Sexual Personae Chapter 1: Sex and Violence, or Nature and Art PATRON-ONLY LIVESTREAM

Hi Cliff. Your YouTube channel was mentioned on the r/CamillePaglia subreddit, I checked out your YouTube, then came here for more. I'm posting a couple days after the livestream. (I'm just now watching the video.) Concerning the meaning of art: Just some quick notes. Prior to decadence, art was expected to be morally uplifting. But Rousseau introduced Romanticism, which worships nature rather than morals. So the new motto is "Art for art's sake," which leads to "Art is whatever provides pleasure" (as opposed to that which is uplifting). But Romanticism leads to decadence: "Whatever gives you pleasure" leads to exotica as novelty -> strong sensation and adrenaline rushes -> horror & goth. Or Travelogues (sea voyages, etc.) were regarded as exotica that was uplifting and educational -> exotica as merely sensational or weird (Ripley's "Believe It Or Not") -> exploration of the underbelly of life (fascination with crime novels, pornography, studying lives of hookers or mentally ill, etc.) -> the sensationalism of corruption, rot, perversion, etc. So under the realm of decadence, art becomes about what delivers adrenaline, what provides shock value, pornography, etc. Paglia comments quite often on the intersection of art and porn, saying you can't have one without the other. On the other hand, when you go out to the extremes of either chaos or order, you run into Jung's enantiodromia: You can't stay out at the extremes forever or you burn yourself out. So the need to run back to the other side arises; seeking homeostasis and all that. And that's why civilization largely resides in the middle ground between the two extremes of chaos and order: You can't stay at the extreme of one or the other forever. But in turn, civilization is kind of a bore, leading to a resumption of seeking excess at the extremes. And so the cycle repeats. You get the idea. Also, concerning Neumann here is a comment I posted at your YouTube channel: Great review of a complex book. But you didn't mention the author who is Paglia's source for lore about the Great Mother, murderous nature goddesses of the early fertility religions, creation myths, Babylonian mythology, etc.: Erich Neumann. Erich Neumann is generally considered Carl Jung's most brilliant student. Read Neumann's book "The Origins and History of Consciousness," and he will instantly parachute you into the world of Aztec human sacrifices, chthonian fertility religions, Osiris/Horus/Set mythology, Hero mythology, etc. In others of his books ("The Fear of the Feminine," "Amor and Psyche") he analyzes Greek and Roman myths. Paglia credited Neumann's two main books ("The Origins & History of Consciousness" and "The Great Mother") with inspiring "Sexual Personae." "Origins & History" is definitely the more readable of the two; "The Great Mother" is a bit dry and theoretical. Paglia gave a lecture on Neumann in 2005. It's an academic address and not particularly stirring, but it gives some background on Freud, Jung, and Neumann. It's linked here: https://www.bu.edu/arion/files/2010/03/Paglia-Great-Mother1.pdf

Hey Cliff! Could I get a link as well? I’m new to the channel, and new to reading literature, and have so much appreciated your help in getting introduced to all these amazing books. Looking forward to tomorrow!

Hi Cliff. Apologies if this is answered somewhere else, but I can't find it. I was just curious if the livestream is scheduled for 6 PM EST? I'm not sure if my computer is automatically adjusting the time to CST. Thanks for the clarification. I'm really looking forward to this project. I recently had a sabbatical from work, embarked on a 3-week Amtrak journey to the Pacific Northwest and found a copy of Sexual Personae at Powell's Books in Portland. I've been blown away so far by the sheer scope of Paglia's writing, along with your astute analysis, which has helped to contextualize the complex subject matter for my comparatively reptilian brain. Keep up the great work!