“In Romanticism, unlike the Renaissance, Amazons retain their power. Rousseau wants it both ways. Idolizing women is natural and right, a cosmic law. On the other hand, male recessiveness is blamed on female coercion. Either way, sadomasochistic dominance and submission are inherent in Rousseausism from the start.”

Source: Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson (1990), p. 232

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Camille Paglia 326
American writer 1947

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