Garner lashes back
By Kath Gelber
@column = It is the best thing that ever happened to her career. Plucked from relative intellectual obscurity, Helen Garner has become a darling of establishment circles. Invited to speak on August 8 at the Sydney Institute's annual Larry Adler Lecture, Garner defended herself against the vehement criticism received by her recent book, The First Stone.
@column = Garner scored full reprints of her speech in both the Sydney Morning Herald and the Australian the next day, along with front page photos and stories, and editorial comment in the latter newspaper.
@column = The Australian waxed lyrical about her courage in writing the book, which ostensibly described in fictional terms the case of a master at a Melbourne University college accused of sexual harassment by two students, but which actually serves as a platform for Garner to launch a vitriolic attack on contemporary "feminists", Camille Paglia style. This backlash narrative bemoans the "punitive feminists" of the '90s who have recourse too soon and inappropriately to legal means of redress when they feel threatened, who don't know how to handle men's responses to their obvious displays of sexuality, and who have turned all women into victims.
@column = The Australian editorial calls The First Stone "an important book for all Australians". It claims the book will "go down as a defining moment in the history of contemporary culture", and that Garner is "one of our finest authors".
@column = Such praise and extensive coverage are rare for one who calls herself a feminist. Garner no doubt believes she is deserving of such establishment media space, yet the extent of the overwhelmingly favourable coverage is in itself sufficient cause for concern among those who genuinely wish to see feminism continue in its tradition of open discussion, expressions of difference and an attempt to move the women's movement forward.
@column = Garner's critics accuse her of using backlash techniques not to open up the debate, but to pillory some select attitudes found within the diversity of those who lay claim to the name feminism, and in so doing to characterise feminism in such negative terms that it is able to be discounted in its entirety.
@column = This is not constructive criticism, nor an invitation to debate. In her August 8 lecture, Garner proved that she has not withdrawn from her support for backlash politics. She claims feminists who decry her book are misunderstanding her, or even — god forbid — refusing to read her book.
@column = It is Garner who is refusing to listen to her critics. In her defence of the indefensible, she has wedged her politics more firmly and convincingly into the backlash camp. That is why she is getting front page coverage and editorial approval from the establishment press.