The F-Word: A Day of Global Feminist Debate

Overview

As with those who drop the 'F-bomb’ on radio, those who utter a different F-word — feminism — should still perhaps expect a few dismissals from those within earshot. But why is this so? Is 'feminism' really so dirty a word? To shed some light, this March the Sydney Opera House, as part of its Ideas At The House program, will play host to an afternoon of fierce and exciting debate about the state of feminism, featuring Germaine Greer and Naomi Wolf — two of the movement’s most audacious and influential avatars.

While the spirit of the first wave shines-on, the focus of feminist critique has probably changed a little over the last decade. Sex and gender discrimination can be tougher to conceptualise when they crop-up in unfamiliar, newly global, locales. Consider Wolf’s observation of a few months back that the riot police involved in stymieing the US Occupy movement seemingly targeted women in their brutish crackdowns of last year. For feminists like Wolf and Greer, today’s feminist debate is as much about geopolitics as gender-politics.

The day itself will see Greer and Wolf deliver separate lecture presentations, following which they will together be joined by a debate panel featuring international journalist/poet Eliza Griswold, SlutWalk Melbourne organiser Clem Bastow, and human rights activist Samah Hadid. Tickets to each of the lectures and to the final debate panel are sold separately, or together at a discount, so you may pick and choose what to attend according to your interest, or you may attend all three. If you’re at all interested in women’s rights, or in the insights offered by its champions, these three events present an uncommon opportunity to hear from those at the front, to speak your mind, and to nourish your political wits.