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Quote by: Suburbanite You're getting far too wrapped up in the suffix "phobe". It isn't like fear of falling or fear of spiders. It is a fear of social changes from sexual deviance. Someone who fears the definition change of Marriage is being homophobic. It doesn't lock anyone into debate whatsoever. It isn't used in a way any different than you have called people liberals.
Remember Political Correctness is a bipartisan affair. Liberals have their words, sure, but Conservatives are not without their own either. As for the design of Politically Correct language it is actually based off the philosophy of post-modernism by Richard Rorty who explains that how we describe the world is with language, and what that language is will change our outlook. If instead of saying retarded we say mentally challenged than society as a whole will feel obligated to empathize.
That said, homophobia is not a politically correct word, it does not fit within the philosophy of political correctness whatsoever. Homophobia is a defensive labeling of those who disrupt the would-be rights of homosexuals. |
Let's break it (homophobia) down into its component parts:
Homo = same (the Greek word "homo") or any of a genus of hominids (the Latin "homo")
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Phobia = fear of
Fear of the same or fear of hominids
Hence, "homophobe" is a person who fears the same or fears other hominids.