homophobia

[Michael Hoover]

Naomi Scheman suggests that 'homophobia' is often used to mean the same 
things for women as for men.  Given different social constructions of 
female and male sexuality, there isn't reason to think this should be so.  
Male homophobia attaches with greatest force not to the general idea of 
sexual desire for another man but to the specific idea of being in the 
receptive position sexually.  Given a culturally normative definition of 
sexuality in terms of male domination and female subordination, there is 
anxiety attached to a man's imagining another man's doing to him what men 
are expected to do to women.  'Real men' are not supposed to allow 
themselves to be fucked.   Michael Hoover