Men still hold power, says Germaine Greer at Wellington Literary Festival

There was a standing ovation – and a few raised eyebrows at times – as the straight-talking Australian argued that women still do not have significant power in a man's world.

Ms Greer, who shot to fame with her international best-seller The Female Eunuch in 1970, pooh-poohed notions that Mrs Obama is the most powerful woman on the planet. "That makes me really cross," Ms Greer told an audience of about 200 at Wrekin College on Saturday evening.

"Just because she sleeps with the head of state? We're so used to seeing the Obamas holding hands and kissing blah, blah, blah, but in the weeks Obama has been calling for military intervention in Syria, Michelle has been silent."

Germany's Chancellor Merkel, meanwhile, was painted as a "risk adverse" woman who deliberately keeps her husband under wraps, while Ms Greer questioned why Baroness Thatcher was never afforded the same privileges as other retired Prime Ministers.

"John Major is now immensely rich but Thatcher had to go on the lecture circuit," she said

"She didn't get the directorships. She didn't get what Blair has got. The whole thing is extraordinary."

Ms Greer also criticised EU plans to ensure that 40 per cent of non-executive directors on European-listed companies are female by 2020.

"Who will they be?" she said. "They will be women who are easy to deal with.

"They will be selected for their manageability."

Ms Greer concluded: "Women are nowhere near power. We've got to reinvent the system if we want the type of power which means we get things changed."

Ms Greer's hour-and-a-half talk, attended by mayors from across Shropshire, marked the official start of the 17th annual Wellington Literary Festival, which is organised by the town council.

The theme for this year is women writers and includes a host of free events up to October 19.

Councillor Pat Fairclough, chairman of the organising committee, said: "The programme has been drawn up to make sure we have a balanced range of events with as many genres covered as possible.

"We were delighted to have Germaine here. We had a fantastic amount of interest since the first time her name was mentioned.

"She is someone who has influenced a generation of women from the 1960s."

Councillor Graham Riley, mayor of Wellington, added: "It was an honour to have Germaine here launching the festival.

"She is a lovely person and really inspirational."

A full programme of festival events is available at www.wellington-shropshire.gov.uk

By Sean Wozencroft