talbotlucas.org: a word to the wise is sufficient

The cover story of the latest New York magazine is Naomi Wolf's condemnation of Yale University's policies and procedures regarding claims of sexual harrassment. In the article, Ms. Wolf alleges that Professor Harold Bloom made an unwanted sexual advance, twenty years ago, and decries Yale's inattention to her recent claims, and to claims by other young women of similar (and worse) experiences.

When someone makes the sort of advance Wolf describes, and that someone is in a position of authority, it seems to me that one has to make a choice. To acknowledge the event and take action, risking other consequences, or to let it pass, which may also have consequences. But waiting twenty years? Given Wolf's own description of the event and subsequent events, and the time that's passed, I have to say that I agree with Camille Paglia's assessment. In a recent column for the New York Observer, Rachel Donadio presented Paglia's view of the revelation:

"I just feel it’s indecent that if Naomi Wolf did not have the courage to pursue the matter at the time, or in the 1990’s, and put her own reputation on the line, then to bring all of this down on a man who is in his 70’s and has health problems—who has become a culture hero to readers in the humanities around the world—to drag him into a ‘he said/she said’ scenario so late in the game, to me demonstrates a lack of proportion and a basic sense of fair play," said Ms. Paglia, who is professor of humanities and media studies at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, where she said she helped institute that university’s sexual-harassment policies in the 1980s.

"At the beginning of the 90’s, people said, ‘Oh, Naomi Wolf, this great thinker,’" said Ms. Paglia. "But what she’s managed to do in 10 years is marginalize herself as a chronicler of teenage angst. She doesn’t want to leave that magic island when she was the ripening teenager. How many times do we have to relive Naomi Wolf’s growing up? How many books, how many articles, Naomi, are you going to impose on us so we have to be dragged back to your teenage-heartbreak years? This is regressive! It’s childish! Move on! Move on! Get on to menopause next!"

In Donadio's recent column, Wolf assures her that "This is not fun" and "The only reason to go through something like this is my duty to the young women." Hmm.

I don't know what happened between Ms. Wolf and Professor Bloom, but the way this story has unfolded is very strange indeed. If Ms. Wolf is trying to fulfill her duty to young women at Yale, I think she chose a poor approach. If she felt the need to unburden herself of a memory because of a crisis of conscience, well, I understand that in principle, but her statements and her choice of medium strike me as odd, as do her reported reactions to questions that have been put to her by Donadio and others.

Does any of this really help a young woman who finds herself in a similar situation? Somehow, I think not.