Katha Pollitt

The famed columnist bursts pop culture’s bubble on body politics and new feminism

By Kelly Shindler
Published: September 26th, 2006 | 1:41pm

As a feminist squarely on the political left, Katha Pollitt has been pushing buttons in her column for The Nation since 1994. Though she’s a longtime advocate of social justice, equality for women, and upright political character, Pollitt sometimes sparks a backlash from those she critiques. Not all feminists think alike, and her outspoken ripostes against divergent philosophies of women’s sexuality and stay-at-home mommyhood can fall upon bristling ears. In perhaps the most notorious instance, Camille Paglia served Pollitt some major flak, denouncing her review of Katie Roiphe’s The Morning After as “a lying piece of defamatory prose that I hope [Pollitt] burns in hell for.” This feud is proudly featured in Pollitt’s bio on The Nation’s Web site.

Pollitt’s latest book, Virginity or Death! And Other Social and Political Issues of Our Time, is the sequel to her earlier anthology of Nation writings, Subject to Debate: Sense and Dissents on Women, Politics, and Culture (2001). Virginity or Death!covers expansive recent historical ground, examining the discourse surrounding 9/11, the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, the 2004 presidential election, the current brouhaha over abortion rights, and other milestones. “Put Out No Flags,” one of its more controversial essays, describes Pollitt’s reticence to hang a flag out her window after 9/11. Amused that it scored her the 74th spot in conservative journalist Bernard Goldberg’s book, 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America, she dryly notes, “Memo to self: must try harder.”

Pollitt is also an astute poet and essayist whose musings have appeared in publications including the New Yorker and Atlantic Monthly. Her 1982 collection of poems, Antarctic Traveller, won the National Book Critics Circle Award. On a summery Saturday morning, she spoke frankly about sex, death, and the future of the female body.

Which political party are you registered with?
I’m a member of the Democratic Party, so in that sense I’m a Democrat. I am a total civil libertarian and in favor of lots of government help for poor people, so in that sense I’m a liberal. I’m in favor of a more equal redistribution of goods so in that sense I’m a progressive. But there’s something mealy-mouthed about all these terms. There isn’t a good word for what I want. What’s wrong with leftist?

Though your main concern has always been women’s rights.
I write a lot about women’s issues not only because those issues are of great interest and concern to me, but also because there isn’t that much out there. There are fewer and fewer openly feminist columnists. If you want to succeed in the punditry business as a woman, be a reactionary. Be a conservative. That’s where the cultural openings are right now.

What about mainstream liberal media like The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, “Weekend Update” on Saturday Night Live, and The Onion? How do you feel about their reliance on entertainment, eye candy, and humor to get their message across?
I love these shows and The Onion too. Stephen Colbert getting antifeminist Caitlin Flanagan to say life was better when husbands could have their wives lobotomized was a great moment in television. I think it's terrific that there's some vigorous wit and humor and satire on the left that appeals to people who may not be reading The Nation or the New York Times. [But] is entertainment more effective than in-depth reporting and analysis? I think you need both. Read The Nation, then watch Jon Stewart at 11.

In your February 13, 2006, column, “Pro-Choice Puritans,” your description of anti-abortion legislation echoed the abortion ban since passed in South Dakota.
There’s a saying that for a lot of people, there should be three exceptions to an abortion ban: rape, incest, and me. It’s interesting that rape and incest are the two circumstances people say should be exceptions to a ban on abortion, because what they’re really saying is that [the victim] didn’t volunteer to have sex. That means that they think a woman with a heart condition [that makes pregnancy risky] should die if her birth control fails, or that her health should be compromised. How much do we want to punish people for having voluntary sex?

Supposedly we’re in the midst of a third wave of feminism now, and publications like Bust, Bitch, and Venus Zine support that. But in your introduction you call feminism “the longest funeral in history.”
Those magazines are feminist, of course, and their coverage of pop culture and fashion offers scope to gender theory. They’re clever and funny, which is appealing, too. On the other hand, I resist the impulse to post-feminism, to say we’ve won our freedom and that everything is choice now, so let’s knit. I’m not saying knitting is wrong or bad — I’m fond of sweaters myself — but I don’t think you’re going to find women’s equality in the yarn shop. It’s when those things become some kind of replacement for social activism that I start to worry. Then it offers a free road to the people who want to take your freedom away.

Things that would have been in a science fiction novel ten years ago are now happening. The title piece in Virginity or Death is about the discovery of a vaccine against HPV, which would prevent most cases of cervical cancer in this country. When this was discovered, the first response of the Christian right was to say, “This will send the message to young girls that they can be promiscuous.” They got too much flak for that. So now their position is that the vaccine shouldn’t be mandatory. Ten years ago, it would’ve been very hard to foresee that a major positive development in women’s health and the fight against cancer would be discussed entirely in terms of its effect on teenage chastity.

How about "new feminists" like Samantha Bee and Tina Fey? Are there other accessible feminists you admire?
Tina Fey is hilarious, and I only wish Samantha Bee was on the Daily Show, well, daily! Mostly, though, I'm a book person. I thought Ariel Levy's Female Chauvinist Pigs had a lot of interesting things to say about the supposed feminism of stripper chic and raunch. I also admire Jennifer Baumgardner, who is co-author with Amy Richards of Manifesta and Grassroots, which talk about young feminists organizing from the ground up.

It's clear from your writing that you have issues with New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd. But her book, Are Men Necessary?, is doing incredibly well.
Maureen Dowd is a terrifically clever writer with an unmistakably distinctive voice. But I wish she'd get out of her NY-Beltway-media bubble, where everyone seems to be obsessed with shoes and the latest older powerful man to pick up some 22-year-old featherhead. I wish she didn't credit every silly trend story she reads about "many young women" who "increasingly" say they plan to quit their jobs the minute Mr. Right shows up. I've spent a lot of time debunking those stories. She should read my column! It would cheer her up.

Why is sex still such a loaded issue for women?
There is so much sex in our culture that you could probably point to evidence for any position you wish to take. You could look at the intense preoccupation many women have with a conventional standard of beauty and say we’re becoming a nation of Barbie dolls. But you could also look at the fact that of women under 25, 14% say they’ve had a lesbian experience. You could say that that argues women are having a broader range of experiences. I read on Feministing.com that half the women in America have a vibrator. I’m not saying a vibrator is a substitute for a human partner, but that tells you something about women’s relation to sexual pleasure.

Your two personal essays that appeared in the New Yorker, "Learning to Drive" and "Webstalker," are incredibly intimate. Was it hard for you to give so much away about your breakup?
"Webstalker" is written as if I am telling all sorts of omigod-can-you-believe-I-did-this secrets. But really all I did was Google my ex-boyfriend a lot. I think many people have done something like that after a breakup. It's interesting that people see those essays as baring shameful things. It's okay to write explicitly about your sex life, or your substance abuse — even if you make half of it up — but if you admit that someone really got to you, that's seen as intimate to the point of embarrassment.

What has the Internet done for feminism?
The Internet has put me in touch with all these feminists. There are some wonderful feminist websites like Bitch Ph.D and Salon.com's “Broadsheet.” There’s a very rich feminist conversation going on in the blogosphere that is hardly reflected in print media.

It’s also a very visual medium. If you look at the personal ads in a magazine or a newspaper, it’s all words. But if you go online, the picture is the important thing. The Internet has made it possible for people to meet who never would have met before. And e-mailing can be very exciting because you’re seducing someone with words. It’s almost like an epistolary correspondence from the 19th century. I know people who have married [who met online] and there is no way life would’ve brought them together.

That sounds surprisingly hopeful. In today’s political climate, do you ever lose hope?
I would say I feel hopeful Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays and less hopeful on the other days [laughs]. I have to believe in people’s goodwill, their common sense and their impulse to save themselves. I have to believe that women are not going to allow themselves to become fetal vessels for Christ. I have to believe that at a certain point people are going to say, “Enough of that.”

Katha Pollitt portrait by Andrea Sperling

Kelly Shindler is a writer and film curator based in Brooklyn. She's a co-founder of the Package Deals film series and has written about arts and culture for a variety of publications, including BUST. By day, she spreads the word about contemporary art for Art21, producers of the PBS series. Follow her exploits at fitsnarts.blogspot.com.