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    History of Homophobia - Britannica Online Encyclopedia

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    History of Homophobia - Britannica Online Encyclopedia

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    History of Homophobia - Britannica Online Encyclopedia

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    4/4/24, 10:11 AM homophobia -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia

    homophobia
    History
    Although little is known about premodern women’s sexualities, it is largely believed that the
    sexual desire of one man for another was an acceptable, often venerated form of love in
    ancient cultures. Intolerance toward homosexual behaviour grew particularly in the Middle
    Ages, especially among the adherents of Christianity and Islam.

    To understand the wider cultural impact of homophobia, awareness of the general societal
    consensus of the nature of homosexuality is necessary. In Western cultures in the later 19th
    century, some psychologists began to view homosexuality as more than a temporary
    behaviour, understanding that it was immutable. As industrialization brought migration from
    rural to urban areas, the greater density of people in cities permitted same-sex attracted
    individuals to organize (initially under the cloak of anonymity), which ultimately led to greater
    visibility and the scientific study of homosexuality.

    The term homosexuality was first used in 1868, and the research of Richard von Krafft-Ebing
    two decades later in Psychopathia Sexualis (1886; trans. into English in 1892) portrayed
    homosexuality as a fixed sexual desire. In 1905 Sigmund Freud popularized the erroneous
    notion that homosexuality was the product of a child’s upbringing, writing, “The presence of
    both parents plays an important part. The absence of a strong father in childhood not
    infrequently favours the occurrence of inversion.” Freud even gave child-rearing tips to help
    parents lead their children to heterosexual adjustment.

    With Freud’s warning in mind, and because of the long working hours that men spent under
    industrialization, homosocial organizations (e.g., sporting clubs and the Boy Scouts) were
    developed to introduce young boys to heterosexual masculine role models in the absence of
    their fathers. The teaching of masculinity to boys and femininity to girls was (and often
    remains) falsely believed to be able to prevent children from becoming homosexual.

    https://www.britannica.com/print/article/1758377 1/2
    4/4/24, 10:11 AM homophobia -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia

    Citation Information
    Article Title: homophobia
    Website Name: Encyclopaedia Britannica
    Publisher: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
    Date Published: 25 February 2024
    URL: https://www.britannica.comhttps://www.britannica.com/topic/homophobia
    Access Date: April 04, 2024

    https://www.britannica.com/print/article/1758377 2/2

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