Friday, November 9, 2007
Not that there is anything wrong with that....
I was doing a presentation on "Systematic Desensitization" (a method to alleviate phobias). On the list, there was homophobia. We loosely throw that term around a lot. I don't think I ever really thought about it. It's an IRRATIONAL fear of homosexuals. Two points 1) These individuals LITERALLY fear gay men. The same way someone with arachnophobia fears spiders. The thought of a gay man sends shivers up their spine. That's a tough way to live. Just think about how many men you see in a day. Any of them could be gay. Your best friend, your boss, your Dad....anyone. 2) Nobody gets angry at people for being afraid of spiders. I'm not condoning hatred toward homosexuals, but I am advocating some empathy. These individuals don't need our hate, but our help. So next time you send your venom at a "homophobe", just be glad that's not your lifestyle.
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6 comments:
I wonder if anyone has ever screamed "ahhh gay man" and ran out of the room, and asked their dad/husband/boyfriend to squash it
I also wonder, is there such thing as heterophobia? because fear of straight people would suck too.
i believe there is heterophobia....isnt that how San Francisco was founded? if i'm not mistaken (and i must say I am a BIT of a history buff), there was too much "hetero" on the East coast, while at the same time gold was being discovered on the west. the "homos" were attracted to the possibility of lavish gold statues and pinky rings so they migrated west to run from the heteros to the gold. they originally intended to build the "golden gate bridge" of pure gold but decided it would be too heavy and dirty to build the bridge themselves. eventually the NFL's San Francisco 49ers came to play in this town and since then the "homos"(aka heterophobes for the sake of this conversation) have slowly either dispersed or earned to co-exist. now the only thing i am not TOO too sure about is who exactly they contracted to build the bridge, but otherwise I am fully confident in my recollection of the history lesson provided here.
i will speak as one from the homophobic community. its not something that makes you nervous all the time. its when you are at a restaurant and your waiter flamboyously prances over and asks you what you want and someone at your table- we will call him "sean" starts to flirt with him. these are moments of irrational fear.
i can confirm that these are the moments of immeasurable discomfort. as well as when "they" are behind the counter of a store where you need to make a purchase, on the same row as you on an airplane, in your class, at the supermarket where you are attempting to purchase your food in peace, at your job where you are trying to get work done, at the movies, on the street when you are trying to walk in silence, at the hospital on your visit to a friend in need, at the gas station while you are pumping your gas, at the ice skating rink where you are trying to gain speed, on the street in the car next to you, on the airplane again but this time serving you peanuts in "cute little pouches", on the bus, at the gym, on the train, at the restaurant, on a space shuttle, at the video store, at the arcade, at a party, at a club, at a bar, at your friend's house, on the open seas or pretty much anywhere on land. anywhere else it's really not TOO too bad
you can only see them with glasses given to you by rowdy roddy piper though
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