Like cotton candy, Emily Danforth’s “The Miseducation of Cameron Post” is a deliciously insubstantial wad of sugar fluff. It’s the sort of treat that you want to devour in one sitting. However, as anyone who has done so will know, eating a whole bag of cotton candy will result in a stomach ache, a toothache, and if you are really unlucky, cavities. While this book may be a sweet and easy-to-swallow look into the struggles of a young lesbian living in a rural farming town during the 90’s, it lacks any deeper message.
The story starts off with Cameron, a young woman 12 years of age who is just beginning to experiment with romantic relationships between two people. However, the person with whom she is experimenting is her best friend Irene, a young woman. And while both of them know that same-sex kissing is looked down upon in their hometown of Miles City, neither one of them wants to stop. At least, not until Cameron’s parents are killed in a car crash. Relieved that she won’t have to tell her parents about what she has done, guilty for thinking such thoughts and overcome with grief, Cameron’s friendship with Irene soon disintegrates.
Quickly becoming a poster child for the wicked effects of homosexuality, Cameron gets through her early teenage years by drinking, smoking, stealing and continuing to hook up with the rather large number of lesbians who are living in rural Miles City. However, when one of them exposes Cameron’s promiscuous and sinful behavior, her conservative aunt Ruth sends her off to a camp that focuses on “praying the gay away.” There, readers get a good look at what these camps do to the confidence and self-images of the attendees; only in the last two pages of the book does Cameron come to terms with who she really is.
Such a plot would be similar to anyone familiar with the cute (and slightly campy) movie “But I’m A Cheerleader,” which was also about a young woman and the silly hijinks she gets into after being sent off to a de-gaying camp. Perhaps in an effort to make the book unique and original, the book is serious and wacky-adventure free. This lack of goofiness does make “The Miseducation of Cameron Post” a bit more credible than its movie counterpart, because there is precious little humor when it comes to anti-gay camps. However, trying to give the book a serious tone means the book tends to ramble on with scenes and drag out details that aren’t particularly relevant to the plot.
Still, it does provide an interesting look into the times. Although the gay movement had been going on for some time before, the mid and late 90s were when the gay movement really started picking up speed and the homosexual influence began to leak into pop culture. However, an interesting look at history may be all this book provides, for “The Miseducation Of Cameron Post” lacks any words of comfort for LGBT teens who may have gone through a de-gaying camp, or any message about the damaging effects of suppressing a natural part of one’s self.
The characters do little to add to the story, for most of them rarely step out of the stereotypes that have been assigned to them. The main character, Cameron, is a generic lost teenager who has turned to drug and alcohol in the hopes of finding herself. Conservative Aunt Ruth could be a possible candidate for the next wife of Newt Gingrich. Cameron’s love interest is absolutely perfect in every way. The radical lesbian has short hair, a closet full of plaid, and only identifies as a dyke so that she can stick it to the man. Nearly every single character can be placed into an LGBT-stereotype, whether it’s a stereotype about members of the LGBT community, or a stereotype about the sort of resistance the LGBT community faces.
Like most books that have a LGBT main character, “The Miseducation of Cameron Post” isn’t written for queer readers. This is a book written for straight readers to reveal the struggles that members of the LGBT community face. “The Miseducation of Cameron Post” joins the ranks of“Glee” and “Modern Family” which present the viewer with stereotypical views of gay, lesbian and transgender characters. This is done under the pretense of educating the rest of the world about the LGBT community. And while these shows and books may strive to seem radical and groundbreaking, for those of us who identify as something other than heterosexual, these stereotypical plotlines and characters quickly become trivial and boring.
All in all, “The Miseducation of Cameron Post” makes for a good read in the same way that “Glee” makes for a good way to eat up forty-five minutes of your day. Emily Danforth’s first book is an entertaining and sweet read for those who don’t mind when all gay men are painted as feminine and all lesbians are painted as butch. But for those who seek deeper characterization that goes beyond overused stereotypes, this may not be the best book. After all, the plot and characters of this book are nothing that haven’t already been seen.
Image via http://www.emdanforth.com/
