Author Camille Paglia loves queer culture

Author Camille Paglia loves queer culture but attacks pop culture and Lady Gaga
 

Lesbian author and art critic Camille Paglia loves LGBT culture but has no problem speaking her mind. According to Xtra on Nov. 21, the art critic who is known for provoking controversy in the 1990’s by attacking “gay Stalinists” which are described as gay, lesbian and transgender folks not willing to change their ideology when it comes to gay culture. She sees a gay culture movement that is in decline and disses celebrities like Chaz Bono and Lady Gaga and praises artists from earlier days as genius in the gay culture movement.

In her book Glittering Images, Paglia praises icons like Andy Warhol as a true genius of modern art and she describes 19th-century art critics like Walter Pater and Oscar Wilde as visionaries who helped create modern gay-male style. Throughout the book it is clear that Paglia has a clear and deep love for gay culture which supports her frustration overall with today’s movement. Glittering Images is a book that celebrates the gay community for keeping the art deco style alive and Paglia’s aim is to challenge social conservatives to rethink what she describes as a puritanical rejection of sensual pleasure and the arts. The author and art critic recently spoke at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto and she had a lot to day about gay culture and gay youth.

“Gay culture today is becoming totally marginal and irrelevant,” says Paglia. “Gay youth have been done a terrible disservice by the movement, which doesn’t teach them about their great heritage of art and style.”

She attacks the modern transgender rights movement comparing it to the 60’s when drag queens and transsexuals were “fierce and powerful”. She believes youth today lack an understanding on the deeper issues of the movement which she believes is focused “on manipulating the physical, through surgery”. She says as humans we have the responsibility and obligation to explore our inner selves and seek self-understand apart from “the social and physical”.

Paglia says that Chaz Bono is mutilating his body by going through a sex-change operation and believes because he is a public figure he is bringing the sex-change procedure into the mainstream which she fears will bring about an “easy solution” for youth who may see it as an “easy fix” solution and avoid true introspection.
Paglia does not stop there. She also has an opinion about pop culture which she feels is in “decline”. She compares gay icon Lady Gaga to David Bowie pointing out the contrasts of the two pop icons.

“Lady Gaga is a fraud. She’s surrounded by all these gay men who are advising her, telling her what to wear, what to say, but everything about her is derivative. Everything is stolen from another artist.”

By contrast she says David Bowie’s music was that of genius. She saw his music as revolutionary with sexual energy and a man of true art. Gaga, in her opinion, is just “fake”.

Hong Kong trade missions face scrutiny over culture remit

Lawmakers have questioned the value of Hong Kong's 16 external trade missions and criticised them for going beyond their remit.

The comments came as directors of the 16 offices appeared before the Legislative Council's panel on commerce and industry on Tuesday - the first time the work of the trade offices has been scrutinised since the new administration took office.

Ann Chiang Lai-wan from the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, said she was concerned directors were organising many cultural events despite the fact culture was not listed in their terms of reference.

"When I was reading these reports, I was quite puzzled," said Chiang, a DAB vice-chairwoman and also the panel's deputy chairwoman. "It seems they were quite lopsided towards the cultural scene - a lot of cultural activities like the wine-and-dine festival. It seems you are taking over the work of the Home Affairs Bureau but you don't have culture as part of your terms of reference, other than the Taiwan office.

"It seems you are overemphasising the cultural aspect, so if the title of the office is not the same as the nature of your work, it is a bit odd."

The annual reports from the offices detailed a range of cultural events, such as Hong Kong-themed film festivals, as well as sponsored sports, dance or music events, such as the Brussels office sponsoring the first dragon boat festival in Belgium.

Hong Kong has 11 overseas trade offices - in Geneva, Washington, New York, San Francisco, Brussels, London, Berlin, Tokyo, Sydney, Singapore and Toronto.

There are four mainland offices, in Beijing, Guangdong, Shanghai and Chengdu . A Taiwan office opened last December.

Permanent Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Andrew Wong Ho-yuen defended the offices, saying culture was part of their work.

IT sector legislator Charles Mok called for the missions to improve their relationships with the chambers of commerce in their respective countries, saying overseas trade offices in Hong Kong were in tune with the city's industries and projects that were up for bidding, but the same could not be said for the offices overseas.

"I hope you will do more in this respect," he told the directors.

Wong said: "To a certain extent, but I agree we may not have done as much as you wish."

Martin Liao Cheung-kong, an independent lawmaker representing the commercial sector, questioned why Hong Kong only had trade posts in developed economies.

"Why have we not promoted our business in the emerging markets or emerging economies?" he asked.
Wong said: "The establishment of a new ETO is quite a massive investment so we will have to be careful." The offices have a HK$485 million budget this year.