Camille Paglia Predicted 2017: What the ’90s provocateur understands about the Trump era

New York Magazine ^ | March 7, 2017 | Molly Fischer

[poconopundit]

Most media writers today would not treat a philosopher like Camille Paglia with the proper respect. They'd either dilute her insights into a lifeless Wiki-style summary, or springboard off her deeply-reasoned ideas to pen their own sophomoric babble. So I congratulate writer Molly Fischer for breaking the mould and sculpting a magnificent portrait of Paglia.  This story -- based on a three and a half hour interview with Paglia at a nameless New York restaurant -- brims with intellectual boldness, humorous anecdotes, and flashbacks across Paglia's long and controversial career as a free-thinker. I will not insult the intelligence of FReepers (who hunger for great journalism) by excerpting the story.  It would only take the fun out of a true reading adventure. I only learned who Paglia was a couple months back when I heard Milo Yiannopolous praise her work. Suffice it to say, Paglia is a professor and scholar who has extensively studied and written about Ancient and Western civilization.  She is best known as author of a few books on feminism... and is hated by all the right people.  Her persona?  Imagine a cross between Arial Durant, Ayn Rand and Donald Trump. Now this piece is 3,240 words long, so you may want to bookmark it for a moment when you have some time.  A glass of red wine or a fine Cuban cigar would make reading it all the more pleasurable :- )  I look forward to your comments.

[2big2fail]

I love Paglia! Thank you. Will read later.

[Mercat]

Thanks

[Nailbiter]

flr

[Steely Tom]

The most interesting female intellectual since Ayn Rand.

[SarahPalin2012]

Paglia is the true classical liberal of our time. For those that don’t know — I mean that as very high praise.

[JusPasenThru]

She is a rare escapee from the herd of independent thinkers.

[PGalt]

HOORAY Camille. Common sense is fading fast. Watch OUT!...here comes another shiny object.

[To Hell With Poverty]

Sexual Personae quite literally saved me from feminism, no joke. Wish I could say I've read more of her works since then but I've been too busy enjoying life as a well adjusted female. Thanks Camille!!!

[stump56]

bookmark

[tbw2]

She’s a feminist but has been a bastion of reasonableness on the transgender issue, and her voice unfortunately has moral weight with liberals on this because she’s a lesbian.

Camille Paglia: ‘Transgender Mania’ is a Symptom of West’s Cultural Decline, The Collapse of Cultures
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMDVuHsVwKs

[Oratam]

bkmk

[Republic_Venom]

One of the most influential thinkers of our time.

[RegulatorCountry]

I learned of Camille Paglia back in the 90’s due to militant feminists with whom I’d occasionally exchanged less than friendly words in a bar accusing me of being a fan, they absolutely hated her. So, I looked her up. She’s a lesbian who doesn’t hate men and loves western culture. She actually does have an open mind. She’s capable of being one of the worst critics if not the worst critic, of the left. Very clear thinker, very astute observer. Make no mistake, she’s no conservative, but she’s an occasional ally and not really an enemy, neutral at worst.

[RegulatorCountry]

Camille Paglia actually is sort of Randian but I suspect they’d have hated one another.

[katana]

In the first page the author misidentifies a doctoral dissertation as a “thesis”, but we can let that pass. Overall a nice look back at Paglia’s time in the sun and an update on where she is now. Maybe a fiercely independent thinking lesbian isn’t to everyone’s taste, but as the article states one aspect of her appeal is the same as Trump’s, a willingness to stand up to political correctness and laugh in the face of attempted political correction. None of her opinions, even when you might disagree with them, are based on bull$hit. They’re reasoned and she’s willing to argue them without resorting to the usual leftist name calling.

[Steely Tom]

Camille Paglia actually is sort of Randian but I suspect they’d have hated one another.

Perhaps you're right! Kind of funny to think about.

I don't know much about Paglia's personality, but I think I know quite a bit about that of Ayn Rand, who was very judgmental on a personal level, and had basically zero skills of personality and diplomacy.

Perhaps you've heard the story, told by William F. Buckley, of meeting Ayn Rand at a dinner party back in the 1950s.

Buckley had by that time made quite a name for himself with his book God and Man at Yale, which was strongly and unambiguously conservative in its message.

According to WFB, after he was introduced to Ms. Rand, the first thing she said to him was "you are much to intelligent to believe in God."

[nuconvert]

If you do an FR keyword search, you’ll find a bunch of threads on Camille Paglia . Her anti-Hillary stuff is a hoot.

[RegulatorCountry]

Ayn Rand got so close to the truth at times, but ended up just as deadening, stultifying, wooden and concrete grey as anything the Soviets created. She was a sworn enemy of the collectivist mindset in all its forms and was quite good at creating a manifesto but a novelist she was not. She never shook off the state-enforced atheism of the state she hated so much, which was a pity.

[onedoug]

...ping....