Irony served as permission to celebrate kitsch and regressive ideas

Evidence

Irony, in fact, would be essential for the next twenty-five years of culture—not only as a coping mechanism, but as a blanket pass that allowed artists and critics to celebrate kitsch and toy with regressive ideas. And this all began in New York City’s burgeoning downtown scene. — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 49

Categorization

• XREF: This is the seed of Marx’s later argument about how irony enabled the omnivore monoculture — connects to the book’s central thesis.