Marriage Debate | Germaine Greer | Proposition 

Whenever Germaine Greer speaks the comments section is disabled - except here. Gotta say, I'm an Australian male from a conservative background. I'm as proud of his woman as anyone. She a fearless original. It's fearless originals who stand up to orthodoxy, conformity and sheeple everywhere. She's funny, provocative, sometimes right, sometimes wrong. When she's gone we'll realise what a legend she was.

She is absolutely one of my heroes; speaking the truth plainly and directly.

I grew up in a single parent household. My mother struggled immeasurably to raise the 3 children she had. My father, who lived 15 minutes car drive away, never partook in our lives. He didn't support us financially or other. He was the epitome of what women hate in some men...irresponsible and narcissistic. Men who are responsible need to confront men that are not. Much like women need to confront other women on their irresponsibility.

I am so happy to live in a time where someone like her exists. She is the real deal. But not many people are paying attention.

I'm not married and never have been but I think a good conversation to have before considering marriage is to ask what he/she expects of you as a spouse and to also tell them what you expect of them.

Her words are more relevant to me as a woman now than ever before....and I love her no nonsense attitude!

Germaine Greer you Rock! Most people can't bear the truth. It takes a strong back to live among such types.

I have struggled as a 72 yr old woman. Thanks to Germaine I understand why I’ve been confused, I paid all the prices required to be Free Now I see I shot myself in the foot , I’m a kind loving person who became a cold calculating human in order to survive , it was my understanding of how to play ball learn to be female all over again and us older woman will reach out and lift you up .

To all women: Do you want to get married or have a really really really nice and fancy wedding? Never ever confuse the two! Planning a marriage and planning a wedding are two totally different things. The former is far more important than the latter.

One of a few remaining voices of reason. She is a real treasure.

As a debater I must say, her delivery is excellent!

'Why would the answer to that question be important'. Best comeback ever!

Getting married is the best thing I have done in my life so far. IMO a lot of marriages end not because of vows or "systems" but because of the people today. Nowadays we sell the house instead of replacing the light bulb. Nobody is willing to fight for something, to make compromises, to sacrifice the part to redeem the whole. In a marriage you are supposed to help one another grow and develop.

Germaine Creer, you are a legend, full of common sense and speak your mind

Like Germaine Greer, straight talking!

"Why would the answer to that question be important?" I'm writing that down, such a brilliant retort to such an empty question.

She's a star. Still so intelligent and so sensible.

I love this woman, she says what millions of woman think but would never say in public. She won't agree just to fit in, she's had a fascinating life and offers her views, if unpopular with passion. She doesn't fit in, kind of lives on the perimeter speaking her truth and I love that. Her views on marriage are spot on, it's outdated, doesn't suit the vast majority of people and yet we all do it. Problem is exterior forces come into play and time changes your expectations and they we either disappoint or are disappointed. Having a child will overnight alter someone's needs and you become someone else, I used to think we need a mum and a dad to do the job but now I know that's not true because all the really hard tedious mundane stuff can only be carried out by one person, whether it's a man or a woman, so do we need a spouse at all? Xx

Well spoken, eloquent, stands her ground and not afraid to say what she means, no fallse pretense here. Politicians take a note.

MIND.BLOWN..Germaine owned this talk..

The odd thing is Greer and Hitchen's converge in agreement on what many of the problems are in modern society. The major source of argument between them is the causes.

Believe me I left an abusive marriage with 2 children and it was very difficult....but I would never change my decision....very good video

Peter Hitchin’s face.. 😂

You cannot live in a country that celebrates money over love, and self over peers, and expect marriage to succeed. You put the sword to the throats of your enemies and say, "Look at how they fall! They clearly had no value to begin with!"

She can cite the ridiculously high divorce rate of the UK all she wants, but it doesn't have any relevance when looking at the whole picture. She should compare it to how it was before certain legal and cultural changes. Look across the Irish sea and you'll find it to be but a fraction of that in the UK at only 13% of marriages. She should take off those feminist lenses for a while and try to make an opinion based on how it effects children (especially) and men rather than just women. What's the alternative she's proposing?

Allow me to share, seems like almost every video with Germaine has comments disabled. I understand. Inflammatory stuff. Just wanted to say that i think she's incredible. Nothing but respect and admiration for this wise straight shooter. And i feel a little sorry for Opie here. Not a good idea to challenge her. Better pack a lunch boy.

She’s a remarkable woman, who should not be silenced.

Haha Germaine. So passionate and knowledgable. Straight to the point!

If respectful and equal, marriage is a really strong foundation on which to bring up the next generation. I also think a lifelong marriage can help to draw out of people many really essential qualities, such as selflessness, deferred gratification, patience, ability to plan long term, etc.

Wow! Interesting. I have long known that marriage is a trap. We don’t get all the rules and implications until we want out. In an attempt to avoid that I asked my partner to help me set down on paper exactly what marriage would entail. He accused me of being clinical, sterile, lacking in people skills. He was probably correct. But the marriage did not happen and he has moved on to bad-mouthing me from afar. No long term damage done. I feel as if I dodged a bullet.

She’s brilliant. It is a ridiculous contract. May as well negotiate all the terms and clauses if we are going to continue with this institution.

That kid standing and stating she said something she did not, in fact, more stating something in support of what his outburst was all about, shows how easily distracted our youth is with selective hearing, and these strange abrupt interruptions they all think they have a right to (probably because they literally grew up with a smart phone in their hand - which by the way is a sub-topic to this discussion). It's ridiculous. If I were her, I'd be thinking, oh God, why am I here if no one can hear me or understand what I'm saying? What's the point?

Marriage is the best situation for children. Women initiate the majority of divorces, mostly for frivolous reasons, and to the degree that they divorce for abuse or infidelity, women commit similar levels of abuse and infidelity, but men are less likely to divorce. When divorcing, women can be assured that courts will almost always reward her with primary custody, the house, alimony, and child support. Non-custodial fathers pay mandated child support at a higher rate than non-custodial mothers. Non-custodial fathers who do not pay mandated child support are punished more frequently and more harshly than non-custodial mothers who do not pay mandated child support. Single mothers receive more government subsidy than single fathers. The children of single biological mothers are more likely to abuse their children than single biological fathers. In marriage, wives deprive husbands of physical intimacy more than cohabitating girlfriends deprive boyfriends.

Is it just me but as I get older Ms Greer makes more and more sense.

Divorce is a multi-variant problem that shouldn’t be laid solely at the feet of the institution of marriage. It certainly doesn’t show how women have the short end of the stick when it comes to marriage. Women, just like men, leave for all sorts of reasons including selfish reasons. Greer has some valid points but her overall point in this video is muddied by her feminist biases. Still a good speech though.

Marriage is not for love. It is contract. How sad, but it is true.

I don't know if I 100% agree with her take, though I think I do for the most part, but regardless, I love listening to her. So fiercely, refreshingly honest. Thank you Germaine.

Marriage can be a pretty shit deal for men as well.

I don't think that "because nearly 50% of marriages end in divorce, if you get married, you are almost 50% likely to get divorced" is a logical conclusion. There is a lot more to it - is the divorce rate what it is because marriage itself is bad, or because people getting married nowadays are being reckless? Are YOU and your spouse-to-be this same type of reckless people? I'm fairly certain people in the past took marriage far more seriously than today. Yes, marriage has a great element of love; but it is also a commitment, a responsibility, and people don't seem to see that anymore. People don't have standards anymore, they cannot see warning signs that the partner they've chosen probably isn't a good person to get married to. It's no surprise - society values marriage less and less as time goes by, so people jump into it more recklessly, only to find that they've hugely underestimated what it is.

I cant hear the guy's question

If some fifty percent of marriages end in divorce that means that some fifty percent do not, a better success rate than business startups. Marriages in fact resemble business startups; or perhaps vice versa. She's very much a glass half empty sort of person, screaming catastrophe at the first sign of difficulty. If a marriage does succeed, it's a magnificent accomplishment, especially if it's a teenage marriage which has a low chance of success but higher rewards if achieved (imagine going through your twenties without the gloomy struggle of dating). I can't exactly put my finger on it, but she seems like a person who has lived alone for so long she can't imagine any other way to live.

Germaine...do you have any dated coming up for Vancouver BC? I hope you will be around for some time to come. We need your voice and experience and wisdom for still some time to come.

Brilliant Germaine Greer

Coming from a male.....wonderful points Germaine! You're are awesome!

Marriage is actually a contractual relationship and the sooner this is realised the better worded the legal contracts will become- individuals need to have conversations regarding realistic child support in the case of future dissolution of the relationship, women need to recognise that pregnancy, childbirth and child rearing are activities that can actually hugely disadvantage them over time when it comes to being able to amply support themselves in the future should they find themselves later in life divorced- while the current legal landscape around marriage refuses to recognise that it truly is contractual in nature we cannot hope to shift the dinosaur attitudes of those in power (which are mostly white males from middle class and above economic backgrounds) who don't like to change the laws because in the backs of their minds they're thinking about how it might affect *their* situations in the future. I have taught my daughters to view very seriously the issue of pregnancy and childrearing because I know personally how profoundly the effect of being out of the workplace for decades can have on a woman who then finds herself divorced. In Australia the leading group of homeless individuals are women over the age of 55, many of whom have been reduced to living in their cars because they cannot afford housing. It's not something to be taking lightly.

The nerve of that MRA interrupting her while she's talking.

Vows are words. Parroted off well enough. SUperficial and surface level and meaningless by themselves. Most people dont know what marriage is nor do they know themselves or the partner they are marrying. Ignorance, naivety, idealism, and egotism. A teenage girls/boys fantasy. Reality kicks in soon enough. Meet the world half way and take responsibility for life. Marriage is a mess because we make it that way. Instead of parroting off words like love and commitment (two words most people do not understand even though they think they do), start looking at 'what is'. Look at your own fear, anger, hatred, insecurity, and malice. A marriage filled with hate and anger one has to idk maybe look at the HATE and ANGER. Telling them they need to love eachother when they dont is absurd.

The problem isn't marriage. It's morality. If you wreck your car you don't refuse to buy another one. And you don't even think of never driving again... you ask what happened. What went wrong? Most of the time, one or both parties is focusing only on self, themselves, at the expense of the other. We need to learn, and it isn't easy, to become more "selfless"... not more self-centered.

If I had a nickle for every time I asked someone if I was speaking a foreign language, I would be wealthy because most people do not HEAR WHAT IS SAID; They hear what their misconceptions tell them. Ms Greer caught that one good! And she called him on it. Even before I got my divorce (it took only 14 days for the judge to sign it!) I had done my homework. I went to counseling--my husband refused to keep an appointment. I'd read a book for divorcees, which mentioned that the first sound I would hear after my divorce was to be doors slamming against me from married friends....and it HAPPENED; so I was not surprised. I had no time to socialize anyway that first year after my divorce as I set about to right our living standards and create a more healthful environment for my children' free from the stress he caused regularly. IN MY CASE, my income level improved because my husband had kept us in debt from his senseless and willful purchases by his own decision, and I could see nothing before us but debt and more debt. I already had had to take on the payment on our mortgage because though I would give him the whole amount each month, it somehow never made it to the bank to pay down the mortgage; we almost lost the home to foreclosure. He was of the opinion that the man should handle the income of both spouses, though I always brought in income equal to his. He doled out so little to me that I would not have ice cream money when the truck came by. I once had my son's fourth grade teacher , after bragging on his character and study habits (2 1/2 YEARS after my divorce) which earned him top grades, tell me she could see that he was a perfect example of a child from an UNBROKEN HOME. I had to gently enlighten her....I can still see her face. YES.....for most women , marriage is the worst deal they can make in their lives. I never remarried because I had had enough of the marriage "institution" by then. Also, I could already learn from friends how second marriages created their own set of ADDITIONAL problems. Nevertheless, my relations and subsequent relationships with males have been very satisfying, for your information, any of you unbelievers. I would appreciate comments on my comment. I forgot to say, so had to edit this. He didn't pay child support nor contact his children unless I instigated it because they wanted to see their dad. Eventually they figured out there was nothing there emotionally for them on their own.

It’s not the institution; it’s people.

I don’t ever ever want to get married ever again. Men are not marriage material because they want a mother not a wife. I was a single parent and supported my child just fine. Marriage is not equal. Woman do all of the work in the house and have to work a job too. It sucks to be married.

I hate being married, it a psychological illusion of being with just one person and both having your own ideas about what marriage is or what whatever, it doesn't matter of a soul status. Marriage is just a business like everything else you have to live in the moment, live in the flow, why tie yourself down to an idea, ideas change all the time and one person changes all the time, I mean you have to be free in your mind, body and soul and marriage is just to me another form of division it doesn't mean anything, and two people can come together to share an experience together but you don't have to commit to a life long whatever, everything changes, change it is inevitable...

Read Stephen Baskerville and F Roger Devlin

I was divorced and had custody of my two children I am a man and never got a cent of support from the ex wife

In a godless world, Germaine Greer makes sense.

Shame she doesn’t properly address the financial benefits for women after divorce.

Marriage sure, weddings, nope. Between the white virginal dress, being “given away” from one man to another as property, taking their name... 😅 no thanks. Not to mention spending a ridiculous amount of money for a party to impress a bunch of people you barely speak to and expect them to spend a bunch of money. Ridiculous.

Forget about marriage - have a parental contract instead - punishable by law if forfeited

Her realism is impressive and the world needs this voice

Thank u ...such guts & glory. Kudos

Ask her about men becoming women. Feminism has truly shot it self in the foot.

She is beyond brilliant. Love her!

Some of those men look terrified. A lot of the time she says things I don’t agree with but a lot of the time she changes my mind she’s such a good speaker.

She is being truthful

There's a problem with the individuals who are getting married, not with the idea of marriage itself. Marriage combines the nurturing of a mother with the strength and protection of a father, strong families make a strong society. Men and women will always need each other to build a whole, no matter what any miserable feminist says. I know my husband will fight and die for me and our kids. Men do the most dangerous jobs of our society and will sacrifice for women. This blanket idea of men supressing women is bs. Women win most divorce and custody battles, we get to vote with no draft requirement, we are favored in the education system, and the list goes on. We benefit from men and men are willing to sacrifice for us, and being in love is the emotion that makes that happen

Wow! That was powerful. Wanted her to keep speaking. So damn smart.

I have to agree with the pers0n below who says germaine greers comments are nearly always turned off well they are when it's to do with trans women and allowing people to comment on what Germain says. More cancel culture on Germaine because she is not afraid to speak her opinion

even still today, she is the most iconic feminist of our time

Single parents without marraige is equally tough and even then children land up with the mother as the father of the child doesn't even acknowledge the child.

"a system that can be relied upon to fail, nearly half of the time, is a pretty terrible system". True.

Extremely brilliant

Greer doesn't get it and has never got it - even for the five years she was married. Her basic premise that men hate women is just misandrist and wrong. Most men have their most enduring and stable loving relationship with a woman - their mother - every man is a mother's son - and most hope to find the women who is their other half to make them whole, a family, and if blessed, parents of a child or children, and grandchildren. Marriage is the cornerstone of civilised society and any society with ambitions to be civilised and decent should support the family financially and spiritually and practically - a point not understood in Britain since 1979.

It's interesting that Germaine's advice is to not get married- this is also the advice of many MRAs. Maybe marriage is just a suicide mission for both men and women

this woman is totally evading individual responsibility. what the hell. yes, people who can not communicate about what they expect and want before marriage, fail, and that is not the fault of the system.

Why don’t we have more women like her?

What a woman. I admire her enormously.

I dated her. Now we're old.

people can be immoral, or unreasonable. people can argue,disagree, and fight...in my opinion, marriage has nothing to do with it. people do. people also lie....if you think you have a group of friends or not being married to someone is better, that may be untrue as well. for reasons I stated above....I like the concept of marriage, and in some cases it works. you have to be careful enough to pick the right person, to get to know them beforehand, and to plan your lives. so it may not work..so what...the thing is I like the concept and a stable marriage, a good marriage, I think Is generally good for kids and society.

What a fantastic speaker.

English marriage is defined by its contract: "who giveth this woman to this man?"

"Whatever you do, don't get married!" Words of wisdom from a great woman. And absolutely never decide to bear children!!! This is the most important part. If you want to keep your financial independence, your health and money, don't ever get pregnant. You will be much easier to manipulate by your semen donor, you will be easy target for any man. Even corpses have more rights than pregnant women in many parts of the world.

"Did anyone hear me say that? Am I speaking a foreign tongue?" My sentiment almost every time I converse with someone. "But you said this" no I didn't, and if we are on the internet we can even check beyond a doubt.

All my divorced male friends have lost access to their kids ( a day every two weeks ), have lost their share of their home, live in a miserable one room unit and Work hard to support their former wife and kids... They all thought about suicide... Horrific. Every post divorce male suicide should be included in domestic violence statistics.

Every time Germaine Green speaks I'm riveted.

People really don't like common sense (AKA reality), while we are heading for a time when reality going to kick a lot of people hard in the ass!

I love her views on transgenders.

The breakdown of marriage in our society has created a mass of problems.

The majestic Germaine fearless and fabulous..

Got a divorce from my wife. She ran around w other men while I raised my daughter by myself and I had to pay her child support. Sounds patriarchal to me.

We all know that marriage is boring! Does she have any alternatives other than being blatantly bias and blaming it all on men? I think not!

Absolutely fantastic.

Love love love her!

Civil partnership isn't available to heterosexuals in England? That seems crazy. She makes some good points.

Happiness is Filing FIRST (66%), then Marrying Government! Hasn't worked anywhere else so we're due.

Comment section full of misogyny, anti-feminism, MRA stuff, and ageism.

Is she telling you something about the institution, or the person? maybe people are just shittier now and don't know how to manage their expectations.

She has exquisite delivery and honest content

It would seem to me that any institution is only as trustworthy and solid as the people who engage in it. I don’t understand the friends reference in regards to an alternative family dynamic. Did not Chandler and Monica get married and adopt children?? Yes have friendships, a tribe of people that always have your back. But bear in mind that to do that, you must be a person of integrity yourself. Seems to me that Germaine would throw out the institution of marriage because the people who partake in it are flawed. But let me ask this: have you ever been hurt or betrayed by someone other than a spouse? If so, then throw out the institution of relationships in general. Just live as a hermit and that way you never risk the pain of injustice at the hand of another. Better idea: how about we just stop being asses and cheats and live lives of integrity. Stop being so doggone narcissistic. That should help a great many institutions, marriage included.

I'm a Christian. When my husband and I got engaged we started working with three pastors and our parents to discuss expectations, what roles we wanted in our home, what would happen if one of us died or got extremely ill. It was half a year of discussing and preparing. In addition, we got wisdom and support from our church family. That didn't die off after the 16th and 17th century. It just doesn't happen in most peoples experience. My husband and I have been through so much suffering but we are always there to give of ourselves no matter the circumstances. Not perfect but any means but whole and happy. We meant our wedding vows. To us they are holy. He has loved me in terrible sickness and I know he will until the day we meet the Lord face to face. The most beautiful and precious things in this world are rare....you just need to know where to look.

Wasn't marriage invented by religion?