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rfmcdonaldThe news that Cardinal O'Brien of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, he who has made a name for himself in the United Kingdom and the wider world for a variety of anti-gay statements, has himself resigned his position after being accusations he of undue sexual conduct with four different men became public, resdonates. The man seems to have been a hypocrite, condemning a class of behaviours and a certain identity that he himself indulged in--and, worse, may have engaged in a certain amount of coercion of subordinates.
O'Brien seems to have been a hypocrite. Generalizing from his case to all homophobes and all homophobia--assuming that it's all a matter of sexual repression--does not follow. That's the subjects post of "Homophobes Are All Secretly Gay". (Not.) Wonkman points out that claiming that a homophobe is secretly gay plays into traditional anti-gay stereotypes.
Coverage of the scientific research has frequently been nuanced, portrayed well last April in Scientific American.
"May." "Sometimes." "Only one source." None of these adjectives refer to certainties. If you go to the paper in question, there you'll find those adjectives and others like "some."
One thing that the accusation that homophobes are closeted allows, incidentally, is a vindication of heterosexuals as not beign homophobic or implicated in homophobic norms. If homophobes is just a gay thing, what do heterosexuals have to do with it all? The accusation can be a convenient way to excuse heterosexuals from having to change anything about themselves.
O'Brien seems to have been a hypocrite. Generalizing from his case to all homophobes and all homophobia--assuming that it's all a matter of sexual repression--does not follow. That's the subjects post of "Homophobes Are All Secretly Gay". (Not.) Wonkman points out that claiming that a homophobe is secretly gay plays into traditional anti-gay stereotypes.
You just told us that a homophobe is secretly a broken, twisted piece of work: that his conduct and personality are defined by urges he’s working extremely hard to suppress; that he lashes out violently and publicly in order to help keep his broken sanity together; that he cannot possibly be a complete human being; that he is, fundamentally, an extremely sad and disturbed person; and that all of this is because he is secretly gay.
In short, he’s a wild-eyed freak.
You have no reason to think that he’s secretly gay. No study has ever concluded that a majority of homophobes (let alone all of them) are secretly gay. Sure, studies like this are constantly reported in the popular press, but the findings are always exaggerated and most of the studies reported in the popular press weren’t even looking into this phenomenon to begin with.
There is a weak scientific basis upon which to conclude that some homophobes experience some degree of latent homosexual attraction, but this degree is not necessarily higher than large numbers of people who live as perfectly contented, well-adjusted heterosexuals. (Having some small degree of same-sex attraction [that one time you kissed a guy in college; noticing that your personal trainer has nice abs which, in the back of your mind, you’d kind of like to rub; etc.] doesn’t make you gay.)
What we’re left with, then, is you digging up a particularly nasty and hoary stereotype in order to discredit someone who you dislike.
[. . .]
Can you avoid invoking homophobic stereotypes in order to make your case? Can you stop using “gay” as an insult, and can you rise above this sort of schoolyard namecalling (“OH YEAH? WELL YOU SECRETLY LIKE COCK!”) to make your points?
Coverage of the scientific research has frequently been nuanced, portrayed well last April in Scientific American.
Homophobes should consider a little self-reflection, suggests a new study finding those individuals who are most hostile toward gays and hold strong anti-gay views may themselves have same-sex desires, albeit undercover ones.
The prejudice of homophobia may also stem from authoritarian parents, particularly those with homophobic views as well, the researchers added.
"This study shows that if you are feeling that kind of visceral reaction to an out-group, ask yourself, 'Why?'" co-author Richard Ryan, a professor of psychology at the University of Rochester, said in a statement. "Those intense emotions should serve as a call to self-reflection."
The research, published in the April 2012 issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, reveals the nuances of prejudices like homophobia, which can ultimately have dire consequences.
"Sometimes people are threatened by gays and lesbians because they are fearing their own impulses, in a sense they 'doth protest too much,'" Ryan told LiveScience. "In addition, it appears that sometimes those who would oppress others have been oppressed themselves, and we can have some compassion for them too, they may be unaccepting of others because they cannot be accepting of themselves."
Ryan cautioned, however, that this link is only one source of anti-gay sentiments.
"May." "Sometimes." "Only one source." None of these adjectives refer to certainties. If you go to the paper in question, there you'll find those adjectives and others like "some."
One thing that the accusation that homophobes are closeted allows, incidentally, is a vindication of heterosexuals as not beign homophobic or implicated in homophobic norms. If homophobes is just a gay thing, what do heterosexuals have to do with it all? The accusation can be a convenient way to excuse heterosexuals from having to change anything about themselves.
