Undressing Camille

The Rise and Fall of the Paglia Personae

I first met Camille Paglia, the most famous anti-lesbian-feminist in America (who herself is a lesbian and feminist), during my 1990 book tour for Susie Sexpert’s Lesbian Sex World. I was 32, and she was 43.

I was speaking to a small audience at Giovanni’s Room bookstore in Philadelphia, when a disheveled bag lady jumped out of her seat, and waved her arms as if she were hailing the last cab at Grand Central, yelling, “I am your only friend in academia.”

© Mario Ruiz, 1992. “In a men’s room, Swarthmore, PA, Camille Paglia”