Was Germaine Greer Right?
Free, but please donate to help us cover the cost of creche, venue and teas and coffees- but only if you can comfortably afford to do so!
#CreatingWomensSpaces... making spaces for the conversations women want to have!
14:00-16:30 I Free Creche I Women-only I Brighton & Hove Women have very little idea of how much men hate them
“Women have very little idea how much men hate them”
— Germaine Greer, The Female Eunuch
Was she right?
Jane Austen never wrote scenes of men speaking alone together. How could she? How would she know what they said when women weren’t present? Now we know.
The Epstein files — in their scale, depravity and brazen entitlement — tear a hole in the myth that male violence is rare, deviant, exceptional. What they expose is not anomaly, but pattern. Not monsters, but networks.
What do the files reveal about how powerful men see women?
What do they tell us about the men who participated — and the men who facilitated, funded, joked, ignored?
Are the bystanders really any different?
Email chains. WhatsApp groups. Private jets. Web forums. This is what men say when we are not in the room. This is what they do. And the scale is staggering.
- The Metropolitan Police Service officers sharing images of the murdered sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman.
- The French forum Coco GG, where men allegedly crowd-sourced the rape of their own partners.
- Executives at Oxfam exploiting aid networks to abuse Haitian women.
- British soldiers abusing women from the legal shelter of their Army bases.
- Harvey Weinstein protected for decades by an entire industry.
These are not glitches in the system. Men do not merely exploit power. They are the mechanism of power. Rape networks are not a bug of patriarchy — they are a feature.
A culture that normalises placing a fleeting male orgasm above women’s safety does not arise by accident. It is built. Maintained. Excused. Male violence against women and girls is both a cause and a consequence of women’s inequality.
The redaction of perpetrators’ names in the Epstein files — while victims are exposed — is not just procedure. It is metaphor. Institutions protect men; women are offered up. Even the language collaborates. “Underage sex.” “Sex with underage girls.” “Sex workers.” “Sex while she slept.” Just watch how the words rape and child abuse disappears before our eyes, and with it concepts of consent and male accountability.
And as Prince Andrew faces scrutiny on lesser matters, the central allegations of rape, trafficking and abuse appears politically untouchable despite evidence long in the public domain. Yet Virginia Giuffre is dead and still not one man has been arrested or charged for her rape ..
So we ask: Are the men in your life angry enough? If not — why not?
Have you read the chapter “Hate” in The Female Eunuch? Does it stand?
Essex Police are investigating whether Stansted was used to traffic women and girls. Do you trust the process?
Rape culture: Categories such as “barely legal” pornography are presented as harmless fantasy because the performers are technically over 18. But the aesthetic is deliberate: youth, vulnerability and childhood. Content that normalises sexual relationships that are abusive and often involve children- yet material that would face serious legal and regulatory barriers offline remains widely accessible online. What can we do?
"From investigating violence alleged to have been committed by famous and powerful sports stars in Germany to uncovering the realities of femicide in Brazil, and unravelling digital clues to find out how the online celebrities of the “manosphere” have created a real-life hub in the Spanish coastal city of Marbella — reporters around the world are digging into gender-based violence, sexism, and discrimination."
Want to talk about this? Join us this April.
Listen, speak and share in our new format
As our Salons have become more popular, facilitating an increasingly large circle discussion has become more challenging. Speaking can be daunting and each woman has less time to speak if she wishes. This month the Salon will have a range of smaller circles looking at different aspects of our topic. You will be free to move between the circles and we hope women will have more opportunity to speak and listen in this new format.
Come along and share your perspectives, hear the perspectives of others and join our growing community.
About us...
On the THIRD SATURDAY OF EVERY MONTH Brighton Women's Liberation Collective invite women* to join us in our woman-only space to share their experiences and insights. Each woman is equal. Every woman is welcome to speak and listen. Yes, we have cake.
Sisters Salon is run and organised by Brighton Women's Liberation Collective. We are a feminist collective that hold women-only and women-centred spaces and run feminist campaigns to improve the lives of women and girls in our city. Salons are spaces for women to discuss their experiences and perspectives as well as discuss feminist ideas around them. You do not have to self describe as a feminist to come, and diversity of thought is encouraged. At our Salons we aim to build relationships, communities, understanding of our lives and steps we can take to improve them. Everyone is welcome.
Tickets are free, but please donate to help us cover the costs of the venue, the cost of the crèche & teas & coffees. Only donate if you can comfortably afford to do so. There is a card reader at the meeting too.
Our crèche is FREE! Please book by midnight on the Wednesday before the Salon so we can plan the play space. Do let us know of any additional needs they have. If a crèche environment is not appropriate for your child, we will happily pay their regular care worker to have them for the duration to enable you to join us.
If you need help with travel costs please get in touch.
*We have a single-sex policy. Strictly only- women registered female at birth. Women registered female at birth who express a trans or non-binary identity are welcome and attend. If you were registered male at birth we are happy to signpost you to a variety of similar groups (scroll down)
**This means that sometimes women (registered female at birth) attend who present as male. We recognise that this can be unexpected! We would like to reassure you that our spaces are strictly male-free and women-only.
To learn more about our group and our campaigns visit our website and follow us on social media. Please read our policies and mythbusters. If you want to create spaces for women please download our activist pack that tells you everything you need to know.
Our rules...
Many of our topics can trigger disclosures of sexual & domestic abuse. Women often talk about difficult and personal issues. We hold this space to enable women to do this. Many have no other space in their lives dedicated to reflection in this way. To enable women to feel safe, centred and empowered to do this, all attendees enter into our community pledge; confidentiality, self-organisation, trust, respect and sisterhood.
Signposting...
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