im happy for someone to be camp or stright actimg as long as they be themselves - only prob i have is when people i knew at school for like 10 years and acted behaved in a straigtht manner leave school and come out of the closet then act behave like a flamboyant queen inc using a lisp for some reason - its as if they read a manual on how to be gay and creat a charachter for themselves...bit too fake for me doin that
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Well I always wondered how much of camp is influenced by the various media. I've always felt that it sticks to what I'd call a "safe gay image" which use to be a more conservative straight acting portrayal. However it looks like it's moved more toward flamboyancy. Sorta selling people the image they expect rather that a more diverse picture.
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I want to chime in about the SAG stuff. I think I could be classified as a SAG in some ways. I'm not totally camp, but sometimes I suppress a campy comment to say something witty or subversive (if I can think of it in time). I've been doing this for a long, long time until it just kinda became part of who I am. Just the other day I asked myself, "why did I ever do this?" I realized that the vast, VAST majority of the western population (though I can only speak for America) doesn't find camp humor funny at all. Not one bit. It is looked at as "easy" humor or just an expression of passivity. It's just like how when some girls are together, they may joke and laugh, but they don't laugh as hard as their boyfriends make them. And look at stand-up comedy for more proof: How many successful camp comedians can you name? How many women comedians? The only time women comedians are successful (unless your Ellen) is when they are edgy or shocking (like Sarah Silverman). The average example of camp humor is something that will most likely not garner laughs unless you are in a group of other extremely passive gay guys.
So I can see why some camp gay men, especially ones that are INCREDIBLY camp would not want to act that way. Doesn't totally excuse the behavior, but I can see why. The point of humor in many cases is to find acceptance.
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I just watched over the past week Ru Pauls Season 3 Drag Race and Sordid Lives...the Series...both on Netflix. Both are camp humor. I thought it was great entertainment.
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I've listened to interviews with Ru Paul before and I agree. laughed quite a bit.
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Loads of Monty Python relies on camp humour, Rocky Horror, Kids in the Hall, old horror movies, and John Waters movies are examples of camp that have been hugely popular. I don't get why camp would be associated with passivity though, in the words of Susan Sontag: "The ultimate Camp statement: it's good because it's awful". Camp is primarily about resisting the mainstream, about being assertive and not passive, because it insists on treating the marginal as central, and the ridiculous as serious.
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Can I just say that I've read a few comments here, in a rush so I'll elaborate further perhaps later.
I think it was something along the lines of "if you not campy, your straight acting". With all due respect a man is a man. I will be honest here in saying that I don't know if I could every have an attraction to a camp person. I have plenty of camp friends, but I have never felt anything more for them.
What always runs through my head is.......what about being attracted to men in any way shape or form makes a person camp? I don't understand where camp behaviour comes from and I certainly don't think that a gay person by definition should be camp.
My parents were shocked when they found out I was gay, because I am not camp. It is not something I am suppressing, I am just a guy who likes guys.
I mean this in no offense to anyone who is camp, but I take offense to anyone who suggests that by definition, if your gay, your camp and if your not camp you are straight acting.
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We all fly our freak flags in different ways. I mean people would never guess that I'm gay(Unless they realize I've never had a girlfriend or see me dancing around the house while I clean.) But I'd never look down on another gay man for being a bit campy and I'd hope they'd return the favor to a gay guy who appears straight. I mean that's sort of what our community revolves around. Acceptance of differences no matter what they are.
I'm not campy, and I don't plan on starting just to fit someone elses perception of how I'm supposed to act. I have less respect for a guy who would act campy just to fit the idea that gay men are supposed to be effeminate then the guy who is himself and makes no apology's for it.
SO I guess to answer the question, no you don't have to be campy to be a gay man. You just have to be yourself and leave out the rest. If someone wants to treat me differently because I don't listen to Lady Gaga then that's their problem. :tongue:
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