Page 1 of 1 [ 10 posts ] 

Jitro
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 17 May 2012
Age: 33
Gender: Male
Posts: 589

28 Aug 2012, 10:57 pm

Do people choose to be homophobic? Or are they simply born that way?



Jacoby
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 10 Dec 2007
Age: 32
Gender: Male
Posts: 14,284
Location: Permanently banned by power tripping mods lol this forum is trash

29 Aug 2012, 12:24 am

People aren't born hateful, that's a learned behavior.



John_Browning
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 22 Mar 2009
Age: 42
Gender: Male
Posts: 4,456
Location: The shooting range

29 Aug 2012, 2:03 am

Jitro wrote:
Do people choose to be homophobic? Or are they simply born that way?

They choose it as much as gays choose their orientation.


_________________
"Gun control is like trying to reduce drunk driving by making it tougher for sober people to own cars."
- Unknown

"A fear of weapons is a sign of ret*d sexual and emotional maturity."
-Sigmund Freud


zxy8
Velociraptor
Velociraptor

User avatar

Joined: 2 Aug 2012
Age: 33
Gender: Male
Posts: 484
Location: Perth, Western Australia, Australia

29 Aug 2012, 2:08 am

People choose to be haters.



Delphiki
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 14 Apr 2012
Age: 181
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,415
Location: My own version of reality

29 Aug 2012, 2:08 am

John_Browning wrote:
Jitro wrote:
Do people choose to be homophobic? Or are they simply born that way?

They choose it as much as gays choose their orientation.
I think you need to try reading the response above yours :roll:


_________________
Well you can go with that if you want.


OddFinn
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 27 Jun 2009
Age: 57
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,276
Location: Finland

29 Aug 2012, 2:20 am

I don't think that it's that simple. It's somewhat more complicated than just those two options.

People tend to fear what they don't know. They copy the behavior of those they know, too.

If someone is ignorant, and is surrounded by people who are negative towards gay people, then that person is likely homophobic, too.


_________________
Any connection between your reality and mine is purely coincidental.


TallyMan
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 30 Mar 2008
Gender: Male
Posts: 40,061

29 Aug 2012, 3:04 am

OddFinn wrote:
If someone is ignorant, and is surrounded by people who are negative towards gay people, then that person is likely homophobic, too.


That is true. I was brought up in a small mining village in the 1960's. The small community consisted entirely of white people. Racism and homophobia were rife. It wasn't until I left that parochial environment and went to university and mixed with students from all over the world that my eyes were opened and the vestiges of racism and homophobia from my upbringing disappeared. My father (in his 80's) is still intensely homophobic, racist and sexist as are many of his generation.



The_Walrus
Forum Moderator
Forum Moderator

User avatar

Joined: 27 Jan 2010
Age: 29
Gender: Male
Posts: 8,789
Location: London

29 Aug 2012, 4:31 am

Notice how the elderly are so much more likely to be homophobic than young people, but no more or less likely to be gay.



visagrunt
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 16 Oct 2009
Age: 56
Gender: Male
Posts: 6,118
Location: Vancouver, BC

29 Aug 2012, 11:27 am

John_Browning wrote:
They choose it as much as gays choose their orientation.


Well if that's true, that necessarily implies one of two things. Either both traits are inherent, and that makes homophobes slaves to their upbringing--or it makes both traits deliberate and gays are undifferentiatable from straights. But since we seem to be able to point to neurophysiological differences between the structure of gay men's brains and straight men's brains, that suggests to me that it must be the former.

So, homophobes lack the higher cognitive functions to question the teachings of their families and communities? Is the message here that homophobes are uncritical thinkers?

As much as I would like to believe that this is true, I think the only uncritical piece of thinking going on here is yours.


_________________
--James


JakobVirgil
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 15 Feb 2011
Age: 50
Gender: Male
Posts: 3,744
Location: yes

29 Aug 2012, 11:35 am

visagrunt wrote:
John_Browning wrote:
They choose it as much as gays choose their orientation.


Well if that's true, that necessarily implies one of two things. Either both traits are inherent, and that makes homophobes slaves to their upbringing--or it makes both traits deliberate and gays are undifferentiatable from straights. But since we seem to be able to point to neurophysiological differences between the structure of gay men's brains and straight men's brains, that suggests to me that it must be the former.

So, homophobes lack the higher cognitive functions to question the teachings of their families and communities? Is the message here that homophobes are uncritical thinkers?

As much as I would like to believe that this is true, I think the only uncritical piece of thinking going on here is yours.


My views are summed up by Morgon (not to be confused with Morgan Freeman)
Quote:
“I hate the word homophobia. It’s not a phobia. You are not scared. You are an as*hole,”
-Morgon Freeman


_________________
?We must not look at goblin men,
We must not buy their fruits:
Who knows upon what soil they fed
Their hungry thirsty roots??

http://jakobvirgil.blogspot.com/