So Gay Talese wasn’t inspired by any women writers. So what?
Feminists organized a mass online fainting session when Talese, one of the most admired magazine writers of his generation and the author of such best-selling books as “Thy Neighbor’s Wife,” recently answered “None” when asked which female journalists inspired him as a young man.
The remarks of 84-year-old writers at conferences don’t ordinarily generate headlines, but Talese found himself the target of a sudden-onset game of dodgeball as media outlets rushed to take potshots at him. “Gay Talese has a lady problem,” declared the LA Times. “He can’t think of any female writers who inspired him.”
As is often the case when the feminist outrage machine chugs into motion, the primary fuel was distortion. Gothamist, for instance, said, incorrectly, “Gay Talese doesn’t care much for women writers.”
A St. Louis-based columnist for Toronto’s the Globe and Mail said (even more absurdly) that Talese had denied “the existence” of female writers:
The actor Michael McKean suggested Talese’s answer was so outrageous that he should henceforth be treated as a sort of relic or unperson: “Gay Talese aced the Sinatra article in 1965, to give him his due. ‘Remember them as they were and write them off.’ — E. Hemingway.”
But Talese’s answer isn’t particularly surprising, since there weren’t many female journalists of note when he got started — was he supposed to reach back in time and lie about his state of mind during the Eisenhower administration? For what purpose?
Even if all of Talese’s favorite writers, from the dawn of time until now, were male — which is not the case — why would that be a problem?
The logic of the outrage was muddy. Instead of explaining why we should be horrified by Talese’s answer, much of the vituperation came in the standard, huffy format of “You did not just say that!” As though it were self-evident why we should all be very angry. (The lead of the Boston Globe story on l’affaire Talese actually was, “Did Gay Talese just say that?”)
Should Talese have lied about the sources of his early inspiration to assuage the feelings of the women in the audience? Feminists who make the “Women are special! Our feelings must never be hurt!” argument aren’t doing themselves any favors if they want an equal playing field with men. Or perhaps at future writers’ conferences, we should divide speakers into separate rooms. One could be marked: “Warning: Some Ideas May Be Unsafe for Ladies.” The other could be focused on quilting seminars and pictures of kitties.
Even if all of Talese’s favorite writers, from the dawn of time until now, were male — which is not the case — why would that be a problem? Look at your bookshelves: Do the demographics of the authors you read match those of society as a whole? “Readers prefer authors of their own sex,” read a 2014 headline in The Guardian. Adding wit to the matter, Vladimir Nabokov once quipped he was “frankly homosexual” on the subject of what kind of translators he liked.
Jeet Heer of the New Republic unwittingly provided a defense of Talese in attempting to enforce PC orthodoxy with this tweet: “Re: that Gay Talese embarrassment, women reporters tend to get written out of the history of New Journalism: Gail Sheehy, Gloria Emerson, etc.” Gail Sheehy was indeed a big name in the ’60s and ’70s, but after venturing into goopy pop psychology with her Me Decade monster hit “Passages,” in 1976, she was rarely taken seriously again, and today isn’t widely read.
As for Gloria Emerson: Um, who?
When Joan Didion’s name came up, Talese replied that such an educated woman is reluctant to deal with anti-social types. (In the context of Didion, a porcelain teacup of a woman, this wasn’t particularly surprising: The notion of her hanging with the Hell’s Angels, as Hunter S. Thompson did for a year, is ridiculous.)
It hadn’t occurred to me before that women journalists, virtually all of whom these days are indeed college graduates, are reluctant to interview lowlifes, but that’s Talese’s opinion. If you don’t agree, argue your side instead of blowing your top. “Shut up” is not an argument.
Besides, it’s possible Talese has a point. A woman may not feel comfortable surrounded by pornographers (featured in Talese’s 1981 book “Thy Neighbor’s Wife”), mobsters (Talese’s 1971 book “Honor Thy Father”) or executives at a publication that has repeatedly been sued for sexual discrimination (Talese’s 1969 book “The Kingdom and the Power”).