Sir, - May I belatedly welcome Kathryn Holmquist's article on the sexploitation of women and young girls (Weekend, April 24th)? There is nothing like having a daughter and seeing what society has to offer her to wake a person up to the deep disadvantage of being female in a male-controlled world.
That the world is being run by out-of-control testosterone is beyond question. That testosterone is raised by lower-level human activity (relentless competition, hierarchies of all kinds) and decreased by higher-level activity (co-operation, willingness to understand another, forgiveness, connection with spirit), can be observed in the everyday living of life. Kathryn Holmquist need not excuse herself for bringing the subject up, but in so doing reveals the position in which women find themselves - apologising for any remote whiff of the term "feminist".
How has this happened? The male system of hierarchy keeps everyone down, including men, but most crucially women. It is in the system's interests to maintain it. Feminism is a direct assault on a testosterone-driven world; backlash therefore was immediate and sustained. The media are one of the most powerful tools of this: they can lead the way with social commentary and they have managed to persuade us that feminist is a dirty word. Remember "womens- libber", "bra-burner", "man-hater"? Childish media responses from threatened men. It is deliberate derision and "put-down" - and very effective because women must then play the game to hold on to their jobs, their careers, their foot on the ladder. The media images of women were brilliantly analysed by Germaine Greer recently in UCD. Tellingly, no report of her talk appeared in this newspaper or any other and there was no appearance on the Late Late Show either. More sidelining by the mainstream media. In fact the only coverage is an excellent report by Felicity Yates in the current issue of Gay Community News. Greer's new book The Whole Woman really needs to be on every school curriculum.
Most men wouldn't change a thing if they could get away with it, but re-balancing the world from systemic male abuse and control is vital if we are to evolve into an enlightened, compassionate species. The female aspect must enter our lives right now and create a better future for us all. - Yours, etc., Maria Walsh,
Blackrock, Co Dublin.