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Cover detail of feminine torso on rack

Books of Influence

The Female Eunuch

Germaine Greer

1970


The Female Eunuch became an international bestseller when it was first published in London in 1970 by Paladin. Within six months of its release, it had been translated into eight languages.

Its analysis of attitudes towards women and its call for an end to sexual repression placed it at the centre of feminism for many years. Stories abound of copies being kept hidden beneath brown paper covers and of others being hurled at husbands.

Germaine Greer (born 1939), antagonised as many readers as she inspired. While some of her ideas in The Female Eunuch have since been dismissed, the work continues to be published, sold and read.

The State Library of Victoria holds the 1971 UK paperback edition, which features the iconic suspended female torso illustration.




Cover image reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd  © Greer 1970