Camille Paglia's Social Media
Shmoop eavesdrops on your favorite critic's online convos.
I hope everyone checked out my pictures from the Rolling Stones concert I went to on Saturday night. That Mick still has swagger!
Andrea, I thought you unfriended me a long time ago? Why do you bother checking out my Instagram or Facebook pages when you know you're just going to get all riled up? Please feel free to listen to Indigo Girls on your own time. Mick is for rockin' only. We need to hold on to whatever real musicians we have left. In fact I have a recommendation for you—it's one of my favorite songs—Donovan's "Season of the Witch."
Look, Mick's performance on stage is the equivalent of pornography, which exploits and enacts violence against women. He should be arrested for denigrating women in that way.
I'm just going to step in and referee here, and it's not because Camille and I are besties or that she has been my long-time defender. As for you, Andrea: What about my swagger? I can out-swagger Mick and the rest of them. What does that say about me?
You have been assimilated into the patriarchal system of oppression. You can never own your sexuality. What you think is your swagger is actually an enactment for the male gaze, which is, in itself, a violation and an act of sexual aggression.
This is sensitive territory, so I'm going to try to turn this ship around in the harbor. Camille appreciates male and female performers. Thanks for recognizing my similarities to Diana, Princess of Wales—how we both came alive in front of the camera lens. You talked about our shared "photogenic virtuosity." I don't want to turn this into one big love-in, but I do appreciate the support you have given for women artists, Camille.
I'm gonna need to call time out. Even though I liked the photos, I confess, I'm still licking wounds over what you said about me. I don't need you to think I'm sexy. I know I'm sexy.
You may know you're sexy, but do other people know? I mean, sorry, but as a female performer, this stuff matters.
I'm not killing sexy; I'm completely remaking it. We can't be trapped in the 1990s.
In the sexy category, I admit I'm a hard act to follow.
There's a lot of grist in here, but I will say that sexuality is a prime cultural mover. Sex is what makes things happen.
Yeah—and decadence. And who does decadence better than I do? I mean, it may be old-hat, but my "Justify My Love" video (1990) remains unsurpassed in its sexual riskiness.
[Like.] You gotta bring it on.
I'm not about shaking my booty and looking hot for the men. Have you seen me in my meat dress? Duh. I'm all about transgression. My idols aren't Marilyn Monroe or Madonna. I look to David Bowie for inspiration.
[Like.]
What you call "swagger," I call a sexual violation. Just watching him gyrate on stage would send me to file a report at the nearest police department.