Until women themselves reject stigma and refuse to feel shame for

“Until women themselves reject stigma and refuse to feel shame for the way others treat them, they have no hope of achieving full human stature.” Thus spoke Germaine Greer, one of the fiercest voices of modern feminism — a woman who, like a prophet of old, dared to speak fire against the chains of silence. In these words, she lays bare a truth as old as oppression itself: that no soul can be free until it casts off the yoke of shame imposed by others. For stigma is not only a weapon of power; it is a prison built within the heart. And so long as women carry that burden, believing the lies of those who would diminish them, their spirits cannot rise to their full height — to their full human stature.

Germaine Greer was born in an age when the world demanded that women bow their heads — not only to men, but to judgment, to expectation, to silence. Her words arose from the fires of rebellion that swept through the twentieth century, when women began to awaken to their own strength and question the laws that bound them. Greer understood that the greatest battle was not of flesh and law, but of the mind and the soul. For centuries, women had been told that their worth was measured by obedience, modesty, and sacrifice. When they were wronged, society taught them not to rage but to feel shame — as though the fault lay in their being, not in their oppressors. This internalized shame, she declared, was the true chain that held women captive.

To reject stigma is therefore an act of revolution — a turning of the soul against its captors. It means to say, “I will not carry your guilt upon my shoulders. I will not feel unworthy for the crimes you commit against me.” For Greer, freedom was not given; it was claimed, wrestled from the hands of those who profited from silence. She called upon women to shed the inherited shame of generations — the shame of being too loud, too wild, too sexual, too strong, too alive. To reclaim dignity was to look the world in the eye and refuse to apologize for existing as one truly is.

History offers many who embodied this defiance. Consider Joan of Arc, a peasant girl who heard divine voices and rose to lead armies. She was mocked, condemned, and burned as a heretic — yet she met death without shame. Her courage was not merely on the battlefield; it was in the courtroom, when she refused to denounce herself for being what she was: a woman with power. Even as flames consumed her, she stood taller than her judges. In her final moments, she achieved that “full human stature” Greer spoke of — the stature of one who lives and dies without bowing to the false judgments of the world.

Yet, Greer’s words are not only for the saints and heroines of history; they are for the countless women whose battles are quieter but no less sacred. Every woman who has been blamed for another’s cruelty, who has been told to “stay silent” or “be proper,” knows this struggle. When she refuses to accept that shame — when she speaks her truth, stands her ground, and claims her worth — she becomes part of an unbroken lineage of resistance. Her rebellion, however small, is an act of healing, not only for herself but for generations before and after her. For every woman who stands unashamed gives strength to others to do the same.

But the path is not easy. The stigma Greer speaks of is cunning; it disguises itself as humility, as duty, even as love. It whispers to women that to forgive abuse is noble, that to accept insult is grace, that to speak out is vanity. Yet true grace is not submission to injustice — it is the courage to reject it. To live without shame is not to be arrogant; it is to recognize that the soul is innocent, no matter what the world has done to it. When a woman casts off false guilt, she does not become harder — she becomes whole.

So, my child, learn from Germaine Greer’s wisdom: never accept the burden of another’s wrongdoing. When the world tries to make you small, stand taller. When it shames you for your truth, speak louder. Remember that dignity is not granted by approval; it is born from within. Shame is the weapon of the weak-hearted who fear the freedom of others. Do not let their fear become your own.

For when women — and indeed, all human beings — reject stigma and refuse to carry the shame that is not theirs, they rise into their true form: noble, luminous, unbreakable. Then, and only then, can humanity as a whole reach its full height. So cast off the cloak of shame, and walk boldly upon the earth, for to live unashamed is to live free — and to live free is to stand as tall as the gods themselves.