ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses mostly on homophobia, and to some extent sexism, and examines how they are both structurally similar and interconnected. In Elisabeth Young-Bruehl’s terms, sexists are usually men who cannot tolerate the idea that there are people in existence who are not like them. The concept of bisexuality presupposes a clear grasp of the antithesis between masculinity and femininity. However, these notions have different meanings for biology, psychology and sociology. Recent empirical studies support the psychoanalytic assumption that homophobia is more marked in people who have a suppressed attraction to people of the same sex and who grew up with authoritarian parents who banned such desire. These people would have identified as heterosexual, though psychological tests showed that they were strongly attracted to people of their own sex. They feel threatened by lesbian and gay people because they remind them of similar tendencies within themselves.
