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ROUGHLY_READ

                                             Tuesday July 20, 2004


Camille Paglia in her Playboy magazine interview (May 1995):

   "Hefner has never gotten the credit he deserves-- not
   merely for his influence on the culture's view of sex
   but for creating a whole motif, a style for men that was
   a departure from the World War One rough-and-ready
   type-- the kind in the action magazines. The style he
   created wasn't just about women, it was about
   connoisseurship. He said it's possible to be a new kind
   of man, a European-style man interested in fine stereo
   equipment, good wine, sophisticated conversation and
   progressive ideas."

                        [ref]


This is pretty clearly wrong.

                 HIPSTERISM

   Maybe she's not all that familiar
   with action magazines?

   Try this thesis:

   The embrace of low art and popular
   culture is a post-sixties phenomena.

   Prior to that, the American Boob
   felt self-conscious about being a
   boob, and they always felt that
   someday they should really try to
   acquire some "Culture".

       E.g. the American settlers
       supposedly traveled with a
       Shakespere along with their Bible,
       and liked entertainments that
       included scenes from Shakespere
       acted out.

       E.g. the prevalence of "Hooked on
       Classics" albums, designed to
       provide a quickie education in
       classical music.

                                       KICKING_SELF_IMPROVEMENT



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