Letters to the Editor
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First Bush comes back, now Paglia
This piece only convinced me that Paglia is the Madonna of academics, working to confirm a personal sense of self-worth through publicity and self-aggrandizement. Much of the piece is a litany of "I told you so" with self-referential call-backs to past articles and opinions. Obviously, I haven't been back to college for a bit since, when I was studying the goal in academic, scientific and critical writing was to find external and third-party evidence supporting your hypothesis. Apparently, we have now regressed to experiential anecdotes and opinions as valid support for a point of view. If this is an example of serious criticism in the 21st Century then it's no wonder Dan Brown and the "DaVinci Code" rule the booklists while being banned by the fiercest fundamentalists as evil heresy and Fox News is the choice of the heartland!
To claim proudly, nay smugly, that she is a student (Okay, let's be honest. Paglia never presents herself as a "student" but as a connoisseur, a master) of disco while announcing she never dances to it is like claiming to be a connoisseur of chocolate who is allergic to the stuff. Disco is like marching music -- if your feet aren't compelled to move than it's a failure. As is Ms. Paglia's piece. I won't even discuss her "hipper than thou" playlist.
I think Salon's (and my) money would be better spent on finding truly thoughtful and thought-provoking writers (new and old) and developing them and let Ms. Paglia continue her hiatus.