Do you believe it is true we are that which we hate the most?

[Gravitycollapse]

At least on general principle?

I use to recoil in disgust when people would say that fervent homophobes secretly harbor homosexual attraction. I did not like the idea that same sex attraction was being used in such a negative light; it almost seemed as though we were turning homosexuality into a pathology.

Now I'm not so sure. I'm starting to think that there is truth behind the phrase. Although not in the same way a lot suggest. Instead, I think we are the stereotypes which we hate the most. That shifts the implication away from healthy identity towards the warped, unreal fantasy of bigots.

So a fervent homophobe secretly harbors the unreal dysfunctional stereotype of homosexuality.

A white racist is obviously not secretly black as that is impossible. Instead he or she secretly harbors the racist stereotype. All of the different racial epithets are born from the racists internal affliction.

Is that enough of a departure from the original intent of the accusation that it is inaccurate to use? I guess that is for you to decide.

Maybe I've been reading too much Freud.

[Wounded Bear]

1. I believe that people often become that which they hate...

Along the line of your position, many pathologies seem to stem from the old projection syndrome, in which people tend to see what they think of as their own worst characteristic in others. All too often, what they see in themselves is not real, but imagined, so they end up hating others because they perceive those others displaying what they loathe about themselves.

In your example, there is strong anecdotal evidence, at least, that many homophobes are in fact homosexuals that have been taught since childhood that homosexuality is bad, dirty, sinful, whatever negative stereotype one wants to apply. And yes, this is very often from religious teachings.

I also think that is why so many RWers think of the poor as lazy. They are essentially jealous of the poor person's "life of leisure" while they are "forced" to work and slave away to pay taxes and support the bums. None of that has much basis in reality, but we're not dealing with reality here.