Readers might be interested in checking out this piece by Richard Thompson Ford on Slate today. It concerns same-sex marriage, and argues that we shouldn’t think of all opponents of same-sex marriage as anti-gay bigots because many of them really just wish to retain the rigid sex roles that marriage represents for them. Bottom line: if you mix your anti-gay bigotry with sexism you can sanitize it and make it somehow acceptable.
Needless to say, I found the piece disturbing on a variety of levels.
–Anthony Infanti
When did people stop understanding the sameness of sexism and homophobia? The root cause of homophobia is a hatred of women- period. Anti-gay bigotry is ALWAYS mixed with sexism… they are the same. To suggest that anti-woman behavior is not bigoted (as Ford does) is steeped in an irony that I can barely begin to explore before my first cup of a nameless, carbonated, caffeinated beverage.
These are not cutting edge, psychological issues as Ford suggests- maybe he should pick up a copy of Pharr’s book (1988), Homophobia a Weapon of Sexism.