No Paglia mine
I thought the anti-GaGa brigade (as opposed to those of you who just aren't into her) was already juvenile—adult men referring to her as CaCa, shrieking, "Copycat!" like we're in third grade—but now we're moving onward and downward into, "She's not sexy!" territory.
It's worth noting that I have been sent links to Camille Paglia's (I wouldn't) hit (that) piece on Lady GaGa from a dozen Madonna fans wondering what I think. What I think is that Madonna fans have a short memory if they're thrilled with anything Paglia says—this is the woman who's written scathing attacks on Madonna for 15ish years after initially thinking Madonna shat magic sex beans, possibly because she never got over being rebuffed by the object of her intellectualized desire when she tried for a meet-up.
I loved Paglia's Sexual Personae; I loved finding out one could write about history and public figures through the lens of human sexuality because it's always been my belief that just about everything we do—on purpose or against our will—is colored by our sexualities even if that doesn't mean everything has to be about the act. I found her writing was exciting, playful, bold and original.
Camille: She wants your sex
Then she continued writing and it soon became clear to me that Paglia was a con artist. I felt most of her theories began with a controversial conclusion and were fleshed out in reverse in order to guarantee publication and discussion.
In some ways, it makes sense that Paglia would bristle at GaGa—doesn't GaGa (and didn't Madonna before her) do the same thing? Doesn't she come up with shocking concepts in order to draw attention? Sure, but the difference is that GaGa (as did Madonna before her) does this because as a popstar, it's part of her job to gain and maintain attention, not just for its own sake, but in order to enhance awareness of her music and to control a running narrative on issues (shallow and/or deep) that affect society. For Madonna, she did lots with religion, gender and sexuality—some of it we can all agree was brilliant, some of it would attract cries of B.S. from even ardent fanboys—while GaGa is also very gender-obsessed, but more so than sexuality seems enchanted by fashion in a conceptual way, and by what constitutes outsider status in society.
