what are you, gay?
I’m sure you’re familiar with the old “homophobes are really closet gays” line of reasoning. Interestingly, this research seems to confirm that theory. From the abstract:
The authors investigated the role of homosexual arousal in exclusively heterosexual men who admitted negative affect toward homosexual individuals. Participants consisted of a group of homophobic men and a group of nonhomophobic men (n = 29); they were assigned to groups on the basis of their scores on the Index of Homophobia. The men were exposed to sexually explicit erotic stimuli consisting of heterosexual, male homosexual, and lesbian videotapes, and changes in penile circumference were monitored. They also completed an Aggression Questionnaire. Both groups exhibited increases in penile circumference to the heterosexual and female homosexual videos. Only the homophobic men showed an increase in penile erection to male homosexual stimuli. The groups did not differ in aggression. Homophobia is apparently associated with homosexual arousal that the homophobic individual is either unaware of or denies.
Of course wheeling this paper out next time some macho jerk is being homophobic is unlikely to be good for your physical safety, but it might provide the basis for a smug smile in any event.
(via Growing Passion).
Wow, that is so interesting! What an interesting study!
That is quite interesting.
Consider the proposition that for some people, the element of the ‘forbidden’ or slightly perverse is in itself arousing.
Since homophobes were specifically selected because they reject the notion of homosexuality, they are likely to feel that homosexual sex is ‘forbidden’.
If my earlier proposition is accepted, they may become aroused by the homosexual stimuli not necessarily because of its homosexual nature, but because they associate it with being forbidden or perverse.
So I’m suggesting that it could be their rejection of the idea that causes the arousal, and not the other way around.
I realise this theory opens a whole range of questions, such as: ‘Well why don’t I find X arousing, when I definitely regard X as being forbidden?”. I don’t know the answer to that, but I also don’t know what would happen if you were sat down and exposed to it while someone had a tape measure wrapped around your wang.
Interesting idea, indeed. And I think this:
can be answered by saying that homophobes regard homosexuality as something particularly forbidden and taboo – it is more than something they find distasteful or unpleasant or unappealing (the latter presumably being what defines a non-homophobic straight person), they find it actively abhorrent in some way.
So they might also find a Troy McClure-style obsession with fish distasteful, but they aren’t fixated on it so it has no special power as a taboo.
Hmm. Good thoughts.