Internalized Homophobia
Homophobia is an intense, irrational fear and strong dislike of the homosexuals (Anti- Defamation League par.10). The homosexual people include the gays and the lesbians. This act of fear normally leads to the expression of violence and sometimes even creates an act of hostility among people in the society. The homosexuals are normally intimidated and face persecution and are being addressed in the society by other people using the abusive and violent language. In fact in the recent years the homosexuals have been facing a great challenge in the society.
They are facing cruel and violent attacks that are very disturbing due to increase on the strength of homophobia. The homophobic as lead to some people in the society at work, schools, clubs and at many other places to feel and think that they are better off than the homosexuals. This has lead to a high degree of biasing the homosexuals. In recent years the studies that have been carried out by the medical professionals suggested that homosexuality is not an illness, mental disorder or emotional problem contrary to what was being believed in the past (Anti- Defamation League, par. 3).The Christians and many religious groups maintains their stand as of perceiving homosexuality as an act of sin and that is against the will of God as it has been stated in the bibles.
It is clearly revealed that most religious leaders have maintained their stand on the fight against the homosexuals especially the gay community that is growing to a larger extends. According to the report written by the Anti-Defamation League (par 5), it quotes a statement made by Pat Robertson that “Many of those people involved in Adolf Hitler were Satanists, many of them were homosexuals- the two things seem to go together” (par 5). In Germany, the neo-Nazi National Alliance has been engaging in the fights against the gay people was by the homosexuals are being beaten and attacked mercilessly by other people in the society.The homophobia can be experienced in different levels by different parties. First, there is homophobia of people who are lesbians or gay.
Secondly, there is a fear of somebody being perceived as a lesbian or gay and lastly there is a fear and hatred of someone to find him or herself getting attractions from people of the same sex. The homophobia has lead to negative attitudes and discriminatory actions towards people who are homosexuals. Such actions have created some kind of discomfort and a feeling of disgust among the homosexuals.Internalized homophobia is the act of fear and hatred that is developed within and among the bisexuals, gays and lesbians (Cozza, par 2). It is the personal acceptance of sexual stigma as part of one’s lifestyle and self concept. This homophobia develops due to perception from the cultural beliefs and religion stands on sexual and emotional desires.
It causes a severe discomfort with or disapproval of one’s own sexual orientation and forced outward displays of heterosexual behavior for the purpose of appearing or attempting to feel normal or accepted in the society. It can lead to extreme cases of the repression of sexual desires. It has been known since the beginning that the society would usually look down on the odds and encourages the average people. Even if the homosexuals are from a loving families they would still be some critics from the media. The signs of homophobia are not very noticeable and it becomes worse when it is internalized.
Creation and Normalization of internalized homophobiaDealing with internalized homophobia is often an ongoing process. First the person should liberate himself or herself from the internalized homophobia by realizing that the source of these negative feelings is externally developed by the society that is generally against the homosexuality. The impacts of one having known to be a lesbian or gay doesn’t fade even when the person have heard the negative thoughts about homosexuality over years and have internalized the issue. The media has helped these people to learn on the ways that they can raise their self-esteem and feel good about them despite having the negative thoughts of being homosexual. One should learn to experience and cope with whatever feelings, whether positive or negative, they have developed (Mepschen, par.
3). There are several human rights organizations that have been created that help to deal with the negative issues affecting the homosexuals. This rights attempts to urge people to avoid criminal penalties against the homosexuals in the world.In order for the homosexuals to avoid the stigma caused by their lifestyles, one should establish a stable identity of him or herself (Mepschen, par. 3).
The social attitudes towards sex, gender and homosexuality are generally internalized before individual recognizes of their own sexual orientation. This will help the homosexuals to be aware of their homosexuality and develop a positive attitude towards their behavior and avoid distress. Secondly, this people should take a positive step of trusting other people bearing in mind their sexual identity. This can thus help them to be more productive even at their workplace and thus carryout their daily activities without the fear of criticism. The disclosure of one’s sexual orientation enhances the well- being of an individual.
This promotes the positive perceptions and social support since the person will be free and ready to use the available resources meant to be supportive to them. However, there is a negative impact of this disclosure of sexual orientation. The gay person can face rejection from the family members, can loss employment, loss the accommodation and even can get physical harms from the hate crimes. Therefore one must make a critical suggestion in order to maintain a balance for a personal security and safety and the need to develop a positive relationship with others. (Neufeld, Par 5). The media has also helped in creating the programs that provides guidance and counseling to the homosexuals.
This has helped to a great extend for these people to deal with their mental deterioration that has been caused by the negative perceptions from the society. The advertisement of the therapists that are experienced in the issues concerning the gays and the lesbians has also contributed to curbing of these problems of intimidation by the homosexuals.The behavior modifications techniques that are meant to eliminate the homosexual behaviors and attraction have largely been abandoned. According to numerous reports of the research done some decades ago, it was established that some men had developed the desires to get rid of unwanted thoughts and behaviors by willing to try anything that could help them come out of being gays. Though those who succeeded had the desire for change, sought help, revealed to their therapist their nature of problems and had developed confidence on their therapist that change is possible (Narth, par. 5).
The normalization of the homosexuals’ people leaves in place the unclear status of the marginal sexualities and all the norms that regulates the sexual intimate conduct apart from the behavior of heterosexuality. According to Mepschesen (par, 3), he noted the statement that was made by Seidman saying that “Normalization is made possible because it simultaneously reproduces a dominant order of gender, intimate, economic and national practices” (par 3). This normalization of heterosexuals would impose a negative impact on the way this person feels about their nationality.Gender Roles and Effects of HomophobiaThere are several far-reaching and insidious impacts based on gender that have been created by homophobia in our society today. The effects of homophobia in our society can be said to be a sheer killer and can cause a lot of destruction towards homosexuals.
The gay people are normally exposed to critics than the lesbians in the society. The verbal, physical, mental harassment and abuse have lead to creation of internalize stigma leading to emotional stress that has brought in the diverse effects among this people. The emotional stress that has build up has lead to such effects as; depression, anxiety, attempted suicide, build up of relationship problems, risk of adapting the sexually transmitted diseases, feeling of homelessness, engagement on drug or alcohol abuse, dropping out of school by school attendants and several other negative effects (Cozza par 6). The physical effects of this continued stress is the increased risk of asthma, diabetes, gastrointestinal infections, viral infections, the auto- immune system deficiencies and even the cardiac related diseases. Some medical professionals think that some people want to be homophobic in order to show off their masculinity and their heterosexuality to other people. The men would go out strongly criticizing others whom they think they are gays trying to prove their masculinity saying that they are not homosexuals themselves.
The feminine lesbians would not feel comfortable and usually feel embarrassment when they see well looking women. According to several researches that have been carried out, it has been proven that those people with the homophobic attitudes do have same sex attractions themselves (Cozza, par.2). These people would often try to resist these notices of opposite sex attractions by going into denial and starts making some homophobic remarks so that they can hide their own sexual shortcomings. The homophobia has lead gay people getting into denial of their own sexuality leading them to hide their homosexuality for fear of other homophobic people to finding out that they are homosexuals.The effects of verbal abuse in regard of homosexuals have lead to this people trying to hide their lifestyle and trying to live a heterosexual lifestyle.
Many people in the society have been influenced by others to develop the homophobic behaviors, especially in places where there is strong religious background. Alternatively those people, who are brought up in places that have greater tolerance, would tend to develop more positive attitudes towards the homosexuals. This people are open minded and would rarely develop an act of being homophobic. Impacts of the MediaThe media has played a major role in the compacting the issue of discrimination and removal of stigma among the homosexuals. Through adoption of information in the society, it is believed that there are more acceptances of these homosexuals in the society.
Contrary, it has been known that the issue of stigma among the homosexuals has been immensely contributed by the media. Through the information obtained from the media, people tend to be more positive and are informed on the issues concerning the homosexuality. Some people even thinks that touching a man’s ‘face’ or ‘ass’ portrays a bad image that is related to being gay (Neufeld, par.2). The media in the past used to portray gay men in a negative way and it promoted unhappy maladaptive image of these people.
Their individuality was related to the female characteristics. The media has portrayed the gay people has sex-obsessed people who have deviated from the normal behaviors and this has contributed negatively on the efforts of acquiring, full and equal civil rights. There are terms that the media uses that are self-denigrating and offensive when describing the gays.The media though as brought in positive changes in the society regarding the view of homosexuality. People get informed and are transformed in their minds thus removing the negative attitudes they have been having regarding to homosexuals. It has been proven, through several studies that have been done, that education contributes much to the adoption of people on how they perceive the homosexuals.
It was established that people with more education levels are less likely to develop homophobia and that ignorance is what breeds homophobia (Cozza par. 4). These people without education believe that the HIV AIDS was brought up by the homosexuals. They believe that these people are known to be child abusers and the gay people are feminine while the lesbians are considered to be the masculine. According to Neufeld (Par. 6), he noted on the statement that was written by Gray that the gay movements in Canada is described as a conspiracy against society and children, and that the messages sent out were likely to expose gays to “hatred, contempt or violence”This act of homosexuality as often been viewed as an act that is very immoral.
The homophobia in the society has lead to harassment and looking down on those people considered to be lesbians. It has lead to conflicts in the families among friends, neighborhood, colleges at work places, schools and generally in the society at large. There is isolation and alienation of these homosexuals in the society. They face critics that have affected both the heterosexuals and the homosexual’s persons whether they are young or old. If there will be more education in our societies then the issue of homophobia will not arise to much extend in our societies.
There should be a difference to be made in human rights for the sake of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people in the society. These people need to be loved and accepted like any other people. But all this will never happen unless people speak out and condemn this act of homophobia.
