Thursday, March 24, 2011

Camille Paglia on Happy, Heterosexual Women

Once in a while, she nails it. In an interview about Elizabath Taylor, she said:

And that's another thing -- all these stars today, accumulating children with an army of nannies. Despite all her children, no one would ever call Angelina Jolie maternal. But Elizabeth Taylor's maternal quality is central to her heterosexual power. Elizabeth Taylor could control men. She liked men. And men liked her. There was a chemistry between her and men, coming from her own maternal instincts. I've been writing about this for years, and it was partly inspired by watching Taylor operate on-screen and off. The happy and successful heterosexual woman feels tender and maternal toward men -- but this has been completely lost in our feminist era. Now women tell men, you have to be my companion and be just like a woman; be my best friend, and listen to me chatter. In other words, women don't really like men anymore -- they want men to be like women. But Elizabeth Taylor liked men, and men loved to be around her because they sensed that.


If you ever want to have a successful relationship with a man, learn to like men.

And when I say "learn to like men" I mean "learn to like authentic masculinity."

When feminists say they like men, they mean they like people who happen to be male.

They do not mean they like guys.

They resent so many qualities that make a guy a guy.

They resent male aggressiveness, assertiveness, competitiveness, and so forth.

They like men who want to be like women.

It wouldn't make sense for them to like men whose masculinity runs counter to their feminist beliefs.