I am reblogging this because several people seem to have misunderstood this quote entirely. Germaine Greer is one of the leading feminist figures in history, and she does not subscribe to the belief that woman have to be beautiful in order to be complete. She is pointing out the gaping flaw in society’s perception of the female: that she must be attractive to the opposite sex to constitute being regarded as relevant and successful. Despite all her academic or executive achievements, in a male-dominated, sexist, sex-obsessed society, the female can never be given full admiration unless she also happens to be beautiful. This being, obviously, in direct opposition to perception of the male, who has none of this social pressure to be good-looking and is regarded in terms of achievements instead of in terms of appearance. Greer is not in agreement with this statement -she is disgusted by it and fighting against this kind of mentality - but nevertheless she is simply pointing out that this is the stereotypical way society thinks. 

bookshops, coffeeshops and libraries are calming for the mind