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Where do I even begin? <\/p>\n
At its core, camp is almost undefinable. It is experiential and sprouts from lived experiences.<\/strong> It might raise an eyebrow or two from \u201cnormal\u201d onlookers, but when evaluating camp, we have to throw that term away. \u201cNormal\u201d doesn\u2019t exist in a campy world. Instead, camp is rooted in absurdity, exaggeration, irony, parody, playfulness, theatricality, a desire<\/a> to \u201cdethrone the serious,\u201d a \u201clove of the unnatural\u201d and the idea of \u201cthings-being-what-they-are-not\u201d. The Rocky Horror Picture Show is camp; Thierry Mugler\u2019s Les Cowboys<\/a> <\/em>1992 collection is camp; Lady Gaga\u2019s<\/a> iconic 2010 meat dress is camp; and sitting here typing this piece out in a fuzzy, leopard print robe, with sparkly five-inch stiletto heels and last night\u2019s liquid liner on is camp.\u00a0In the spirit of embracing camp as both a feeling and an essence, then, we have to address the elephant in the room \u2014 camp is so intrinsically linked to and rooted in Queerness that straight people attempting to partake in it will almost always fall flat. Point blank period.<\/p>\n With such a bold statement, it\u2019s only fair for me to provide a bit of context. Allow me to take you to mid-1900s New York City. While it was undeniably a time of glitz and glamour, it also lacked an acceptance of and an embracing attitude toward Queer people, specifically Queer people of Color. In response, ballroom culture<\/a> arose in the dark, seedy undergrounds of NYC\u2019s booming metropolitan cityscape. The balls and performances that took place in these communities embodied camp to a tee. The outfits associated with these events took \u201cnormal\u201d societal concepts and flipped them on their heads, creating theatrical and dramatic retellings of everyday \u201cstraight\u201d life.<\/p>\n Queer people have lived and continue to live life being seen as absurd, weird and unnatural; even today as I walk down the street in my fuzzy pink yeti boots, I am guaranteed to receive at least ten sets of piercing eyes on my skin and the associated feelings of discomfort. I am a freak to them \u2014 all Queer people are. And you know what? So be it. Camp allows me to embrace this feeling, and gives me a space and a community to play around with the dramatic performative outfits that not everyone understands. With this in mind, I ask you: How can camp, an idea dependent on absurdity and exaggeration, be achieved by straight people whose lives reflect the very normality that camp is designed to make fun of?\u00a0<\/p>\n