Why Is This Feminist ‘Attacking’ Duchess Kate and Prince William?

A pregnant Duchess Kate Middleton is at the center of attacks from a well-known feminist over her body weight, family planning, and conformity to British royals, who control her with their haughty values. Has Germaine Greer gone too far this time in picking a fight with the Duchess of Cambridge, or is there a subtle message of good faith worth noting?

Greer, 75, recently sat down with Newsweek in an interview and shared her off-the-cuff thoughts on the duchess and her impact on the position she suddenly finds herself in.

Like Princess Diana, Middleton came from outside the British monarchy. As commoners, before rising to the status of global rock stars, critics thought they would have a tough time at assimilation. However, it didn’t take long for Lady Di and Duchess Kate to tame the hearts of even their loudest naysayers.

However, Greer is not at all convinced Kate is walking to the beat of her own drum. Instead of being autonomous, Germaine suggests she’s merely a product of the royal playbook, which pits her against feminist values.

“She [Kate] cannot do or say anything spontaneous. She has learned what she has to do and say and how to do and say it in the approved way. Spontaneity will get her in trouble.”

Greer thinks Kate Middleton, despite all the pomp and circumstance around her role in the monarchy, has been reduced to a fashion barometer and sex symbol by royals who insist that she adopt an enchanting but curative persona in public, according to LifeStyle.

In the Australian writer’s opinion, Duchess Kate, who she believes is “a great deal more intelligent than the rest of the royals,” can — and should — do more to empower women to love and celebrate the skins they’re in.

“Kate is not even allowed to decorate her own houses. Even the wives of the American presidents get to do that. The whole thing is a mad anachronism. The ‘firm’ tell us that the first-born will now become monarch regardless of sex. Well, big ******* deal!

“She [Kate] cannot do or say anything spontaneous. She has learned what she has to do and say and how to do and say it in the approved way. Spontaneity will get her in trouble.”

As far as Kate’s role is as the Duke of Cambridge’s wife, Greer said most U.K. women wouldn’t trade places with the duchess given that it reduces a woman to a subservient role.

Feminist Greer says she [Duchess Kate] does have “a b*****d of a job.” Greer is pointing to a recent U.K. survey from YouGov that polled residents on their perceptions of the British monarchy. One shocking result showed that only 1 percent of women would love to serve as Williams’ wife.

Greer, who penned the 70s book The Female Eunuch, has been a drum major for women’s rights and equality for decades. She prides herself in pushing women to stand up to a male-dominated society, even if it means breaking with British norms in Buckingham Palace.

Some say she overstepped her bounds by attacking Kate Middleton on being “too thin,” and suggesting that the duchess stop having children.

“The girl is too thin! [Kate] is vomiting her guts up and shouldn’t have been made to go through all this again so soon. It’s not so much that she has to be a womb, but she has to be a mother. I would hope after this one she says, ‘That’s it. No more.'”

However, if one filters through the fray, there is a positive message of compassion for the duchess, and a focus on the bigger picture. On the surface, the award-winning writer’s comments are abrasive and are characterized as personal attacks on Kate. However, Greer’s comments appear to be aligned with the majority of Brits.

In her line of work, the face of global feminism is giving Duchess Kate some tough-love. But in the end, she offered some positive parting words about Middleton: time will tell if she gets it — or not.

[Image via: AWW]