Slog
News & ArtsWednesday, December 5, 2012
Media Homophobia or Homophobiaphobia?
Posted by Dominic Holden on Wed, Dec 5, 2012 at 8:55 AM
Slog tipper Mike Gore points our attention to a crisis gripping the internet:
Last week the Associated Press declared war on the word "homophobia," deciding its new stylebook would ban it (and "Islamophobia") because a "phobia" is an "illness" and connotes a "mental disability." Therefore, says the AP, it is not accurate and should not be used in a "political or social" context.
This was last month's crisis, granted. But I didn't see it on Slog and who knows if we are allowed to use "homophobia" ever again without feeling like bad people? So... now it's here to discuss, you homophobes.
38
@18 - "The Slog is right"
Finally, you admit that you are a bigot. Good for you. See, doesn't that feel better?
Finally, you admit that you are a bigot. Good for you. See, doesn't that feel better?
37
@32: Speaking as a gay man, I will give you the same response as I would to a woman in the same situation: PUT THE FUCKER'S LIGHTS OUT.
36
Hey chemists, you need to come up with a different name for hydrophobic molecules. The alkanes are complaining that they're not afraid of water, they just think it's against God's plan.
35
@27 -- I thought homophones had sparkles and glitter and vintage buttons set in a circle as if in a dial:
http://www.comparestoreprices.co.uk/imag…
http://www.comparestoreprices.co.uk/imag…
33
Indeed, and how dare chemistry students refer to something like oil as hydrophobic. And how dare doctors refer to a symptom of migraines as photophobia when it is sentisitivity and pain caused by light and not an actual fear. Unless, you know, English uses terms in multiple ways sometimes. But no, that never happens, no word could ever have more than one meaning or connotation or our language would be a mess of difficult to understand madness!
32
I'm a straight guy. Recently, at a bar, a drunk guy (who swore he wasn't gay) pinned me against the wall and kissed me. I realize that this type of thing happens not-infrequently to women, but it was a first time for me.
anyhow, I didn't punch him, because I didn't want him to think I was homophobic. Should I have punched him, then?
anyhow, I didn't punch him, because I didn't want him to think I was homophobic. Should I have punched him, then?
30
It was never a very accurate word to begin with; it's not a "phobia" if you hate gay people, you're just a fucking asshole. Maybe in some cases that is actually based on fear, but that's not what we mean when we say "homophobe." We mean hateful shithead.
Cat's out of the bag, though. Once a word is in the common parlance, you can't just issue an edict from on high being like, "YOU CANNOT USE THAT WORD IN THAT MANNER ANY LONGER. STOP IT. STOP IT RIGHT NOW, I HEARD THAT." At that point you're just the "Well, ACKtually..." douchebag at a party, magnified by authority, and everyone is going to ignore you. It would have been nice if we had a better word to start with, but this is the one that caught on.
Cat's out of the bag, though. Once a word is in the common parlance, you can't just issue an edict from on high being like, "YOU CANNOT USE THAT WORD IN THAT MANNER ANY LONGER. STOP IT. STOP IT RIGHT NOW, I HEARD THAT." At that point you're just the "Well, ACKtually..." douchebag at a party, magnified by authority, and everyone is going to ignore you. It would have been nice if we had a better word to start with, but this is the one that caught on.
28
Homophobia most certainly arises from an irrational fear. Far more irrational, certainly, than arachnophobia or acrophobia -- some spiders could actually kill you, as could falling from a great height.
The word as presently used is accurate.
The word as presently used is accurate.
27
Listen, the english language is sometimes confusing, but context is everything. I can talk about 'watts,' but everyone w/ any intelligence would understand by the context whether I'm talking about electricity or a suburb of LA. It's all very simple...
Wait, what?
I thought you were talking about 'homophones.' Never mind.
Wait, what?
I thought you were talking about 'homophones.' Never mind.
25
Replace it with terms like "irrationally anti-gay","paranoiacally anti-gay, or "pathologically anti-gay." I'm sure sloggers can come up with some alternatives that fit the new guidelines, yet have an equivalent or bigger impact to "homophobia."
24
On a slightly related note, I think "Homophobirotic" should be a word. It means "sexually arousing to homophobes." So like homoerotic, but with more self-loathing.
23
While I agree that the timing makes the ban seem ridiculous, and think that common usage is important and works against the dictate, I think the suggested alternatives, 'anti-gay' and 'bigot' are actually more powerful.
22
"Homophobe" and "homophobia" as words are too soft for the vileness they're used to describe. I much prefer "bigot" and "anti-gay" - harsher sounding and doesn't allow the recipient to argue they're not *afraid* of gay people.
All that said, this is dumb.
All that said, this is dumb.
21
@3: Quite right. I once roomed with a guy who was a kind of freaked out by gay people. He didn't have anything against people being gay, he was just uncomfortable around gay people (male or female).
Granted, I roomed with him during a brief stay at a psychiatric facility, so...
Granted, I roomed with him during a brief stay at a psychiatric facility, so...
18
The Slog is right.
After all, Bigot works fine to describe Danny's feelings toward people of faith; Catholiphobe just doesn't sing.
After all, Bigot works fine to describe Danny's feelings toward people of faith; Catholiphobe just doesn't sing.
16
When people argue that GLBT people are trying to "force" gay marriage and a homosexual agenda on the rest of the country, they sound pretty phobic to me. So I'd say homophobia is a perfectly legitimate, perfectly functional word.
15
What's wrong with bigot? It's a much better word than homophobe.
I don't care if someone is afraid of gays or not, just whether they try to oppress gays. I'm afraid of spiders, but I don't go around trying to keep them from getting married -- I'm an arachnophobia, not an anti-spider bigot, and I tolerate spiders.
I don't care if someone is afraid of gays or not, just whether they try to oppress gays. I'm afraid of spiders, but I don't go around trying to keep them from getting married -- I'm an arachnophobia, not an anti-spider bigot, and I tolerate spiders.
13
"Anti-homorphic". Is that too wordy? Does it state the case? What the hell does it mean! I'll try again.
12
We don't call people who are anti-Jewish Jewophobes, we call them anti-Semitic.
People who are anti-gay should be called that. It isn't an irrational fear of gay people, my experience is it is a hatred of gay people. Let's call them on it.
People who are anti-gay should be called that. It isn't an irrational fear of gay people, my experience is it is a hatred of gay people. Let's call them on it.
11
I have always disliked this term as it suggests there is something beyond the control of individual in their bigotry. Is Homophobia a diagnosable mental disorder? for some folks, maybe so, but probably not very many. We don't refer to people who are bigoted against other groups as 'phobic'. Maybe we should.
10
It's worth reading the short column Dom linked to in order to understand why this change isn't a good idea.
7
Since when did the AP declare itself the Word Police? As far as I'm concerned, they can just go fuck themselves (homosexually, since they are not homophobes) and the rest of us can continue to use the words we think best fit the need.
4
I think homophobia is accurate, because that form of hate is often caused by fear. Fear of being objectified by another man, or fear of being regarded as gay, for example. And homophobes are often neurotic about it, so I think that if one insists on the mental disability angle, it still fits.
3
Homophobia is a quite literal phobia (diagnosable mental disorder) referring to those who are actually afraid of gay people. Heterosexism is more accurate for most instances we're talking about.
2
Following this same "logic", the AP should ban words like "butterfly," because butter doesn't fly. Regardless of what the dictionary says about the individual components, "homophobia" is the word that describes bigotry against gay people, and "islamophobia" is the word that describes bigotry against Muslims.
1
I'm appalled at the stigmatization of mental illness and disability implied in this rule. Also I hate the New Yorker's umlaut policy.
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