Camille Paglia is one truly interesting person. This in an excerpt from an old article, but a great read.
Paglia not only envies but reveres what she identifies as men’s naturally raucous sexuality. It is brutal masculine lust, she says, that drives men out into the world, away from the potency of their mothers. Male lust is, in this sense, the motor force of civilisation. Horny college boys (temporarily free of both mothers and wives), men who visit prostitutes, gay men who pick up tricks in public lavatories – these are all valiant representatives of the masculine principle, re-enacting the primary, civilisation-forging escape from Mother Nature.
‘The historical record will show that I am the one who resurrected masculinity,’ Paglia says. ‘It’s disgusting the way masculinity has been denigrated by feminism. I think masculinity is hot] In ancient Greece they had these celebrations of the young, masculine body and this was gorgeous, okay? What kind of feminism is it that calls masculinity a ‘disease’ the way Marilyn French does? That is illness. Neurosis] Psychosis]’
All of this helps to explain Paglia’s position on rape. Being reluctant to curb vital male energies more than is absolutely necessary, she defines rape as ‘stranger rape or the intrusion of sex into a non-sexual encounter’. Date rape is ‘bullshit’. Women should accept that dates are part of a mating ritual and acknowledge the risks that they entail. ‘Listen, my generation of women said we wanted sexual freedom, but we accepted the risks] Sex is combat] Gay men understand this. Every gay man I know has had rough encounters – why aren’t they running for protection from the police? I’m saying to women, ‘Grow up] If you go to a man’s apartment, you are signalling that you want sex. If you don’t, then carry a knife] I carry a knife] This is street-smart feminism] Not weeping back to the authorities when things go wrong]’
In the past, I’ve found myself cheering Paglia’s counterblasts against the date rape lobby. I still think she offers an important warning to women, not to slip back into the frail roles of the past. But in encouraging women to ‘grow up’, she seems to absent men from all responsibility. She is fond of comparing rape with theft. ‘Blaming the victim makes perfect sense if the victim has behaved stupidly . . . when you drive your car to New York City, do you leave your keys on the hood?’
