Refreshingly
independent,
witty, and
brilliant professor of humanities and media studies at Philadelphia's
University of the Arts, who penned the hefty
Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson and the more recent
Vamps and Tramps, among other works. Her words are like a
whirlwind, skewering both
conservatve and
liberal views with discerning perspective and
attitude.
You've never known an openly gay liberal feminist quite like this. Neither have other openly gay liberal feminists -- mainstream feminist and gay groups hate her guts, and wish they could clamp her overeducated lips shut. She doesn't care; Camille's confident in her correctness. Coming from the Andrew Sullivan school of homosexual libertarianism, she concentrates on critiquing the hypocritical and deceitful left, which she feels is so much more dangerous than the uninformed and Puritan ultra-right. She's a Democrat, but who knows for how long -- after voting for Clinton twice (and regretting it both times), she cast her 2000 vote in the direction of Ralph Nader. But she'd take Bush over Gore any day. And like myself, she sees the beauty in both Howard Stern and Rush Limbaugh, and has a special place in her heart for both the first and second amendments.
The subjects and styles of her writing bounce all over the map at Warp 10. Read her Salon articles, and you'll see her talking about things like "the Peter Pan syndrome among gay men", the NFL, "Anne Heche's parasitic attachment to the hapless Ellen DeGeneres", classic movies, "the decline of Great Zimbabwe", "the classic American hot dog," ancient Meso-American history, and "Clinton, who debased the presidency and tore the country apart". Yes, that was her defending John Ashcroft. And yes, that was her mocking Madonna's new cowgirl outfit.
She made the cover of Girlfriends in September 2000, much to the loathing of the mainstream lesbian herd. I'll never quite understand why so many within the homosexual community want to silence the most provocative and stimulating of their own voices. As far as I can tell, creating an illusion of cookie-cutter solidarity is infinitely more harmful than affirming the diversity and creativity of the minority. 1/3 of gays voted for George W. Bush. Could you tell? Who's squelching that voice?
Camille, Uberfetus HEARTS you. Please write for E2. Pretty please?
By the way, Camille left Salon after they ran out of money. Now she's writing for the unfortunately offline magazine Interview.