[Bellissima]

or butch looking lesbians? in my experience most homophobes are only really bothered about male gay relationships... of course there are exceptions... but you can be talking about it to them.. and say "well what about lesbians"... they usually respond with one of three answers..

"oh i don't mind lesbians "
"they just hate men they are just lying to themselves there is no such thing as lesbian"
"they just think they are men that's why they pretend to be men and look manly"



then occaisionally you will get the same ammount of hatred for lesbians as you do for gay men.

why is this? or have you experienced different?

do you also think that there are more male homophobes than female? or are men just more vocal about it? i find that women are more comfortable with their sexuality and that there are less female homophobes (though obviously there are still more than enough!).. this is probably one of the reasons more homophobia seems to be anti gay males.

opinions?

this is just based on my personal experience and what i have seen in the media, so i am just asking for your experiences/opinions really.

[MittenRef]

Sorry for sounding crass, but most homophobes are "blokes" or "lads", and the idea of two males getting it on is wrong. Likewise for "butch" lesbians because they don't look like Mila Kunis.

Whereas, the idea, in their minds, that two good-looking females being together is great! Just proves the simple minds of homophobes for you!

[Kiss]

Probably because hot lesbians are **** bank material whereas the butch ones or gay males is not.

[Floridfist]

I can't really answer your question for sure, But I think your view might not reveal the big picture. My step-sister is a lesbian and I've walked around town with them many times and they are heckled equelly by both genders. Although if I'm honest I don't think people actually take offence to it anymore. They just see it as an oppertunity to be an ******* and it is somehow warranted.

But I can honestly say it is equel for both sides, Lesbians will get ridicule from straight women and luddittes whilst gays will get it from the smallest minority of men with the loudest voice. Realistically I think it's nowhere near as bad as it seems anymore. Just small isolated incidents. Not anymore acceptable, but hey, atleast we're past lynching in most countries.

[Multitalented me]

For men it's probably something to do with macho culture & all that ****. I can't control how some of my gender think so I just have to focus on myself

[Minotauro]

I think you already know the answer.

[Oli-Ol]

In my experience, straight girls have no problem with gay guys (because you can go shopping with them!) but can't stand lesbians (what if she hits on me??), whereas men are fine with hot lesbians (typical :/ ) but think that two guys fancying each other is gross.

It's a common misconception I hear that being a lesbian is 'easier' than being a gay man, but from speaking to various people I really don't think that that is the case.

[Mad Vlad]

I've noticed this in the ad nauseam arguments that we've seen of late about homosexuality. Everything seems to be gay male-centric. It's as if lesbians don't exist in their minds in anything other than their porn fantasy world.

I'm becoming more convinced by it being a pathological fear of gay sex, more than anything; which in turn, implies that it's an insecurity complex.

[Annoying-Mouse]

See maturestudy's post. That probably plays a larger part than porn or anything like that. Even in the Qu'ran it only talks about men with men.

[sawce]

because its icky

[maturestudy]

Much (though not all) homophobia stems from the judeo-christian holy book, the bible. It contains verses such as Leviticus 20:13

If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

Note that there's nothing in there about woman lying with woman.

[DH-Biker]

I genuinely think its because a lot of these people are too thick **** stupid to realise that the porn they watch with lesbians aren't really lesbians. They are extremely attractive females who are paid thousands to be lesbian for an hour.

Not that I'm saying every Lesbian is an ugly person, but you simply don't hear about it as much and these people are like; "Ahh, well they're really hot, so I don't mind that. But this man on man business is wrong and is gay, whereas this woman on woman thing is hot!"

I would wager that a few homophobic women share the polar opposite view; that woman on woman is wrong but man on man is good.

[medbh4805]

probably not directly addressing your question but just my 2p:

The prejudices that Lesbians face are probably different from those that gay men face. One thing that we seem to experience a lot more than gay men is denial of our sexual identity (i.e. the suggestion that Lesbians don't really exist, just attention seeking teenage girls etc). There's also the thing that if you're a lesbian girl and have an ONS with a man, your sexuality is immediately called into question, but with gay men who sleep do the same with a woman (people do this for a variety of reasons), no one questions that they're sexually attracted to other men. I've also noticed that some gay men and quite prejudiced against lesbians and treat them differently from how they treat straight women. Fortunately they are the exception rather than the rule and most of my male friends are gay or bi and generally lovely people

I think there is a lot of belittling and demeaning of lesbians that goes on, that because some lesbians use dildos in sex they secretly want to have sex with a man, that because some lesbians want to date 'butch' women they really want to date men, that lesbianism is something girls 'grow out of', and so on.

Yes, anti-gay-male focused homophobia is more prominent but that probably reflects that gay men are generally more prominent (imo) in the arts, entertainment, politics etc than lesbians are.

I am just talking from my experience. I am quite femme and single and therefore my sexuality is not 'obvious' to random people who don't know me, however I know other lesbians who've been verbally abused, bottled, attacked and so on. The friendship double standard with vapid straight women who want a 'gay best friend' but don't like lesbians is also something I've experienced as well.

So yes lesbophobes do in fact exist. But perhaps they function in a different manner to anti-gay-male homophobes.

[-Haz-]

They like the idea of two feminine girls getting it on, not necessarily lesbian ones. I’ve heard plenty of homophobic comments directed at feminine lesbians, ones such as ‘I could turn her straight with one f**k.’ or ‘you’re too pretty to be gay’. I’d say feminine lesbians get just as much homophobia, and on top of that they have to put up with idiotic sexist comments.

Of course butch women get plenty of homophobia too because straight men don’t fancy them and straight girls don’t understand them, so they’re automatically labelled ugly. I also think butch women are more likely to be assaulted because men don’t see them as ‘real women’.

On the question about whether men or women are more homophobic, I think men are generally more homophobic because they seem to feel the need to portray this masculine image and being pro-gay (particularly pro-gay men) doesn’t fit in to their idea of what being masculine is. A lot of straight men are terrified of being thought of as gay so they try and make clear they’re not gay by being homophobic.

However as a (rather masculine) gay girl I’ve had more homophobia from other girls. From my personal experience I’d say that guys are certainly more vocal about it. Guys will shout comments at you, whereas girls will bitch behind your back or actually sit down and have a conversation with you about why they don’t like gay people.

[Scienceisgood]

(Original post by -Haz-)
They like the idea of two feminine girls getting it on, not necessarily lesbian ones. I’ve heard plenty of homophobic comments directed at feminine lesbians, ones such as ‘I could turn her straight with one f**k.’ or ‘you’re too pretty to be gay’. I’d say feminine lesbians get just as much homophobia, and on top of that they have to put up with idiotic sexist comments.

Of course butch women get plenty of homophobia too because straight men don’t fancy them and straight girls don’t understand them, so they’re automatically labelled ugly. I also think butch women are more likely to be assaulted because men don’t see them as ‘real women’.

On the question about whether men or women are more homophobic, I think men are generally more homophobic because they seem to feel the need to portray this masculine image and being pro-gay (particularly pro-gay men) doesn’t fit in to their idea of what being masculine is. A lot of straight men are terrified of being thought of as gay so they try and make clear they’re not gay by being homophobic.

However as a (rather masculine) gay girl I’ve had more homophobia from other girls. From my personal experience I’d say that guys are certainly more vocal about it. Guys will shout comments at you, whereas girls will bitch behind your back or actually sit down and have a conversation with you about why they don’t like gay people.

They just jealous you get more than they ever will.

[ckingalt]

(Original post by MittenRef)
Sorry for sounding crass, but most homophobes are "blokes" or "lads", and the idea of two males getting it on is wrong. Likewise for "butch" lesbians because they don't look like Mila Kunis.

Whereas, the idea, in their minds, that two good-looking females being together is great! Just proves the simple minds of homophobes for you!

(Original post by Mad Vlad)
I've noticed this in the ad nauseam arguments that we've seen of late about homosexuality. Everything seems to be gay male-centric. It's as if lesbians don't exist in their minds in anything other than their porn fantasy world.

I'm becoming more convinced by it being a pathological fear of gay sex, more than anything; which in turn, implies that it's an insecurity complex.

Homophobia is driven by emotion not logic. Two fit girls, I am emotionally stimulated. Two guys, I am emotionally.......not. I am not a homophobe because I am a logical person, and therefore I disregard my emotions when they lead me astray. The homophobes are either unable or unwilling to do this.

[Ice Constricter]

Maybe the fact lesbianism is portrayed as more sensual due to the lack of penetration (strap ons don't count). And another reason being that the most common fantasy for a guy is a threesome, so when they see two girls getting it on they just imagine themselves joining in, and how the hell can a straight guy hate that?

But with gay males there is penetration which makes it seem more 'dirty' and 'disgusting'.

Also isn't it a bit obvious that guys will be turned on by two hot lesbians? Guys ARE attracted to women aren't they? Not exactly rocket science.

[SnoochToTheBooch]

I suspect most of the time homophobia isn't really about being anti -gayness at all, but more about hating the campness, the irritating, effeminate mannerisms of the stereotypical gay guy - and the actual bumsex bit just gets caught up with that. Gay women wouldn't have the same problem => less hate.

[TheHansa]

(Original post by Annoying-Mouse)
See maturestudy's post. That probably plays a larger part than porn or anything like that. Even in the Qu'ran it only talks about men with men.

How did you get this post in before maturestudy's post?

[ohirome]

(Original post by TheHansa)
How did you get this post in before maturestudy's post?

I think the poster edited their post after mature study posted theirs.

* * * *

Its already been said, but I feel it boils down to some heterosexual males insecurities and fears of gay male sex. Theres a real testosterone and macho side to it. Lesbians don't get it as much because the sort of man with homophobic tendencies is also stupid enough to think that he could turn a lesbian. Men...who'd have em.