Germaine Greer attacks Beyoncé: ‘Why has she always got to be naked?’

The feminist academic and author rants about the singer in an upcoming BBC2 documentary

Feminist author Germaine Greer takes aim at Beyoncé in new BBC2 documentary. (Credit: ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

Feminist academic and author Germaine Greer went on a rant criticising Beyoncé for always being "naked" in a new BBC2 documentary.

Greer took aim at the singer in a new documentary that chronicles her life titled Germaine Bloody Greer.

She said: "Someone like Beyoncé – who I think is a fantastic musician, a beautiful voice as true as a bell – why has she always got to be f****** naked and have her t*** hanging out? Why?"

"I’m not saying you have to keep your clothes on, but why is sexual display part of the job?" Greer continued. "I might as well ask that question to a barmaid who says she doesn’t get any tips if she doesn’t show cleavage."

The 79-year-old author also had an opinion about what female athletes wear in the documentary saying, "Why do women athletes have to be naked? I watched bloody figure skating and the woman is virtually naked. She has got a few wisps of cloth and the man is in evening dress. You think nakedness is usually a sign of submission, it’s a sign of inequality."

Additionally the documentary recalls Greer's own history posing for nude photos; she had taken them for Suck magazine in 1971, but dubbed them as "revolutionary" and a "disruptive gesture."

Greer recently sparked outrage with her controversial remarks about the reduction of rape punishment, suggesting most rapes are "just lazy, careless and insensitive."

"Instead of thinking of rape as a spectacularly violent crime, and some rapes are, think about it as non consensual … that is bad sex," she told a crowd at Hay literary festival. "Sex where there is no communication, no tenderness, no mention of love."

Directed by Clare Beavan, Germaine Bloody Greer is a part of BBC’s "Hear Her" series, commemorating the anniversary of women’s suffrage.

Germaine Bloody Greer will air on BBC2 on Saturday June 9.