Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Homophobia is perhaps the most widely understood term to refer to anti-homosexual attitudes and practices, but comparison of such terms as homophobia, heterosexism, and heteronormativity reveals how these terms rely on different ideas of what homosexual means, and where opposition to same-sex relations originates. Homophobia typically denotes, like other phobias, an irrational fear or a set of mistaken ideas held by prejudiced individuals; its alleviation therefore likely comes through therapy or education. Popularized through George Weinberg's 1973 book, Society and the Healthy Homosexual , homophobia is a concept with strong roots in psychology. Its use tends to focus attention on individuals, to locate its origins in childhood socialization, and to conceive of it as a prejudice directed against homosexual persons. Heterosexism tends to be used less widely, but it offers a more sociological notion of practices that are embedded in social structures and reinforced by ideology. Use of a term like heterosexism shifts analysis to the ways in which the social institutions of government, workplace, religion, family, and media are organized to exclude or disadvantage same-sex relations. Resolving heterosexism implies reforming or reorganizing social institutions in ways that allow and support same-sex relationships. Finally, heteronormativity is a term used most often in literary studies, ... log in or subscribe to read full text