by captainbryce Wed Feb 09, 2011 3:09 pm
Chris wrote:People are generally tagged 'Homophobic' if they have any problem with homosexuality, or LGBT people. However, with the word 'phobic/phobia' (which means 'fear of') attached to the term, do you think that this is always accurate? Can someone have an aversion to LGBT people without actually being Homophobia, do you believe everyone who isn't receptive to gays has a fear of them?
With terms Sexism, Racism, would 'Gaycism' work better, or is Homophobia the right one to use?
Yes. It's usually accurate for the majority of people it's ascribed to, and the fact that most of those people tend to have a phobia about the lable itself justifies its "correctness".
A phobia is an irrational, intense and persistent fear of certain situations, activities, things, animals, or people. The reason homophobia is appropriate for those who are associated with the term is because of the key word "IRRATIONAL". Homophobia literally describes people who have an irrational fear of or aversion to homosexuals or homosexuality. It doesn't necessarily mean they fear the person as an individual, but they definetely fear what they represent.
They fear the "lifestyle" and it's influence on society. They fear homosexuals seeing them naked in the locker room. They fear their children being influenced by homosexuals or becomming homosexual. They fear homosexuality being accepted as normal in mainstream society. They fear homosexuals being child molestors. There are so many irrational FEARS associated with the typical homophobe that there is no other more appropriate term for what they are! People who are homophobic don't like the term because of the negative stigma associated with it nowadays and because of the fact that they dislike the idea that they actually "fear" something that they don't like and don't want to accept. But the reality of the situation is that's exactly what they have. FEAR! And yes, I believe that people who aren't receptive to homosexuals DO in fact fear them or what they represent in some way or another. Otherwise, why would they have the aversion in the first place? And the reality is that most people who have an aversion to any specific group of people (blacks, muslims, mexicans, etc) do in fact fear them in some way.
Homophobia is a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay, bisexual, and in some cases transgender and intersex people. Definitions refer variably to antipathy, contempt, prejudice, aversion, and irrational fear.The only people who have a fear of "labels" are the people who present the characteristics of one such label. I don't have a problem with people being labeled homophobic, racist, sexist, anti-semetic, or xenophobic because I know that I am generally not any of those things. I also know when I exhibit an instance of one of these and how it could be perceived as that label by other people. Defending against labels such as this is no different from pretending that they don't exist. But these same individuals would be very quick to label someone who has an abortion a murderer or a "liberal" (without knowing any other facts). Its really ironic and transparent when people ignore certain labels and yet embrace others. Rapist and pedophile are also labels that people guilty of those things try to defend against. Nobody wants to be labled what they are, particularly if that lable has a negative connotation to it.
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) but I still think phobia is more accurate than ism. Ism is a suffix used in the "formation of nouns denoting action or practice, state or condition, principles, doctrines, a usage or characteristic, devotion or adherence, etc." A phobia is "a persistent, irrational fear of a specific object, activity, or situation that leads to a compelling desire to avoid it." Not perfect, but I think more accurate. Either way, are the P.C. Nazis going to make us use another word? 
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