27 February -- I am extremely pleased to be publishing a work by Camille Paglia on the occasion of the Leipzig Book Fair (‘Frauen bleiben, Männer werden. Sex, Gender, Feminismus’). No other author has influenced my thinking so much as Paglia, who I came across about 22 years ago (very coincidentally: at the bargain bin in a Karstadt department store). You will find it difficult to imagine just how much we cheered, when we had bought the translation rights!

Now Paglia had remained surprisingly quiet on the topic of #metoo, although this is, more than anything else, her topic. In the US, she is a big shot. A question directed at her revealed the obvious: She has been dealing with this dispute for decades and has written everything that can be said about it. And that’s the truth!

Now, however, after multiple requests, she has taken a position. A longer text by Paglia will be published tomorrow (28th February) in ‘The Hollywood Reporter.’ Here is a quote of one of the answers given by this icon to our interviewer Martin Lichtmesz for ‘Sezession’:

Camille Paglia:

“My attitude is as follows: Genuine sexual harassment is a violation of human dignity. It must be condemned like any other physical assault, regardless of gender. However, it is up to the women themselves to reject and report inappropriate behavior, but this has to occur precisely when the incident has happened – no matter how unpleasant and embarrassing it may seem. Complaining much later to some authority or other (especially if the matter happened ages ago) does not bear witness to female strength and independence.

“According to my interpretation of a ‘workable’ Amazonian feminism, every woman has the duty to defend her own dignity and fight her own battles. How can we expect men to respect women when these women are too shy or too indecisive to empower themselves? What a gesture of meekness it is, when women now commission the government or university committees or employment lawyers to take on the role of protective father or husband! This is a reactionary climb-down that takes us back to pre-modern times when the protection and survival of women depended on protection by fathers or spouses. Professional middle-class women have to get over their bourgeois fussiness and finally find their own strong voice and real self-assertion – regardless of whether it is about private or public business.”

The interview with Paglia will appear in the 83rd ‘Sezession.’ Read Paglia! It helps whatever your situation!

Extracts from the originals (here (27/Feb/2018) at sezession.de) translated and republished with permission from Ellen Kositza.