Heterophobia - the other side of the coin

I think they just have a sort of generator that puts homophobic, racist, sexist cliches in and generates an article out of some combination of all of them! Have you tried the 'Are you hated by the Daily Mail' quiz? I got as far as questions 1 & 2 - 1) Are you a man? 2) Are you heterosexual? and... that was me hated!

But the Daily Mail is probably a thread all on its own!

 

That and all the articles have to look like they're written by someone with less IQ than an amoeba... :rolle:

One of the best I've seen there, was that the Titanic sank in 2012... :eusa_doh:

I actually think you're right... the Daily Mail would be a thread all on its own... :eek:

 

I made it to question 6. I think not being hated by the daily mail should be a crime against humanity or something.

 

I did the quiz... as predicted, I'm hated! :eusa_clap

 

Excellent

 

I only know "straights" so I guess I both dislike and like then depending on who they are

 

I think over time I just got tired of hearing about girls from all my friends. It doesn't really bother me right now as it used to though. Very few straight people know of me. The very few that do aren't the least bit bothered and life goes on. We have fun and differences in sexual preference doesn't hinder anything. They like girls and I like guys. Not really a big deal and I have a lot more in common with them than the stereotypical gay guy. Straight guys are cool and they are my friends. I admire them and would date one in a heartbeat if they were gay. When it comes to dating and the other guy is "bisexual," that's where problems arise. Not a big deal when it comes to hooking up, but dating is an obstacle. I find it a turn off but wouldn't completely rule them out. I have hardly any close female friends anymore, mostly because I'm not interested in them sexually and I can't relate to the average female. The only ones in my inner circle would be female co workers with brains and ambition (no one ditzy or hormonal) and family members. The rest would be acquaintances I am friendly with but they serve no real purpose to hang out with.

 

As a straight male, do I think heterophobia exists? Yes. Is it anywhere near as problematic as homophobia/transphobia? Of course not, but it still hurts to read heterophobic comments.

 

Saying something is reverse discrimination implies that the very definition of discrimination is "group A discriminates against group B". There is no definition of discrimination that says the majority discriminates against the minority. Discrimination is discrimination is discrimination, no matter who is being discriminated.

 

Tzoa, I think your idea of group A and group B assumes a major misunderstanding of power and how it works here. There's no equality of power between people of color and whites, or between queers and homonormative people. That makes all the difference.
Like why there's no such thing as black racism. It's not about individual attitudes--it's how the culture works to enforce privilege for some and marginalize others. A POC might hate white people (probly with good reason)... but that changes nothing, means nothing in terms of the institutional and political machinry of racism.
You might hate straight people, but it's no skin off their nose. It changes nothing of their privileged status or your marginalization in the greater culture. Being homophobic, on the other hand, reinforces all that structure of bigotry.
Heterophobia can be nothing but a personal and irrelevant quirk. No parallel at all to homophobia.

 

Misogogny, on the other hand--and patriarcal privilege (being dismisive of women employess...or worse), queer men are quite able to let themselves use and be used by that disease of the normative culture.

 

Being against and challenging and seeking to change heteronormative power, is something else again. That's not heterophobia.

 

That doesn't make it "reverse discrimination", though. That's discrimination. My post wasn't for or against heterophobia at all. I just don't like the term "reverse discrimination".

 

Ah, but that's regular misogyny with the privilege of masculinity. They're men treating women badly, which is reinforced by our culture. Even if they're gay, they still have male privilege.

All discrimination is bad, but not all discrimination is equal. A does not always equal B. A black person disliking white culture is going to because of what they've faced at the hands of institutionalised and personal racism. When women are wary of men, it's almost always because of what they've faced at the hands of cultural misogyny. When a miner absolutely detests the alte-bourgeios, it's because they've been subjected to hard work earning other people money while getting little for themselves.

None of the above actually cause harm; it's not a hatred of the groups in themselves; it's a hatred of their position kept at the expense of others. When white, cis-het, middle-class males hate non-whites, LGBT* people, workers etc., they're enforcing an ingrained set of ideals that you have to be white, inherently rich, heterosexual, and male to be worth anything. There's a massive difference. Using the power of privilege to further the oppression of others isn't nearly the same as anger at being oppressed.

 

This I agree with. Martin Luther King, Jr. advocated for a color blind society and to judge an individual on their character rather than skin color. Unfortunately his dream never became reality. We might not have the overt discrimination and racism like we used to, but we still divide people into groups. We even accept that it is okay to celebrate your skin color (e.g. Black history month) and sexuality (gay pride parades), but don't ever think of having a straight pride parade or white history month. When we start thinking of sexuality and skin color as neutral things (nothing to celebrate or be ashamed about) the better we'll be. Celebrate your accomplishments. Have parades for finding the cure for AIDS, not your sexual orientation.

---------- Post added 16th Nov 2013 at 01:42 PM ----------

Two wrongs don't make a right.

 

But pretending that the two problems are in equal need of addressing is ridiculous and a distraction. Which is more important; corrective rape, beatings, murder, high suicide rates, horrible self-esteem in LGBT people, or a straight man feeling slightly offended as if he understood the word?

 

I apologize, I didn't mean to make it sound as if I don't understand power or how it works. Believe me, I do. I know that there is a major imbalance of power. There is still a lot of racism, sexism, and heteronormativity in American culture. I wasn't trying to downplay that at all. I was just trying to explain why I don't like the term "reverse discrimination".

 

Tzoa, hey, no need to apologize! You didn't do or say anything bad! Just dicussing stuff here!

Hugs!