corysub
Posts: 1492
Joined: 1/1/2004 Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Satyr6406 I have often wondered (and written about) why the homosexual community settled on "Homophobia" as a word to describe people who didn't LIKE their behavior. I will share a little bit, here ... "Homo" is Greek. It means "same" as in "Homophone" (things that sound the same). "Phobia" is also from the Greek; - A persistent, abnormal, and irrational fear of a specific thing or situation that compels one to avoid it, despite the awareness and reassurance that it is not dangerous.
This "word" is actually a horribly constructed "word" made up of a prefix and a suffix. Nothing in the middle. No "meat" in the sandwich. So, we have, technically: "an abnormal or irrational fear of things that are the same". Anyone who truly suffered from this condition wouldn't necessarily be bothered by two men (or two ladies), but, if you put them in a room with 100 pairs of identical twins, they'd need 30 years of therapy! LOL! Anyway, forgetting the linguistic quagmire, why the need to use "phobia"? Why does it have to be a "fear"? Are we not simply allowed to disLIKE things, anymore? I don't like deer meat. I don't suffer from "Venisinphobia". Unfortunately, I think either the chosing of the word's construct was either VERY poorly thought out or, it was very carefully thought out in order to villify people who don't conform to a certain way of thinking. As someone said, just before me: I don't LIKE certain behaviors. I don't hate the people. I don't fear the behavior. I dislike it. I don't like cross-stitching, either. I think the way "homophobic" is broken down it does not make too much sense as was discussed. HOWEVER, the "meaning" of words is based on usage in the common culture and the Greeks kinda went bye bye well over 2,000 years ago. We owe them a great deal in the construct of the english language, as we do to the Romans. Today the word means a great deal more than the "homo" "phobic" deconstruct. It has come to suggest more than "fear" of gays...as the Greek translation of its roots. By the way...I wonder if the Greeks created the word since the Spartans, who were known for the homosexuality, were also known for the fearless fighting ability? Thought it might be interesting to look at some common dictionary explanations: Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This Main Entry: ho·mo·pho·bia Pronunciation: "hO-m&-'fO-bE-& Function: noun : irrational fear of, aversion to, or discriminationagainst homosexuality or homosexuals —ho·mo·phobe /'hO-m&-"fOb/ noun —ho·mo·pho·bic /"hO-m&-'fO-bik/ adjective WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This -------------------------------------- homophobia noun prejudice against (fear or dislike of) homosexual people and homosexuality WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University ---------------------------------- I agree with the comments by others, and leave people to practice what ever they want to practice, from holding hands and singing goombya under a tree, worship the God of Fire, or same sex relationships. As long as they don't force their politics, religion or sexuality on me or my family.
< Message edited by corysub -- 9/7/2008 5:01:20 AM >
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