I wonder whether the obituarists will recall Mailer's dissent from the first wave of feminism in the early 1970's. Given his own notorious marital relationships, it was hard to take him seriously as a sexual philosopher. But among the recollections of Mailer worth bringing to mind |
... is of a Mailer appearance at the University of Colorado:
After an overlong and fawning introduction, Mr. Mailer waited offstage (obviously prolonging the applause), then strutted out, his shoulders pulled back, dressed all in black. At the time he was quite well known for antagonizing women's libbers, so there was quite a contingent of sign waving female protestors, and some males as well.
As he began to speak in his rapid fire and theatrical style, he was often heckled from the large audience. Most of this had to do with his supposedly misogynistic leanings. After 10 minutes or so, he decided to respond, telling the audience he would be happy to deal with the shouters directly. He then challenged them to "hiss me resoundingly," which they did with some gusto. He then derided their effort and commitment, telling them how puny was their voice, and implored them to do better. The response was much bigger the next time, with lots of profanity and vile name calling. Mailer stood there stoically receiving their rage.
When the din had mostly died down and people were waiting for his response, Mailer simply looked out over the audience and said, "Thank you, obedient bitches."
The tension had gotten just high enough, and the anticipation was certainly high enough, so that this perfect piece of theatrical verbal judo caused the room to explode with screams, hoots, laughter and sustained applause. I have never seen before or since such a wonderful performance.
Of course, though the protesters were afraid to open their mouths thereafter, that didn't stop one of them from going back to their dorm room and calling in a bomb threat. It was the perfect end piece to a perfect evening.
On the one hand I do find Mailer rather offensive and misogynistic. On the other hand...
... RIP
After an overlong and fawning introduction, Mr. Mailer waited offstage (obviously prolonging the applause), then strutted out, his shoulders pulled back, dressed all in black. At the time he was quite well known for antagonizing women's libbers, so there was quite a contingent of sign waving female protestors, and some males as well.
As he began to speak in his rapid fire and theatrical style, he was often heckled from the large audience. Most of this had to do with his supposedly misogynistic leanings. After 10 minutes or so, he decided to respond, telling the audience he would be happy to deal with the shouters directly. He then challenged them to "hiss me resoundingly," which they did with some gusto. He then derided their effort and commitment, telling them how puny was their voice, and implored them to do better. The response was much bigger the next time, with lots of profanity and vile name calling. Mailer stood there stoically receiving their rage.
When the din had mostly died down and people were waiting for his response, Mailer simply looked out over the audience and said, "Thank you, obedient bitches."
The tension had gotten just high enough, and the anticipation was certainly high enough, so that this perfect piece of theatrical verbal judo caused the room to explode with screams, hoots, laughter and sustained applause. I have never seen before or since such a wonderful performance.
Of course, though the protesters were afraid to open their mouths thereafter, that didn't stop one of them from going back to their dorm room and calling in a bomb threat. It was the perfect end piece to a perfect evening.
On the one hand I do find Mailer rather offensive and misogynistic. On the other hand...
... RIP
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