What is the fundamental root of homophobia?

[Sikander]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
Sexism is the root of homophobia. Men and women have defined roles within society. Feminists undermine it from one direction, and gays from another.

Bingo!

Men (higher status and power) who want to be women are considered sick, and treated with disdain and worse. Women who want to be men are considered "cute" and not taken seriously. While in their minds it is natural that the woman would want to be a man, it is laughable that she thinks she can do what men do. In both cases this is hard treatment.

Of course I'm not saying that homosexuals want to be a different gender, but this is the initial perception of society, and it has surpising longevity despite massive evidence to the contrary.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Enigma_Nova
Wasn't it Freud who claimed that all humans are inherently bisexual?
If Freud is correct, there must be a reason why people aspire to monosexuality.

Freud is a nutcase. Besides, there's absolutely no way to falsify his theory.

[Urban Ranger]

Is there any difference between homophobia and other phobias, such as arachophobia? Some people fear snakes, some fear heights, some fear enclosed spaces.

[Inverse Icarus]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
Sexism is the root of homophobia. Men and women have defined roles within society. Feminists undermine it from one direction, and gays from another.

best argument in the thread.

[MrFun]

Originally posted by yavoon


I dont think gay men satisfy heterosexual women's fantasies. atleast of the ones I've asked.

Uh . . . . this was not my argument.

[Solly]

Men and women have defined roles within society. Feminists undermine it from one direction, and gays from another.

I'd agree that this is the best way to explain "homophobia" in the thread , if only because it is the only unbiased one (if you ignore his first ridiculous sentence).

I don't like gays that are blatantly open about it. I don't mind knowing and conversing with them as a fellow male, but usually their behaviour is different and it's that which I don't like. Campness in straight people also gets on my nerves. I'm not equating campness with gayness per se though.

[Spiffor]

I have a question to those who think homosexuality is disgusting and unnatural here:
Are you outraged the same at the idea of men sodomizing women? If not, what exactly in a homosexual relation strikes you as "disgusting"? Or what makes same-sex sodomy any more disgusting than inter-sex sodomy?

[alva]

I have a question to those who think homosexuality is disgusting and unnatural here:

There should be an "/or" after the "and" here.

Nope, not outraged 'bout sodomizing women if you really need to know. Quite good actually
-

What I find appauling(in a sexual way) on men has much more to do with both smell and hair,then anything else. * shivers *
I don't get aroused, hmm put off is a better choice of words, because of how they smell. Well, it is a hormone thing, isn't it.
To me a male just coming from under the shower still smells yuk, while a female having exercised all day long still smells nice.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by MrFun

Interesting possibility, Chegitz.

Hence the origin of the term, heterosexism.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

More fuel for the fire:

One of my favorite behaviorist media studies is one that corrolates male homophobia with male responses to gay porn. It works this way: first, subjects are given a long questionaire designed to determine sexual inclinations and prejudices on a variety of topics; then the subjects are shown a series of pornographic images while wired to machinery that's measuring their physiological responses. Invariably, high responses on homophobia and intolerance of gays correlate with high arousal at gay male pornographic images.

And that, I think, is the whole game. Sexuality is an amorphous, slippery thing; but social ideology about sexuality insists that is is fixed, concrete, and unchanging. In the wide gap between what society tells us to think about sexuality, and how we actually experience sexuality, only two things can grow: the flower of skepticism about social ideologies, or the noxious weed of homophobia. And I'm sitting here using flower metaphors, so you can guess where I stand on all this.

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by Rufus T. Firefly
More fuel for the fire:

One of my favorite behaviorist media studies is one that corrolates male homophobia with male responses to gay porn. It works this way: first, subjects are given a long questionaire designed to determine sexual inclinations and prejudices on a variety of topics; then the subjects are shown a series of pornographic images while wired to machinery that's measuring their physiological responses. Invariably, high responses on homophobia and intolerance of gays correlate with high arousal at gay male pornographic images.

And that, I think, is the whole game. Sexuality is an amorphous, slippery thing; but social ideology about sexuality insists that is is fixed, concrete, and unchanging. In the wide gap between what society tells us to think about sexuality, and how we actually experience sexuality, only two things can grow: the flower of skepticism about social ideologies, or the noxious weed of homophobia. And I'm sitting here using flower metaphors, so you can guess where I stand on all this.

You're just a home in denial
Erm, I mean:
You're just an homo NOT in denial

Disclaimer: This post was meant entirely in jest

[Monk]

Rufus!

[Japher]

IMO, homophobia is caused by an insecurity with ones own sexuality... Not so much on what their own sexuality is, but in that most ppl who are homophobic are not comfortable talking about sex (:snicker:, I said sex) in general, and ussually only do so as a "jest" with friends or with their SOs in intimate situations. This may be due to religious undertones, or other more conservative ideaologies, I have no idea, and it really doesn't matter. As a result of this "taboo"-ness that is placed on sex, homophobes see homosexuals as the embodiment of sexual freedom and discovery, and thus fear them... for their openness.

[MrFun]

Japher, you realize that you said something serious, rather than some lame joke?

[Japher]

I try to say something serious at least once a month... keeps me off certain ppls ignore list