Homophobia; A Weapon Of Sexism

After reading the article by Suzanne Pharr, there were a few points that stood out to me as the reader. Before reading this article, I thought homophobia was just the fear of gays and lesbians and that was about it. I never thought beyond the subject critically or put much attention to how it was involved in society and the great effect it had on people and especially women in order to develop and grow as a professional and as a person. As I read through the article I realized that society used homophobia as a weapon of sexism, that these two ideas went hand in hand with each other. If there was no heterosexism there would be no homophobia in the first place, in the end all these ideas work together to form the thinking of many individuals. Something else that caught my attention was the fact that women are scared to make deep changes from the roots of the conflicts in fear of being called a “lesbian” and due to that the women’s liberation movement has been weak in the past years due to the fear of being placed under that category. I found unjust that women be called lesbians just because they are independent, and resist male dominance. I do not think that is a reason for a woman to be called a lesbian or for people to assume that she is. I think males and other people in power find it as a threat to their jobs and careers. I agree with the statement that Pharr makes when she says “homophobia has been one of the major causes of the failure of the women’s liberation movement to make deep and lasting change” (pg 90)Due to this homophobia and unjust behavior of heterosexuals, homosexuals live in fear of their life scared that their life could be threatened at any time due to their preference.