“‘I just didn’t know that the slutty Catholic schoolgirl has been a staple of pornography for lo these many years! If only I had realized . . .'”

Congratulations on another fine issue of Southern Cultures [Winter 2001]. I did not know what to expect from a publication featuring on its cover Britney Spears, bare midriff and all. Regarding Gavin James Campbell’s thoughtful article on Ms. Spears and her South: perhaps we should remember that, despite her undeniable status as cultural icon, she is but twenty years old. I feel rather sorry for her, actually.