Byline: SARAH OBANYE
WOMEN can earn their own living and even have children without a man.
The Mail recently reported how a gay man, who acted as a sperm donor to a lesbian couple, has been fighting for access to his child. So do women actually need men at all? FEMAIL asked a range of famous women for their views, with surprising results.
JILLY COOPER, 65, novelist, is married to Leo.
EVERY woman needs a man unless she's a lesbian. My husband does up my bra sometimes, my necklace and carries my suitcase. Men get such a bad press, it's not fair at all.
KATHY LETTE, 42, author, is married and has two children.
IF MEN don't want to become obsolete, they need to pull up their psychological socks. We only need to find a way to get rid of spiders in the bathroom, light the barbie, kiss our upper eyelids and tell us we don't look fat in stretch Lycra and we won't need men at all.
JENNIE BOND, 51, the BBC's royal correspondent, is married and has one daughter.
I DESPERATELY rely upon my house husband. He looks after our little girl, keeps the house tidy and does the shopping.
And where would I be without his companionship, friendship and love?
Like many women, I love to have a man to look after me in a physical and emotional sense, and my husband is the one who keeps the family ticking over.
SALLY FARMILOE, 48, actress and TV presenter, lives with her partner and daughter.
WOMEN don't need men in their lives at all. Like me, they may choose to have a man to share their days with, but we certainly don't need them - I like to look on them as more of a hobby.
ROWAN PELLING, 33, editor of the Erotic Review, is married.
IF THE main aim of human existence is reproduction, then men are already redundant. But for most women other than lesbians and nuns, the finest hours of their lives are those spent in bed with a man they love. A world without men would be a world without desire, empty of electricity.
The sapphic by nature might be wellserviced, but the rest of us would feel we were eternally trapped in the sixth-form at Mallory Towers.
ERIN PIZZEY, 63, founder of Refuge, Britain's first shelter for battered women.
WOMEN don't need men the way men need women. Women want men to be their lovers, husbands, fathers, friends and protectors.
But men need women to be their everything; mother, lover, wife, emotional provider, house slave, bearer of his children, and his reason for being alive.
Women without men get on with their lives and each other. They know that a man is for 'now' and a woman friend is for life.
Men without women get ill, commit suicide and die before their time.
LOWRI TURNER, 36, writer and TV presenter, is married and has a son.
WOMEN may not need men, but if that meant men were redundant, the future would look very bleak.
While women are able to support themselves financially and emotionally, life is much better if you've got someone to share it with.
SHYAMA PERERA, 43, writer, is divorced with two children.
I ONCE asked my former husband: 'If you didn't earn so much, what would your function be in this house?' At that stage, his ardour was engaged elsewhere and there was little love on show. I just couldn't work out the point of him.
Now I do the earning and the caring; my children thrive and my girlfriends provide entertainment and support. I see men as emotional and social responsibilities that impede on women's thoughts and behaviour and weigh us down.
HONOR BLACKMAN, 74, actress, twice divorced, is famous for her role as Bond girl Pussy Galore.
WE NEED men because women like to be made love to.
TARA NEWLEY, 36, writer and TV presenter, is divorced with a daughter.
IF WE were to judge men simply from the point of view of value for money, I think we'd all be wanting a refund. While women juggle careers with having babies, cooking, cleaning and housework, all men can do is make the money.
It makes you wonder why women have been bothering with such a lost cause for so long.
TRACEY COX, 40,TV dating expert and sex psychologist, lives alone.
WE WOMEN are complex beings with a tendency to scrutinise and overanalyse everything that falls in our path. Men are wonderfully uncomplicated with simple needs: give them a meal, a telly, occasional physical gratification and a warm bed and they're blissfully happy.
They help me keep my perspective and they make me laugh. And they also come in handy for such things as moving heavy furniture around, unclogging the plughole and putting together that assemble-your-own stuff from Ikea.
JENNI MURRAY, 49, radio presenter, lives with her partner.
TWENTY years ago, I'd have trotted out that creaking tenet: 'A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle'.
I had a good job, roared around in a sports car and owned a house.
Then I met the man who would become the father of my boys. He changed nappies and read stories, did the washing and his share of the cooking, liked rugby, understood soccer's offside rule and knew how to put up a shelf. Did I need him? You bet.
CHRISSY ILEY, writer.
MEN are compelling emotionally, intellectually, hormonally and sexually - because they have completely incomprehensible responses to women.
They are a different species, and even if they torture and frustrate us, they let us know we're alive.
It's thrilling to be close to something you can't ever understand that's why we can never bring ourselves to give up on them.
CHRISTINE HAMILTON, 52, is married to Neil, 52, the former Tory MP.They are agony aunt and uncle on TV's The Big Breakfast.
WHAT utter nonsense. Real women need men just as any real man needs a woman.
It has nothing and everything to do with sex.
We are totally and deliciously different and I couldn't do without men any more than I could do without women. The older I get the more I appreciate my own sex, but they are no substitute for the other one. You can't flirt with a woman.
Who but a man is going to make me feel special, as if I am wrapped in mink, bathing in ass's milk and worth a million dollars? That's worth a lot at my age.
WENDY LEIGH, 50, journalist and author, is twice divorced.
I CAN be truly happy only with a harem of seven men.
First, a wild and imaginative lover. Then, two understudies, one 35 and fit; the other, 60, with a yacht and a bulging bank account.
The fourth, a wise and ancient guru, a platonic father figure. The fifth, my best friend, strong, reliable, always around to move furniture and fix my hard drive.
The sixth, a gay man - creative and adept at entertaining me with tales of unbridled sexual exploits.
Then there is the seventh, the unattainable heartbreaker, who constantly reminds me that when the right man comes along, I need him more than ever.
VIRGINIA IRONSIDE, 57, agony aunt, is divorced.
WOMEN need men as an astringent, a dab of refreshing vinegar to counteract all that gooey emotional stuff.
They need them, too, to say men-like things such as 'Don't think about it!' and 'Worry about it when it happens!' Women need men's common sense to anchor them when they get too anxious or emotional.
Women need men to moan about, as well, to help them unite with other women.
However, if men were to vanish, women would survive (as long as there were enough frozen sperm to keep the species alive). If women were to vanish, could we say the same about men? I don't think so.
VANESSA LLOYD PLATT, 57, leading divorce lawyer and author of Secrets Of Relationship Success.
IF GOD intended us all to be women, he would not have created men first! I will never subscribe to the extreme feminist view that men are superfluous.
I have seen too many lonely, selfabsorbed women who, years after declaring they don't need men, deeply regret their decision.
Mature, self-assured women know that by sharing love, affection and hopefully chores, they are leading a rounded existence.
LIZ COLLINGE, 44, makeup artist, is married with two children.
ALTHOUGH I know I don't need a man, I'm happy to admit I like having someone to share my life.
Men provide the yang to a woman's yin, which makes life more interesting and balanced.
I'm independent, but sometimes it's nice to have a man who will do little things for me.
LIBBY PURVES, 52, novelist and broadcaster, is married. Her latest book is A Free Woman.
DO WOMEN need men? Well, I certainly do. I grew up with three brothers, and I like blokes. They make me laugh.
There is a buzz about men and the talk (flirtatious or otherwise) you get in mixed company.
Certain jokes and conversations work better when you've got both sexes there. Age and attractiveness are immaterial. Gender isn't.
The real question I suppose is whether every woman needs one special man.
To which the answer is 'No'. You need some maleness in your life, but not necessarily a full-time partner.
