HOMO – PHOBIA
The word homo strictly means “a genus of hominids including modern humans. The origin of the word is Latin translated as man. The term phobia is usually translated as intense and/or irrational fear. Thus, someone might have a strong and irrational fear of man. The term homophobia has come to mean a fear of someone who is romantically or sexually attracted to someone of the same sex. The source of the fear is generally not physical. If someone is fearful of being forced to have sex with someone of the same gender in prison, one may not be primarily fearful because it is someone of the same gender although that may be some of the fear. No one likes to be forcibly used sexually by another person no matter what the gender.(consensual S and M activity is not the same as being forced).
In general males are more homophobic than females although there are certainly females who strongly believe any same sex activity is sinful and/or disgusting.
If most homophobia is not related to the physical fear of being overpowered and raped, what is the source of the fear? Most heterosexual males who are homophobic do not mind being approached sexually by a female who is not their partner. Assuming they have an exclusive and committed romantic relationship with a female they will simply say no thank you. If a boss or someone in authority is attempting to coerce someone most are going to be very upset.
In the Old Testament times when the belief was that there was a shortage of sperm and there were no microscopes to confirm or deny this, it was important, given the high childbirth death rate (mothers and children), ) the prohibition was against wasting seed. Thus, both masturbation and male same sex relationship were prohibited. We now know most healthy males have a significant number of sperms. Over the years the prohibition morph into same sex relationships and masturbation.
At some point in human evolution gender role patterns became rules which were incorporated into religious dogma. Depending on which dating techniques are used by social scientists early society were either matriarchal or patriarchal. The answer becomes important to many even though there may have been many factors for how tasks were shared in various cultures.
Many hundreds of years ago it would seem that patriarchy was born. Perhaps, at some level, we males always knew that our arguments for patriarchy were very weak. Thus, we legally and religiously justified and codified gender roles. One could temporarily set aside the rules if the need during wartime became acute enough. In more recent history Rosie the riveter became the symbol of the female “temporarily” taking over the “male” jobs. What exactly makes some jobs masculine or feminine? It is clear in the human species that the female biology is designed for incubating the child and giving birth. It is also clear that male penis may be the most efficient “natural” method for delivering the sperm to the egg. Otherwise, individual strength and skills determine who can best do a task. Just because there is a lexicon of gender specific words to justify unequal pay and status does not mean the tasks requires female or male anatomy. Consider words such as tailor and seamstress, cook and chef, house cleaner and janitor (now domestic engineer) and a host of others. One term indicates a professional status deserving of a decent wage and one indicates a job done by a house person, traditionally often a female with no direct pay or not enough pay to be independent.
One might make a cogent argument that homophobia is related to an acute fear that one’s masculinity will not be validated by other males; that the homophobic male has very little confidence or trust that he has any intrinsic worth until and unless it is validated by other males (and some females).
Homophobia has nothing to do with sexual orientation. One is somewhere on the continuum of sexual identity. One might only be sexually turned on by people of the same or opposite gender. One is more likely to be somewhere along the continuum. Most of us have a decided preference.
In future blogs I will further explore this topic. Others individuals, such as the West Virginia Radio Journalist Trey Kay on his Us and Them series, are exploring this topic. His current episode is “Cave men, the Patriarchy and Fairytales”. Many academic scholars and organizations such as Men Against Sexism have been exploring this and related topics for many years. I urge the reader to listen to Trey Kay’s podcast and to explore some of the articles and books on this topic.
Written January 30, 2019
Jimmy F Pickett
Coachpickett.org
The word homo strictly means “a genus of hominids including modern humans. The origin of the word is Latin translated as man. The term phobia is usually translated as intense and/or irrational fear. Thus, someone might have a strong and irrational fear of man. The term homophobia has come to mean a fear of someone who is romantically or sexually attracted to someone of the same sex. The source of the fear is generally not physical. If someone is fearful of being forced to have sex with someone of the same gender in prison, one may not be primarily fearful because it is someone of the same gender although that may be some of the fear. No one likes to be forcibly used sexually by another person no matter what the gender.(consensual S and M activity is not the same as being forced).
In general males are more homophobic than females although there are certainly females who strongly believe any same sex activity is sinful and/or disgusting.
If most homophobia is not related to the physical fear of being overpowered and raped, what is the source of the fear? Most heterosexual males who are homophobic do not mind being approached sexually by a female who is not their partner. Assuming they have an exclusive and committed romantic relationship with a female they will simply say no thank you. If a boss or someone in authority is attempting to coerce someone most are going to be very upset.
In the Old Testament times when the belief was that there was a shortage of sperm and there were no microscopes to confirm or deny this, it was important, given the high childbirth death rate (mothers and children), ) the prohibition was against wasting seed. Thus, both masturbation and male same sex relationship were prohibited. We now know most healthy males have a significant number of sperms. Over the years the prohibition morph into same sex relationships and masturbation.
At some point in human evolution gender role patterns became rules which were incorporated into religious dogma. Depending on which dating techniques are used by social scientists early society were either matriarchal or patriarchal. The answer becomes important to many even though there may have been many factors for how tasks were shared in various cultures.
Many hundreds of years ago it would seem that patriarchy was born. Perhaps, at some level, we males always knew that our arguments for patriarchy were very weak. Thus, we legally and religiously justified and codified gender roles. One could temporarily set aside the rules if the need during wartime became acute enough. In more recent history Rosie the riveter became the symbol of the female “temporarily” taking over the “male” jobs. What exactly makes some jobs masculine or feminine? It is clear in the human species that the female biology is designed for incubating the child and giving birth. It is also clear that male penis may be the most efficient “natural” method for delivering the sperm to the egg. Otherwise, individual strength and skills determine who can best do a task. Just because there is a lexicon of gender specific words to justify unequal pay and status does not mean the tasks requires female or male anatomy. Consider words such as tailor and seamstress, cook and chef, house cleaner and janitor (now domestic engineer) and a host of others. One term indicates a professional status deserving of a decent wage and one indicates a job done by a house person, traditionally often a female with no direct pay or not enough pay to be independent.
One might make a cogent argument that homophobia is related to an acute fear that one’s masculinity will not be validated by other males; that the homophobic male has very little confidence or trust that he has any intrinsic worth until and unless it is validated by other males (and some females).
Homophobia has nothing to do with sexual orientation. One is somewhere on the continuum of sexual identity. One might only be sexually turned on by people of the same or opposite gender. One is more likely to be somewhere along the continuum. Most of us have a decided preference.
In future blogs I will further explore this topic. Others individuals, such as the West Virginia Radio Journalist Trey Kay on his Us and Them series, are exploring this topic. His current episode is “Cave men, the Patriarchy and Fairytales”. Many academic scholars and organizations such as Men Against Sexism have been exploring this and related topics for many years. I urge the reader to listen to Trey Kay’s podcast and to explore some of the articles and books on this topic.
Written January 30, 2019
Jimmy F Pickett
Coachpickett.org
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