Fashioning hate: Driving the runway of desire

Abstract

Sexist and homophobic attitudes are an individual's expression of the dominant sociocultural position which endorses sexism and anti-homosexuality. We contend that misogyny and homophobia are pathological symptoms representing the internalization of these malignant social values. First, we explain that homosexuality (and other non-binary identities), though previously experiencing widespread condemnation, are not and never were mental disorders. Instead, it is homophobia - the fear of homosexuality—that reflects psychopathology and, ultimately, prejudice. We argue that these beliefs, in both straight and gay men, are related to fear and anxiety about one's own projected and gendered aggression. We maintain that they reflect the unsuccessful and incomplete resolution of the normative conflicts met during gender identity development. Essential to all healthy gender identity development is the childhood experience of attuned and accepting mirroring of the child by the parents and the culture. Without this regular experience of mutuality, recognition, and approval, especially regarding their most basic gender identity, children who are at risk develop ego-syntonic misogynistic and homophobic beliefs. We include a case illustration of a gay-identified man who was wounded and traumatized by homophobia and uses the concept and experience of homophobia as a defense.