Causes of Homophobia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Causes of Homophobia - Essay Example I hope this research will provide insights with regard to the underlying causes of homophobia. Why some people fear homosexuality and others not? The answer might seem straightforward at first and it is easy to put blame on the stereotypical gender roles produced by what Judith Butler called hegemonic heterosexual matrix. However, it is important to understand homophobic psyche without any bias so that underlying roots of their fears could be revealed. I think it is essential to grasp their views in order to assuage their homophobic fears, if such thing is possible. Why homosexuality arouses such a strong response and hatred in some people? What are they truly afraid of? This annotated bibliography aims to explore the explanatory frameworks for homophobic people’s reactions. It is very difficult to understand why some people hate gays to the extent that they wish them dead or even attempt to kill them. I would like to dig the deeper causes of their homophobic fears. Furthermor e, I also hope to find out if there is a gender differentiation with regard to homophobia and whether males are more prone to homophobia than females, and whether lesbianism is more acceptable than its male counterpart. This research also aims to examine the possible links between homosexuality and sexuality of homophobic people. I would like to know if their fears are related with their own sexuality and if it is linked with their own oedipal struggles. Adams, Henry A., Lester W. Wright and Bethany A. Lohr. â€Å"Is Homophobia Associated With Homosexual Arousal?† Journal of Abnormal Psychology 105, No. 3 (1996): 440-445. Henry Adams and his colleagues conduct a survey with the participation of a group of homophobic men and a group of non-homophobic men in order to investigate the role of homosexual arousal in homophobic people. They find a positive correlation and reveal that the group of homophobic men shows increased penile erection to male homosexual tapes. Their finding is consistent with the psychoanalytical theories which conceptualize homophobia as latent homosexuality. The article is very useful in a sense that it shows what homophobes are truly afraid of: their own homosexual tendencies. However, the research does not answer why they fear their own sexuality. Nevertheless, it is also not clear that why homophobes represses their homosexual tendencies while homosexuals don’t, it might be related with the gender matrix theory or with their deeper differences vis-a-vis the oedipal struggles. Bleich, David. â€Å"Homophobia and Sexism as Popular Values†. Feminist Teacher 4, no 2/3 (1989): 21-28 In his article, David Bleach argues that sexism is the oldest form of social domination and tries to prove Lerner's claim about the primordiality of sexism. He conducts a survey with the participation of 115 first -year students at Indiana University and examines their essays on homosexuality. He notes that almost %20 of the students (both men and women) gave utterly homophobic responses, including a passive participation in a gay-bashing incident, and they expressed their homophobic feelings under the cover of Christianity. Bleich also quotes the essays of his students who compared homosexuality with the apocalypse and approved that gays should be stoned or killed, or they just â€Å"don’t deserve to live†. Bleich also notes that there was one man in the class who is courageous enough to confess that every heterosexual young men in the class including