Sexual orientation minorities are one of the greatest groups to be denounced in societal history, and unfortunately, still today. It is so important that we can see and articulate this form of discrimination in order to relieve society from its ignorance. With so many terms for describing discrimination against sexual orientation, the words "sexual prejudice" may have no specific meaning to many people. Sexual prejudice is the advancement of coining terms that portray discrimination towards nonheterosexuals. This evolution started with the terms homophobia and heterosexism in the 1960's. Homophobia refers to an aversion to homosexual people, while heterosexism refers to the direct prejudice towards any nonheterosexual persons and draws parallels between this and other prejudices. The term sexual prejudice helps to fill in the gaps that these concepts hold and encompasses all sexual orientation-based negative attitudes. While it is not typically the case in today's society, sexual prejudice also includes the idea of negative attitudes towards someone because of a heterosexual orientation. The term "sexual prejudice" also helped to correct the inaccurate assumptions of the term "homophobia." As a phobia refers to an irrational fear, homophobia can be defined as an irrational fear of homosexual people. This is not quite an accurate statement as most people who have "homophobic" tendencies are not scared of the people, but more likely the idea of unwanted sexual advances. The physiological reactions associated with a phobia are not present in people who feel negatively about nonheterosexual orientations. All forms of discrimination in this matter are WRONG.
A recent article posted in Psychology Today, The Mike Rice Situation and the Damage of Homophobia, was written by a homosexual professor at Rutgers University. In response to student abuse by the university's head basketball coach (including verbal abuse and homophobic slurs), Mike Rice brings up some very interesting points, specifically on the issue of authority figures fostering certain unrealistic standards for men. These attitudes towards masculinity and femininity greatly contribute to keeping sexual prejudice alive and harmful in society today. Although this scandal was a terrible act, the light could be that it has brought about attention to specific behaviors that actually support sexual prejudice, such as a coach's use of gay prejudice slurs at his team to make them feel pathetic. Many
of these behaviors are considered to be unacceptable and continue to
cause outrage to much of society. This
realization that these behaviors are detrimental to people is largely due to a growing
communication about sexual orientation prejudice. The ability to express verbally an idea or
belief corresponds with the ability to persuade. This is why it is so important that every
person be educated on this discrimination, aware of the damage it causes to other human beings, and have the background knowledge to
be able to talk about it. Knowledge
leads to communication, which leads to persuasion, which leads to change.
References:
Image from: The Genderbread Person, http://itspronouncedmetrosexual.com/2012/01/the-genderbread-person/
LaSala, M. C. Ph.D. (2013). The Mike Rice Situation and the Damage of Homophobia. Gay and Lesbian Well-Being. Psychology Today.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/gay-and-lesbian-well-being/201304/the-mike-rice-situation-and-the-damage-homophobia
Herek, G. M. (2012). Understanding Homophobia and Heterosexism. Sexual Prejudice.
http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/faculty_sites/rainbow/html/sexual_prejudice.html
References:
Image from: The Genderbread Person, http://itspronouncedmetrosexual.com/2012/01/the-genderbread-person/
LaSala, M. C. Ph.D. (2013). The Mike Rice Situation and the Damage of Homophobia. Gay and Lesbian Well-Being. Psychology Today.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/gay-and-lesbian-well-being/201304/the-mike-rice-situation-and-the-damage-homophobia
Herek, G. M. (2012). Understanding Homophobia and Heterosexism. Sexual Prejudice.
http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/faculty_sites/rainbow/html/sexual_prejudice.html
I don't understand what the argument is for people that are sexual prejudiced. These people have their own relationships and last I checked, only the people within a certain relationship are affected by that relationship. Outsiders, especially strangers, have no place to judge, because they do not have first hand experience of the connection that is being shared.
ReplyDeletePerhaps for a future post you could talk about the different types of prejudice males and females receive. In my experience, I see homosexual males being called out for their lack of masculinity and "acting feminine". However, homosexual females are either stigmatized as one of two things: the butch or the sex object. Some females are seen as too masculine while others are sexualized and being told they are putting on an act for men.
I understand the argument for sexual prejudiced in this blog. The issue is, i think one of the important things that is mentioned in the blog, is that people are not only concerned with their own sexual preferences. It seems that we as humans seem to be so interested in other peoples personal life, and back up this nosiness by saying that we as humans have a specific way to act. In reality the situation should be much different. The blog does a good job at explaining the situation for the people that are actually effected, the way to approach the issue seems to be a skeptical tricky issue that seems to be approached in angles and through perspectives that don't seem to work.
ReplyDeleteI found your blog to be quite interesting; at first I wasn’t sure what "sexual prejudice was until you explained it in great detail. I believe your strongest statement is the comparison you made between sexual prejudice and homophobia... "Homophobic tendencies are not scared of the people, but more likely the idea of unwanted sexual advances". This statement I believe is powerful because some people label themselves homophobic when reality they are not threatened by homosexuals but rather tend to disagree with their lifestyle choices. But overall, I believe your blog brings forth an important issue for which you've provided vital information to understanding the issue.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure you didn't think this AHetrick, but just to clear things up I am absolutely not presenting any argument FOR sexual prejudice. It is wrong on many moral levels. I was hoping to shed light on the background of discrimination against sexual orientation, and continue with more detailed information about prevalence, prevention, and how to help end sexual prejudice.
ReplyDeleteLove this article. I'm glad that there are so many people who take an interest in the equality of the LGBT community. I was rather confused the first time that I heard of "gender neutral" but it made a lot more sense when I read up on it. The bottom line is that people shouldn't be discriminated against for who they are, and who they feel that they should be. Just because you're born in the image of a man or a woman doesn't necessarily mean that you mind or your heart will concur.
ReplyDeleteI think if we as a race spent more time working on ourselves, and less time worrying about the lives of other people, we would be far better off. Keep up the good work, and I look forward to reading future posts about your progress.