What is campy?

Camp is a style and sensibility that deliberately exaggerates and celebrates the artificial, the theatrical, and the excessive. It often involves a knowingness and irony, finding pleasure in things that are considered tasteless or vulgar by mainstream standards. It's not simply bad taste, however. Camp requires a certain level of artifice and intentionality.

Here are some key aspects of camp:

• Exaggeration: Camp revels in over-the-top displays, whether in fashion, performance, or design. Think of overly elaborate costumes, melodramatic acting, or garish decor. This can be found under the "Exaggeration" title.
• Artifice: Camp emphasizes the artificial and the constructed, rather than the natural or authentic. It embraces the fake and the imitation, often with a wink. You can find out more in this page: "Artifice"
• Theatricality: Performance and spectacle are central to camp. Camp often draws inspiration from theater, opera, and other forms of staged entertainment. Read more about it in "Theatricality".
• Irony: Camp often involves a sense of irony, with an awareness of the incongruity between the subject and the way it is presented. It's a playful and knowing form of appreciation. More information available on this page: "Irony".
• Humor: Camp often aims to be humorous, though the humor can be subtle and depend on the audience's understanding of the style. It's a humor rooted in recognition of the absurd. Take a look at this page to learn more: "Humor".
• Aestheticism: Camp is often associated with a heightened sense of aesthetics, though not necessarily in a conventional or refined way. It finds beauty in the unexpected and the unconventional. Here's a good resource about this subject "Aestheticism".
• Androgyny and Gender Bending: Camp frequently explores and celebrates gender fluidity and blurring of gender roles. More information "Androgyny%20and%20Gender%20Bending"

Camp is often associated with LGBTQ+ culture, although it is not exclusive to it. It has been used as a way to subvert mainstream norms and express alternative identities. Susan Sontag's 1964 essay "Notes on 'Camp'" is a seminal text in understanding this concept.