But I’m a Cheerleader; a Camp Critique of Heteronormativity

Abstract

The essay critically analyzes Jamie Babbit's 1999 film But I'm a Cheerleader as a subversive critique of heteronormativity through the lens of Camp. The film, set in a conversion therapy camp, uses humor and exaggerated gender roles to challenge societal expectations of gender and sexual orientation. By employing Camp, the movie undermines the seriousness of the conversion therapy process and highlights the absurdity of gender norms when taken to their most literal sense. The analysis draws on theories of gender performativity by Judith Butler and concepts of heteronormative discourse by Gayle Rubin, alongside various scholarly interpretations of Camp. This essay argues that the film reclaims Camp as a queer mode of expression, using it to ridicule dominant culture while validating queer identities and relationships. The film’s excessive use of gendered symbolism, such as color-coding and gender-specific tasks, serves to expose the artificiality of these norms, ultimately positioning queer love as authentic and society’s rigid expectations as flawed.