Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson by Camille PagliaMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Paglia looks back at the Nietzsche view of a world dichotomy of Apollonian and Dionysian halves to enlarge the Dionysian part to admit a feminine side; mysterious, murky, and moist. This feels like a valid advancement on Nietzsche and even makes old Friedrich seem sexist or at least narrow-minded in retrospect. This also sexualizes Paglia's arguments to extremes that I can't always follow, such as "The beautiful boy is homosexuality’s greatest contribution to western culture" and other sweeping generalizations. While this work came out in 199o it seems rooted in the 18th Century of English literature: Oscar Wilde, Coleridge, Emily Dickinson, etc. While Paglia is obvious aware of popular culture: she mentions The Rolling Stones a few times. This includes with her excitement and extreme adjectives:
Rock music is normally a darkly daemonic mode. The Rolling Stones, the greatest rock band, are heirs of stormy Coleridge.
However, stuck a century ago she misses opportunities to explain girlish hair bands and Mad Max reflecting society's mass fascination with homosexuality.
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