CALL ME CAITLYN

From Madonna’s cone bra and Gaga’s meat dress through to J-Lo in that green Versace dress, there are some outfits that transcend fashion trends and become a part of culture in their own right. Instantly recognisable, these outfits go beyond aesthetics and tell the story of an icon. The same can be said of the now-infamous white lingerie and corset worn by Caitlyn Jenner on the cover of Vanity Fair to announce her gender-reassignment surgery. The image immediately took the Internet by storm and Jenner’s newly-launched Twitter account gained a record number of followers (1 million in just 4 hours), beating the likes of Justin Bieber and Barack Obama. For this reason, it seems unsurprising that a few money-hungry websites quickly replicated the costume and popped it online just in time for Halloween, retailing at $74.99.

The iconic Vanity Fair cover

INTERVIEW - CLAIRE LATHAM

The expansion of menswear has been a painfully slow process, especially in comparison to the rapidly-accelerating world of womenswear which welcomes conceptual designers and fresh ideas with open arms. Social attitudes and commercial restrictions are still real obstacles for young menswear designers, but the recent Graduate Fashion Week re-iterated the fact that there is still untapped potential when it comes to exploring new avenues. One of the week’s highlights came courtesy of Claire Latham, a Birmingham-based Wigan-born designer with an interesting narrative on the concept of androgyny and our definition of masculinity. Her candy-hued graduate collection was an amalgamation of lace & latex which blurred the lines of gender and challenged masculine stereotypes. In this interview, Latham talks about her first collection and the inspirations behind it, as well as social attitudes towards menswear and the challenges currently being by faced by young designers.

TRANSGENDER x ANDROGYNY

Victoria’s Secret – the two words themselves have become embellished in modern culture as a synonym for female sexuality. The legendary underwear brand is no longer just a brand; alongside launching the careers of supermodels such as Tyra Banks and Adriana Lima, the house hosts an annual fashion show, a true spectacle that showcases beautiful lingerie and even more beautiful women. However, Victoria’s Secret has never really courted controversy – until this year. Although not yet confirmed, an online petition has been rapidly gaining popularity and could change the face of fashion forever. The subject of the petition is transgender beauty Carmen Carrera, famous for her stint on RuPaul’s Drag Race [Season 5] and the aim is to bag Carrera a slot in the upcoming fashion show, thus cementing her position as a force to be reckoned with in the modelling world.

Carmen Carrera