I have heard people on EC say they are different, but most of my life I have been lead to believe that they are synonymous. Could someone help me out here?
In my eyes, femininity does not necessarily include flamboyance, but flamboyantly gay does include femininity. Typically, being feminine is just being more fashionable, doing more with your clothes, your eyes, your accessories, etc.. Straight men can seem feminine, and I'm sure you've heard some described as such before. In some gay guys, femininity can also extend to their personality, where they may have a more 'feminine' view of things, rather than how men handle it. Flamboyancy is showing it all off, in the whole scheme of things. You don't have to be flamboyant to be feminine. I know plenty of straight guys and straight-acting gay guys that are feminine in their appearance.
Nice way to put it. I agree. Femininity is necessary, but not sufficient, to be labeled as flamboyant/camp. The other factor(s) are je ne sais quoi, can't put my finger on it, traits.
I think they are completely different things and should not be conflated. Being femme and flamboyant can mean you are campy, but being campy doesn't mean you have to be femme and flamboyant. People don't seem to understand what camp is. Camp is an aesthetic, not just a set of human personality traits. For example, the old Batman series from the 1960s is often considered a textbook example of campiness, it was ridiculous and over the top, and it knew it was. But it wasn't "femme" or "flamboyant" or "gay" per se. Even the James Bond movies from the 70s and 80s are considered campy classics, beginning with the absurdity of Diamonds Are Forever with Sean Connery and then really reaching new heights of campiness in the Roger Moore era. (Bond villains in drag? James Bond in a clown suit and making Tarzan shouts while swinging from trees?) Actually I just posted about this in the "Are you camp?" thread, I'll re-post what I said there: I think you are confusing "camp" with "stereotypical". "Camp" just means you present yourself in a ridiculous, over-the-top kind of way, and are self-aware of your ridiculousness. It doesn't necessarily mean you are "sterotypical", "femme", "flamboyant", etc. Being campy can kinda mean being like a real-life version of an internet troll. Back when I had long hair, and was going through some crazy stages, I would sometimes walk out the door on an ordinary day dressed like Michael Jackson (complete with fedora and sunglasses) or Che Guevara (complete with red star beret), I was definitely being campy then. Camp is an aesthetic that goes way above and beyond just exhibiting stereotypical femme gay traits.
