Camille Paglia
A fiercely independent cultural critic who champions art, sex, and paganism against what she sees as the puritanism of modern academic feminism.
Born 1947 (age 79)·American feminist academic and critic·Birthday: April 2·Baby Boomers
Biography
Camille Paglia erupted into the intellectual scene like a polemical thunderclap with her 1990 tome 'Sexual Personae.' Rejecting the prevailing trends of postmodern theory, she offered a sweeping, erudite, and deliberately provocative history of Western culture through the lens of aggressive pagan sexuality versus orderly Judeo-Christian structure. A professor at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Paglia positioned herself as a dissident feminist, savaging what she termed the victim mentality of mainstream feminism while celebrating the raw power of archetypal figures from Nefertiti to Madonna. Her style is combative, encyclopedic, and laced with pop culture references, making her a popular and controversial public intellectual. Whether analyzing film, rock music, or poetry, she consistently argues for the enduring, sometimes dangerous, power of art and biology over what she considers the safe, jargon-cloaked ideologies of the academic establishment.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Camille was born in 1947, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Camille Was Born
The biggest hits of 1947
#1 Movie
The Egg and I
Best Picture
Gentleman's Agreement
Camille's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1947Born
India gains independence; the Dead Sea Scrolls found
Gas: $0.23/galHome: $6,600Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Near You" — Francis CraigBest Picture: Gentleman's Agreement
1952Started school
Queen Elizabeth II ascends the throne
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $8,350Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Blue Tango" — Leroy AndersonBest Picture: The Greatest Show on Earth
1960Became a teenager
Kennedy-Nixon debates become first televised presidential debates
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,900Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Theme from A Summer Place" — Percy FaithBest Picture: The Apartment
1963Could drive
JFK assassinated in Dallas; Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,100Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Sugar Shack" — Jimmy Gilmer & The FireballsBest Picture: Tom Jones
1965Could vote
US sends combat troops to Vietnam
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,600Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" — The Rolling StonesBest Picture: The Sound of Music
1968Turned 21
Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy assassinated
Gas: $0.34/galHome: $14,950Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Hey Jude" — The BeatlesBest Picture: Oliver!
1977Turned 30
Star Wars premieres; Elvis dies
Gas: $0.62/galHome: $31,800Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Tonight's the Night" — Rod StewartBest Picture: Annie Hall
1987Turned 40
Black Monday stock market crash
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $72,400Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Walk Like an Egyptian" — The BanglesBest Picture: The Last Emperor
1997Turned 50
Princess Diana dies in Paris car crash; Harry Potter published
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $104,100Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Candle in the Wind 1997" — Elton JohnBest Picture: Titanic
2007Turned 60
iPhone released; Great Recession begins
Gas: $2.80/galHome: $172,600Min wage: $5.85/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Irreplaceable" — BeyonceBest Picture: No Country for Old Men
2017Turned 70
#MeToo movement; solar eclipse crosses the US
Gas: $2.42/galHome: $195,000Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"Shape of You" — Ed SheeranBest Picture: The Shape of Water
2026Age 79 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Authored the massive and controversial bestseller 'Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson'.
- Published a landmark collection of essays on culture and sexuality, 'Sex, Art, and American Culture,' which cemented her public intellectual status.
- Wrote 'Break, Blow, Burn,' a best-selling guide to 43 classic poems aimed at a general audience.
- Served as a professor of humanities and media studies at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia for 40 years.
Did You Know?
She is a dedicated fan of the rock star Madonna and has written extensively about her cultural significance.
Paglia is an accomplished painter and has cited the visual arts as a primary influence on her critical method.
She identifies as a transgenderist, stating she felt a male persona inside her from childhood.
She has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do.
“If civilization had been left in female hands, we would still be living in grass huts.”
