Free Women! Free Men!
The feminist movement, in its various forms, posed a genuine challenge to patriarchy, male domination. Privilege among most men was seen as a right, the way things were. Within the feminist movement, there were different currents and tendencies. Its accomplishments were myriad but there is still much work to be done. Misogyny, hostility, sexual commodification, harassment and violence against women persist. There is still a gender wage gap. Women working full-time in nearly every single occupation earn only 80% of what men do. Gender categories and sexual orientations and the stereotypes embedded in them have undergone a radical shift in recent years. Feminism and the women’s movement are still seen as a threat by some, particularly among more conservative religious-minded people. Tearing down the old ways of thinking and behavior sometimes leads to confusion, tension and cultural conflict.
Recorded at the Seattle Public Library.
Speaker
Camille Paglia
Camille Paglia is the University Professor of Humanities and Media Studies at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. She is a regular contributor to Salon.com and the author of Glittering Images, Break, Blow, Burn, Sexual Personae, Sex, Art, and American Culture, Vamps & Tramps and Free Women, Free Men.
Cass Anon –
I found this to be a very interesting audio that I found on our local NPR station after seeing the new Wonder Woman movie. I felt it was very appropriate for my evening of women’s representation.
Camille discussed a number of topics, such as agrarian women, feminist movement, college tuition issues and more. I found her views on almost all of them to be slightly…Provoking. It was interesting and I felt appropriate for an alternative radio to have someone express these views. She is very respectful and non conforming in her views and it sounds like her personal life as well.
I will be listening to this again as there is so much information to digest and much to learn
John Anon –
I disagree with Dana with regards to this presentation. Dr. Paglia may, in fact, characterize herself as a libertarian but this doesn’t mean that we should dismiss everything she says. For instance, in this talk she criticizes the University administrations and Board of Trustees for bankrupting the majority of poor and middle class students in the past 2 decades. This is a serious problem in our civilization right now… with this trajectory, we are moving back to a period where only the wealthy can afford a college education; and to have a largely uneducated population because most of the population can’t afford. I didn’t hear any part of this lecture that discussed the ‘free-market’.
I found her discussion on tough agrarian women in days past kind of interesting. ‘A calf escaped the pen and ran off; a woman yells, “Grab that calf!”, they men jump out of the way of the errant calf; the woman comes running past them, and some few minutes later she can be seen holding the calf, dragging it back into the pen, she sniffs “Men!”‘ Which… if this is her idea of what women have been and could be again; perhaps one could understand her controversial stance on rape. With a woman like the one described above; no man with any sense of self preservation would ever try to do anything with her that she doesn’t want or she’d beat the misguided moron senseless! Now, that being said, I believe that there are some fundamental flaws with some of Dr. Paglia’s ideas…
Dana Franchitto –
Does a Libertarian voice advocating for “entrepreneurship” and “free markets” have a place on AR? IS this AR’s idea of a progressive voice? WE can hear this pablum on any commercial network and sellout NPR. But AR serves as an alternative to capitalist propaganda, no? And I never thought i would hear the trite and disingenuous term “un pc” on an AR talk. SO no, Ms Paglia’s alleged support for Bernie and the Green Party notwithstanding , I do not recommend this talk. And as much as I love AR, I feel, they fropped the ball by broadcasting it.