Psychological Study Shows Homophobic Men Very Likely To Be Aroused By Gay Erotic Stimuli
April 10th 2008 05:06
According to Henry E. Adams, Lester W. Wright, Jr and Bethany A. Lohr of the University of Georgia, Athens, "The results of this study indicate that individuals who score in the homophobic range and admit negative effect toward homosexuality demonstrate significant sexual arousal to male homosexual erotic stimuli."
Find the PDF file of the paper here.
These poor repressed individuals who have resorted to fear and hate when unable to integrate their feelings into their understanding of themselves showed that they were unable or unwilling to recognise the extent of their arousal when exposed to male homosexual erotic videos - "[...]verbal judgements [were] not consistent with physiological reactivity."
Perhaps with this study it will enter public awareness that homophobia is simply an anxiety-fuelled defence mechanism designed to conceal fears over the subject's (homo)sexuality from the self and others, and deglamourise homophobia. Unfortunately homophobia is seen as something to bond over - can you imagine people with repressed sexualities trying earnestly to sympathise with other people who share the same level of panic and low self-esteem? It's like rubbing salt in the wound, only they'd believe that they're strengthening their grasp on their unambiguous heterosexuality and broadening their community of 'acceptable' people.
I believe that it's the homophobics that need the most help, as they are their own biggest victims. They are so unable to face themselves that they attempt to spread their brand of hysteria to others. Fortunately, there is an increasing number of people who are not responding.
Interestingly enough, the study also showed that there was a very low number of men who claimed to only have had heterosexual arousal and experience who were not homophobic. I think this shows that an exclusively heterosexual identity is the refuge of the homophobic, just as an exclusively homosexual identity is the refuge of the heterophobic. "I've never been attracted to women," a male might exclaim, fearful that they have been, are, or will be.
As I have mentioned before, I think everyone is bipotential i.e. everyone has the potential to be attracted to either sex. Most people are conditioned to respons positively to heterosexual attraction, so they seek comfort in that and gravitate towards it. In what can be a world of ever-increasing complexity for those open to it, many people seek the concept of black and white and do not wish to indulge in the processes which would heighten their receptivity to they greys (and the accompanying rainbow spectrums). I suppose many people choose to be miserable, don't they?
This particular form of recognising homosexuality has been evoked before. "You know what homophobia really says about you, don't you?" asked Warren of his friends in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He may be a sociopathic murderer and rapist, but he's not homophobic. I imagine the results of this study will not be surprising to a lot of people.
I'd like to leave you with a short story about dealing with racism, courtesy of one of my Facebook correspondents:
The following scene took place on a BA flight between Johannesburg and London. This is a true story.
A white woman, about 50 years old, was seated next to a black man. Obviously disturbed by this, she called the air hostess.
"Madam, what is the matter," the hostess asked.
"You obviously do not see it then?" she responded. "You placed me next to a black man. I do not agree to sit next to someone from such a repugnant group. Give me an alternative seat."
"Be calm please, the hostess replied. "Almost all the seats on this flight are taken. I will go to see if another seat is available."
The hostess went away and came back a few minutes later.
"Madam, just as I thought, there are no other available seats in Economy class. I spoke to the Captain and he informed me that there are also no seats in the Business class. All the same, we still have one seat in First class."
Before the woman could reply, the hostess continued: "It is unusual for our company to permit someone from Economy class to sit in First class. However, given the circumstances, the captain feels that it would be scandalous to make someone sit next to someone so disgusting."
She turned to the black man and said, "Therefore, Sir, if you would like to, please collect your hand luggage, a seat awaits you in First class."
At that moment, the other passengers who were shocked by what they had just witnessed stood up and applauded.
Find the PDF file of the paper here.
These poor repressed individuals who have resorted to fear and hate when unable to integrate their feelings into their understanding of themselves showed that they were unable or unwilling to recognise the extent of their arousal when exposed to male homosexual erotic videos - "[...]verbal judgements [were] not consistent with physiological reactivity."
A message of love for all those who are hurting out there - remember, there is nothing more beautiful than you are, so be your real self
Perhaps with this study it will enter public awareness that homophobia is simply an anxiety-fuelled defence mechanism designed to conceal fears over the subject's (homo)sexuality from the self and others, and deglamourise homophobia. Unfortunately homophobia is seen as something to bond over - can you imagine people with repressed sexualities trying earnestly to sympathise with other people who share the same level of panic and low self-esteem? It's like rubbing salt in the wound, only they'd believe that they're strengthening their grasp on their unambiguous heterosexuality and broadening their community of 'acceptable' people.
I believe that it's the homophobics that need the most help, as they are their own biggest victims. They are so unable to face themselves that they attempt to spread their brand of hysteria to others. Fortunately, there is an increasing number of people who are not responding.
Interestingly enough, the study also showed that there was a very low number of men who claimed to only have had heterosexual arousal and experience who were not homophobic. I think this shows that an exclusively heterosexual identity is the refuge of the homophobic, just as an exclusively homosexual identity is the refuge of the heterophobic. "I've never been attracted to women," a male might exclaim, fearful that they have been, are, or will be.
As I have mentioned before, I think everyone is bipotential i.e. everyone has the potential to be attracted to either sex. Most people are conditioned to respons positively to heterosexual attraction, so they seek comfort in that and gravitate towards it. In what can be a world of ever-increasing complexity for those open to it, many people seek the concept of black and white and do not wish to indulge in the processes which would heighten their receptivity to they greys (and the accompanying rainbow spectrums). I suppose many people choose to be miserable, don't they?
This particular form of recognising homosexuality has been evoked before. "You know what homophobia really says about you, don't you?" asked Warren of his friends in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He may be a sociopathic murderer and rapist, but he's not homophobic. I imagine the results of this study will not be surprising to a lot of people.
I'd like to leave you with a short story about dealing with racism, courtesy of one of my Facebook correspondents:
The following scene took place on a BA flight between Johannesburg and London. This is a true story.
A white woman, about 50 years old, was seated next to a black man. Obviously disturbed by this, she called the air hostess.
"Madam, what is the matter," the hostess asked.
"You obviously do not see it then?" she responded. "You placed me next to a black man. I do not agree to sit next to someone from such a repugnant group. Give me an alternative seat."
"Be calm please, the hostess replied. "Almost all the seats on this flight are taken. I will go to see if another seat is available."
The hostess went away and came back a few minutes later.
"Madam, just as I thought, there are no other available seats in Economy class. I spoke to the Captain and he informed me that there are also no seats in the Business class. All the same, we still have one seat in First class."
Before the woman could reply, the hostess continued: "It is unusual for our company to permit someone from Economy class to sit in First class. However, given the circumstances, the captain feels that it would be scandalous to make someone sit next to someone so disgusting."
She turned to the black man and said, "Therefore, Sir, if you would like to, please collect your hand luggage, a seat awaits you in First class."
At that moment, the other passengers who were shocked by what they had just witnessed stood up and applauded.
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Comment by Cibbuano
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Also, that facebook story sounds a little fabricated. Let me see if I can verify it... Snopes suggests that it's not true.
Comment by Louie
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I think we should all just give up trying to define sexuality, life would be much simpler and there would be a lot less to worry about, everyone can just get on with it.
I have been confronted by homophobia in my life from just about every angle,it is deplorable, but it is also a two way street; for example if a lesbian girl starts dating a guy, you can rest assured a large percentage of her gay friends will stop talking to her and be angry.
Everyone just needs to take a chill pill ;-
Louie
Comment by postmoderncritic
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I can imagine that attaching a device to the penis might be seen as intrusive by some! But wouldn't it make you more conscious of being aroused? I guess I don't find it that difficult to believe that these men deliberately denied being aroused on paper/verbally, but how did they explain their erections to themselves? I agree with what you said at Morgan's post, it's all very sad.
Perhaps the U Georgia researchers made a strong enough argument that this method was the best way to measure arousal. I wonder how they would measure female arousal though? I imagine that would be a lot more difficult...
Thanks for the Snopes link, I hope it's not fabricated, but even if it is, I'm not too concerned as I'm sure similar things have happened. It's good to be reminded of how decent human beings can be, even if it's through an indirect source. I'm not saying that I don't care about its veracity, but I am more attracted to its symbolic value in this case.
Hey Louie,
I don't believe in definitions and categories, I believe that everything is relative and everyone has a different vocabulary for dealing with the information they come across in real life. The more I take this into account, the more effective I become at communicating.
I hang around a lot of GLBT people so I'm more likely to experience heterophobia. I'm sorry that you come across homophobia so often. I came across intense homophobia from my parents when I first came out to them, so much so that negativity from other sources paled in significance. I found it much easier to deal with it since I was dealing with it at close quarters. Luckily my parents have grown, and while they haven't completely reinvented their fears we can talk about GLBT issues now without resorting to hysterical arguments.
I know what you mean about phobia working both ways, and it's very sad when people who have experienced homophobia develop heterophobia instead of finding a way to love all sorts of people. I saw a short film yesterday called 'Love is Love' which went to the trouble of creating multiple representations of heterophobia. Heterosexual behaviour was called 'unnatural', 'disgusting' and 'flying in the face of god'. Heterosexuals were referred to derogatively as 'breeders', and a heterosexual man was represented as wishing he was gay. This reinforcement of hate speech was designed with humourous purposes in mind, and I found it very sad. I'd like to take those images and replace them with loving, supportive representations that don't conjure up discriminatory practices. Heterophobia is a real concern in the GLBT community, and it's not funny to make fun of it.
I feel at my best when I am constantly refreshing my attitudes, and hope that more and more people search for more change in their lives. Often homophobia comes from static mental activity that accompanies unquestioned traditions.
Thank you for coming by and commenting, ppl!
Lots of love to both of you,
Epiphanie