Camping gay meaning
'That's so camp': Defining the slang and aesthetic term, plus its place in queer history
"Camp" is a term many know but limited can define. You may have heard it as slang adopted by Gen Z or in context with the 2019Met Gala theme, but it has a much deeper history, particularly in queer communities.
Though “camp” preexisted American scribe Susan Sontag, she produced one of the most seminal texts to explain it in 1964:
“Camp asserts that fine taste is not simply good taste; that there exists, indeed, a fine taste of awful taste,” Sontag wrote in her “Notes on ‘Camp.’”
What does camp mean?
Camp is an aesthetic or expression of “inauthentic visual cues,” says Michael Mamp, an associate professor of Lousiana State University’s fashion program and the director and curator of the university’s textile and costume museum.
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.In other words, "camp" isn't often intentional. It's expressing yourself earnestly and sincerely, but coming off as over-the-top to those around you.
“Camp is a vision of the world in terms of design – but a particular kind of style,” Sontag wrote. “It is the love of the exaggerated, the ‘off,’ of things-being-wha
I felt obligated to post this definition of 'camp' since I believe it to be the most accurate. This is borrowed from dictionary.com:
1. something that provides sophisticated, knowing amusement, as by virtue of its being artlessly mannered or stylized, self-consciously artificial and extravagant, or teasingly straightforward and sentimental.
2. a person who adopts a teasing, theatrical manner, esp. for the amusement of others.
3. An affectation or appreciation of manners and tastes commonly thought to be artificial, vulgar, or banal.
4. Banality, vulgarity, or artificiality when deliberately affected or when appreciated for its humor: "Camp is popularity plus vulgarity plus innocence"
adj. Having deliberately pretend, vulgar, banal, or affectedly humorous qualities or style: played up the silliness of their roles for camp impact.
So you can see, camp, as it was originally known as and still, in my opinion, most accurately, has nothing to do with entity gay.
Campy movies: Ambush of the 50-foot Woman, Plan 9 From Outer Territory, The Tingler, Barbarella
by Daemone Darker Rally 03, 2009
something considered amusing not because of its orig
Early in the first episode of the BBC truths dating show I Kissed A Boy, glamorous pop star Danni Minogue descends a staircase to greet the all-male line-up of contestants. “Probably not the right heels for this,” she admits.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got another pair if they’re no good,” quips one of the men, Ollie, who sports an impressive moustache and a deep voice. Although the men have never met before, they quickly bond, finding common ground in this kind of camp humour, which has been the defining feature of gay or queer male friendships for centuries.
Camp is notoriously difficult to characterize, as I explain in my new book, Camp! The Story of the Attitude That Conquered The World. It can be an attitude, a approach or a behaviour and it consists of several components – exaggeration, artificiality or theatricality, breaking social norms and silliness which results in humour.
If the effect is not intended to be hilarious, it is camp. If the effect is intentionally funny, then it is campy – a phrase more commonly used in the US than the UK.
Camp has not always been understood. During the Dublin Scandal trial in 1884, several prominent men were accused of engaging in indecent acts. A lette
Green’s Dictionary of Slang
campn.2
[camp adj.](orig. US)1. flamboyance, overt exhibitionism; usu. but not invariably applied to homosexuals.
| Manchester Eve. News 22 Oct. 3/3: The ticket was handed up to the bench, and read as follows:– ‘Her Majesty, Queen of Camp, will grasp a grand levé and grand ball masque on Wednesday, October 21st, 1874. Dancing to commence at ten o'clock; tickets 1s. 6d. each. Ices, refreshments, &c., will be provided’ . | |
| ‘R. Scully’Scarlet Pansy 295: It was good nigh impossible to buy gifts, but they all rose to the occasion, stopping at the all night drugstores, picking up what they could, as Ella expressed to Kitty, ‘more for the camp of the thing than anything else’. | |
| E. Wilson 16 Jan. [synd. col.] ‘What’s a camp?’ [...] Anything that’s kinda [...] fun or chic or chichi or colorful’. | |
| (con. 1944) J.H. BurnsGallery (1948) 141: You and I both know what camping is. | |
| K. WilliamsDiaries 30 Jan. 21: Sid Field was marvellous [...] what camping! I simply roared! | |
| Oz 1 16/3: ‘Camp’ – the glorification of the inability to discriminate. | |
| T. SouthernBlue Movie (1974) 213: ‘See if he’s got a hard-on’ [... |