I do think that the director Janie Babbit did participate in the 'feminisation of camp'. But I feel that that particular feminisation only applied to the gay male characters in the film. Again, keeping with mainstream portrayals of lesbians, they were more turned into sex objects than anything else, and the 'male gaze' was quite reserved for them, and mocked the gay men on the screen. I feel it continues to re-inforce the binary. The only gender-queer individual in the film was trivialised and that completely de-tracted from the possibility of having gender variance. I also don't think it re-claimed camp for queer women directors. It still mainly focused on the gay male characters and fetishized all the lesbian characters. Overall, I felt that it was not an empowering film.
Feminisation of Camp
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I agree with you that the director did go through a struggle of finding her identity and wondering if she was a lesbian because that what was everyone around her assumed she was. The judgements people make about you can have a large impact about how you view yourself, whether that be positive or negative, and can actually shape your identity without you even realizing it. The way people perceive you plays a large role in the way that you see yourself which is called the looking glass effect. If people tell you, or assume you're a certain way over and over you start to believe it yourself. It's of utmost importance to get to know yourself and find your own true identity whatever that may be. If someone tells you your ugly and lame and stupid you will start to believe it after awhile which can have serious harmful implications on self your own self-worth which is very unfair. Believe in yourself and always be yourself no matter people think or say about you and you'll find true happiness ; )
Yes I agree with you that the director of the film was making a statement about how she was labeled by others as being something that she wasn’t and it was especially painful coming from her close friends and parents who assumed she was a certain way. It messed with her mind and hurt her feelings and made her question her true identity. Anytime someone accuses you of being something you’re not it is extremely painful and it takes a very strong person to know their true self, and to realize the enormity of their self-worth and overcome the negative accusations or stereotypes. I thought it was quite mean and rude how the camp director “taught” them how to be straight and made it seem like there was something wrong with them, when they were perfect just the way they were.