A review by ste3ve_b1rd
Free Women, Free Men: Sex, Gender, Feminism by Camille Paglia

3.0

It's been at least fifteen years since I read one of Camille Paglia's books, although I've kept up with her articles on Salon and wherever else they appear in print media. Certain chapters of "Free Men, Free Women: Sex, Gender, Feminism" I readily identified with; some I felt too ill-informed about to know where I stood regarding the subject; others I just couldn't relate to. The chapter titles alone are provocative: "Are Men Obsolete?" (Chapter 26); "Rape and Modern Sex War" (Chapter 5); "The Modern Campus Cannot Comprehend Evil (Chapter 31). She plausibly identifies homosexuality, as well as transgender identification, as tending to occur in "late-phase civilization". For Camille, everything comes back to biology, which supports her argument that actual, physically-manifested sex change is medically impossible ..... On the one hand, I admire the way Paglia keeps the presentation of the various topics down to earth and accessible. On the other hand, when she discusses her loathing of French post-structuralism (a key talking point throughout her career) I'm intrigued by her ongoing commitment to this theme, but I have virtually no comprehension of the subject, since I still haven't read Michel Foucault and as far as I can recall, I've only read one "post-structuralist" book, by Jacques Derrida, of which I remember nothing ..... Looking back on the chapters of FMFW, the first one that comes to mind is "Southern Women: Old Myths and New Frontiers" (Chapter 30); an absorbing analysis not only of women / stereotypes of the South, but also of the way in which Southern themes are explored via Hollywood films and actresses i.e. native Southerners such Ava Gardener and Tallulah Bankhead. Camille professes to a love of camp as well, as expressed in her ebullient praise of Andy Cohen and "The Real Housewives" (Chapter 32). Paglia seems to be naturally bipartisan (although I'll never forgive her for voting for Jill Stein in the 2016 U.S. presidential election) and never shies away from recognizing the relevance of all things "lowbrow", since in her universe, highbrow / lowbrow is equivalent to yin yang. I loved re-reading the first 3 chapters of "Sexual Personae" (reprinted in FMFW) again, especially Chapter 1 of SP, which I'll always find fascinating; SP remains my favorite book of hers. In the way that Paglia defines sexuality, in which, as she puts it "aggression and eroticism are deeply intertwined" -- Certain sections of FMFW remind me of "Death, Erotism and Sensuality" (1957) by George Bataille.