So what do we call actual homophobia?

[Nimzabaat]

So we have all seen this quote (usually falsely attributed to Morgan Freeman) and it bothers me. In a world where we have phobias concerning heights (acrophobia), dinner parties (deipnophobia), otters (lutraphobia), sunlight (heliphobia), objects situated to their right (dextrophobia) that people suffer from, there's only one phobia that we (apparently) get to choose. We can take the fear of poor cell phone coverage (nomophobia) seriously but fear of homosexuals makes you an asshole.

In reality we don't get to pick which phobias we have. I love the idea of flying but my acrophobia really gets in the way. It's even sadder because there are people who are genuinely homophobic that support gay marriage and have gay friends that they have to manage their phobia around. That's because despite the gut reaction that they have around gay people, they make a choice to suppress it. That's not being an asshole in my books.

So in my opinion shaming people for having a psychological condition that they can suppress but never eliminate is almost as bad as shaming people for having a sexuality that doesn't conform to your beliefs or preferences. I know it's too late to stop using the word "homophobic" incorrectly (we're actually talking about bigots after all), but what can we call people with genuine homophobia?

Disclaimer: I have the aforementioned acrophobia, arachnophobia, and androphobia to varying degrees. None of these are convenient in my day to day.

 

[JoJo]

Is 'actual homophobia' as you describe actually a real thing? Do you have any further material we can read on it? To be a psychological condition something needs to have a markedly detrimental effect on someone's life, and while I've heard of some well-intentioned straight people having an internal twinge of disgust when they see same-sex affection, I've never heard of anyone who has a socially crippling fear of LGBT people whilst holding perfectly benign opinions about those same people as a group.

I should clarify that while it's a slight departure from it's literal meaning in ancient Greek, "same fear", ever since homophobia was coined in the late 1960's by George Weinburg[footnote]http://www.stonewall.org.uk/at_home/sexual_orientation_faqs/2697.asp[/footnote] it's always had the same wider meaning as it does now.

 

[Pseudonym]

I have another joke often attributed to Voltaire to counter that image you have there. It says that the Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, roman or an empire. Names are not descriptions. Just because we call it homophobia does not mean that anyone actually thinks it's a phobia. At least nobody who I've come across believes that homophobia is a psychological condition. Maybe you've encountered people who where actually confused on the matter but I certainly haven't.

It's even sadder because there are people who are genuinely homophobic that support gay marriage and have gay friends that they have to manage their phobia around. That's because despite the gut reaction that they have around gay people, they make a choice to suppress it. That's not being an asshole in my books.

I'm a bit confused. Typically when I see a person I can't tell straight off whether they are into the men or the women. I understand you can have a phobia of flight because you'll notice when you are in an airplane but gay people are typically not that easy to regocnise as such. I understand not wanting to look at or be around ohter people doing it but that is not a situation you would normally just run into. I don't know much about phobias so maybe I'm overlooking something here.

As to your question, I'm not sure what to call people who have a phobia of gay people but perhaps you don't need a snappy word. Maybe 'have a phobia of gay people' will have to do.

 

[TakerFoxx]

I should clarify that while it's a slight departure from it's literal meaning in ancient Greek, "same fear", ever since homophobia was coined in the late 1960's by George Weinburg[ it's always had the same wider meaning as it does now.

It is a word that always makes my inner English major cringe, since it doesn't refer to fear of reflections or identical twins. Oh English language, why must you be so murky?

 

[Recusant]

I should clarify that while it's a slight departure from it's literal meaning in ancient Greek, "same fear", ever since homophobia was coined in the late 1960's by George Weinburg[ it's always had the same wider meaning as it does now.

It is a word that always makes my inner English major cringe, since it doesn't refer to fear of reflections or identical twins. Oh English language, why must you be so murky?

For the same reason the tenth month of year has a name that means "eight month"- no one has yet straightened it out. Since I don't feel like waiting another two thousand years for someone else to get the job done, let's start it now. "Homophobia" would indeed be fear of the same; twins, clones, doppelgangers perhaps. we have the prefix "mis-" for hatred; do we have a specific word for "homosexuality" that's briefer? I know little of Old English and less of Hebrew, but perhaps some derivative of Sodom or Gomorrah? Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[The Almighty Aardvark]

This thread has come up in the past.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/phobic

The root phobic doesn't just mean fear, pay special attention to the dislike portion. It's not using a word incorrectly, look at any definition of homophobia and you can tell pretty clearly that it refers to someone bigoted.

Of course, if you want to start criticizing words that don't mean exactly what their roots imply, then there's a long list of commonly used words you should tackle first:

awful
backlog
terrific
etc...

 

[Lufia Erim]

So we have all seen this quote (usually falsely attributed to Morgan Freeman) and it bothers me. In a world where we have phobias concerning heights (acrophobia), dinner parties (deipnophobia), otters (lutraphobia), sunlight (heliphobia), objects situated to their right (dextrophobia) that people suffer from, there's only one phobia that we (apparently) get to choose. We can take the fear of poor cell phone coverage (nomophobia) seriously but fear of homosexuals makes you an asshole.

In reality we don't get to pick which phobias we have. I love the idea of flying but my acrophobia really gets in the way. It's even sadder because there are people who are genuinely homophobic that support gay marriage and have gay friends that they have to manage their phobia around. That's because despite the gut reaction that they have around gay people, they make a choice to suppress it. That's not being an asshole in my books.

So in my opinion shaming people for having a psychological condition that they can suppress but never eliminate is almost as bad as shaming people for having a sexuality that doesn't conform to your beliefs or preferences. I know it's too late to stop using the word "homophobic" incorrectly (we're actually talking about bigots after all), but what can we call people with genuine homophobia?

Disclaimer: I have the aforementioned acrophobia, arachnophobia, and androphobia to varying degrees. None of these are convenient in my day to day.

50 years ago people were actually afraid of homosexuals. Especially males. So i think that's where it comes from. There where commercials dedicated to warn people of the dangers of homosexuals to society.

Now you're right in saying it's not an actual phobia. But unless people who suffer from actual phobias find it offensive for what ever reason i don't think the word needs to me changed. We know what it means and are just arguing semantics.

 

[Thaluikhain]

This thread has come up in the past.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/phobic

The root phobic doesn't just mean fear, pay special attention to the dislike portion. It's not using a word incorrectly, look at any definition of homophobia and you can tell pretty clearly that it refers to someone bigoted.

Of course, if you want to start criticizing words that don't mean exactly what their roots imply, then there's a long list of commonly used words you should tackle first:

awful
backlog
terrific
etc...

Goddamnit, you have totally ruined my chance for a rubbish joke about how PETA should go after baseball players for hitting things with bats.

Oh, stick "hydrophobic" on that list. As in "Germans are spraying the outsides of their buildings with hydrophobic coatings, so people urinating on them get splashed". Apparently that's a thing.

 

[The Almighty Aardvark]

Oh, stick "hydrophobic" on that list. As in "Germans are spraying the outsides of their buildings with hydrophobic coatings, so people urinating on them get splashed". Apparently that's a thing.

Someone is going to use this on urinals, it is only a matter of time

 

[The Lunatic]

As a homosexual, and despite attempts to make us equal in recent days, ( I assure you, I am no equal to you! I am far above the common heteronormative rift-raff, thank you very much! Ha Ha!) I've never got it either. I mean, beyond being a lazy comeback I use against people who oppose homosexuality, I've never really engaged in the idea these people are actually afraid of homosexuals.

So, it's an odd term. I find calling somebody "Homophobic" and likewise "Transphobic" is often used to just beat people around the head rather than actually engage with them on any level.

 

[Atrocious Joystick]

Phobia can just mean aversion and is applied to a lot more than just phobias, the irrational fear of something. An example would be well, homophobia, the dislike of homosexuals. It also has uses in chemistry speak what with the hydrophobic effect and non polar molecules being hydrophobic. Homo itself also has several uses, like homogenous. Trans also have different uses.

 

[Secondhand Revenant]

Personally I have almost only seen people who also just happened to be against same sex marriage take issue with the word. Pretty sure people understand what is actually meant by it. Further words do not have some inherent meaning. Meaning is determined by common usage, if they don't currently match then eventually the meaning changes. As someone else pointed out, we have plenty of other words that no longer match their original roots.

The only motives I can see for this are either a complete misunderstanding of how language works or someone with a political agenda wanting to stop people from using it as an accusation.

 

[Nimzabaat]

Is 'actual homophobia' as you describe actually a real thing? Do you have any further material we can read on it? To be a psychological condition something needs to have a markedly detrimental effect on someone's life, and while I've heard of some well-intentioned straight people having an internal twinge of disgust when they see same-sex affection, I've never heard of anyone who has a socially crippling fear of LGBT people whilst holding perfectly benign opinions about those same people as a group.

I should clarify that while it's a slight departure from it's literal meaning in ancient Greek, "same fear", ever since homophobia was coined in the late 1960's by George Weinburg[footnote]http://www.stonewall.org.uk/at_home/sexual_orientation_faqs/2697.asp[/footnote] it's always had the same wider meaning as it does now.

Fear of being stared at by a duck is a thing, so why wouldn't fear of homosexuals be a thing? Some people have venustraphobia (fear of beautiful women). If a situation or thing exists, people can have an unreasoning fear of it. I knew a girl who had some kind of bone phobia where if you cracked your knuckles around her she would freak out and cry (I made the mistake of cracking my neck around her and her reaction was a bit stronger).

Though I see what you mean by the history of the word, it's always been the wrong word.

 

[Nimzabaat]

As a homosexual, and despite attempts to make us equal in recent days, ( I assure you, I am no equal to you! I am far above the common heteronormative rift-raff, thank you very much! Ha Ha!) I've never got it either. I mean, beyond being a lazy comeback I use against people who oppose homosexuality, I've never really engaged in the idea these people are actually afraid of homosexuals.

So, it's an odd term. I find calling somebody "Homophobic" and likewise "Transphobic" is often used to just beat people around the head rather than actually engage with them on any level.

Thank you. That's my point exactly, it's lazy and inaccurate. If someone is just a bigot their minds are already closed and there is nothing to be gained from dealing with them. If they're actually homophobic or transphobic, there is room for compromise and understanding. It would just be nice for people to know the difference.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

People arnt scared, they just dont agree with it. I dont care if people have hatred for gays, blacks or whatever. Just keep it to yourself and not get violent or verbal.

 

[Something Amyss]

Phobia can mean more than just fear.

This seems like people trying to game a definition.

 

[zumbledum]

So we have all seen this quote (usually falsely attributed to Morgan Freeman) and it bothers me. In a world where we have phobias concerning heights (acrophobia), dinner parties (deipnophobia), otters (lutraphobia), sunlight (heliphobia), objects situated to their right (dextrophobia) that people suffer from, there's only one phobia that we (apparently) get to choose. We can take the fear of poor cell phone coverage (nomophobia) seriously but fear of homosexuals makes you an asshole.

Disclaimer: I have the aforementioned acrophobia, arachnophobia, and androphobia to varying degrees. None of these are convenient in my day to day.

well doesn't that make you a triple asshole? you can choose to suppress those phobias just as much as someone who suffers from homophobia.
I think your getting confused with people who are either simply ignorant and so naturally react badly , or people that are socially conditioned to view the gay as wrong.

you cant go around using a word incorrectly then complain when it doesn't mean what you tried to say. Homophobia is just as legitimate as any phobia you cant go around picking and choosing the ones that are PC.

 

[Burgers2013]

I agree with other posts. I don't think it necessarily has to mean "fear of." It's also "aversion to." Xenophobia is a good example. From the Oxford Dictionary:

Dislike of or prejudice against people from other countries