I agree with basically everything you said, honestly. There is a much greater degree of terror associated with homophobia for me than there is with misogyny, even though I'm a target of both, and I'm more directly the target of misogynistic language than I am of the type of homophobic language that is derogatory specifically to gay men. Which is kind of weird when I think about it, because men devaluing and dehumanizing women are probably just as much if not more of a direct threat to me. (Though of course there's the intersection - a lot of homophobia has roots in misogyny.) So I think to an extent it does go back to saturation - not just words, but types of violence. A guy saying "fag" or "cocksucker" is an indicator of potential violence to me no matter where it happens or who it's directed at; a guy saying "bitch" is only an indicator of potential violence to me if he's saying it to or about a woman.
Re: Discussion Thread
I agree with basically everything you said, honestly. There is a much greater degree of terror associated with homophobia for me than there is with misogyny, even though I'm a target of both, and I'm more directly the target of misogynistic language than I am of the type of homophobic language that is derogatory specifically to gay men. Which is kind of weird when I think about it, because men devaluing and dehumanizing women are probably just as much if not more of a direct threat to me. (Though of course there's the intersection - a lot of homophobia has roots in misogyny.) So I think to an extent it does go back to saturation - not just words, but types of violence. A guy saying "fag" or "cocksucker" is an indicator of potential violence to me no matter where it happens or who it's directed at; a guy saying "bitch" is only an indicator of potential violence to me if he's saying it to or about a woman.