I always like Clarence Page's columns. Today he writes about the Associated Press Stylebook (which is the one my organization uses, I think) that now considers the words Islamophobia and homophobia as taboo. Here's the reason they give:

quote:

"It's just off the mark," AP deputy standards editor David Minthorn explained to Politico. "It's ascribing a mental disability to someone and suggests a knowledge that we don't have. It seems inaccurate. Instead, we would use something more neutral: anti-gay, or some such, if we had reason to believe that was the case."

What do you think?

I've never really cared for the use of -phobia in contexts like these because in most contexts it implies fear and in these it seems to me more to imply hatred and therefore be not quite right.
For example all of the gay-bashing, tub-thumping homophobes out there would doubtless be very angry if you said they were frightened of homosexuals. It's not fear it's just hatred and bigotry.

With that all said it seems a bit silly to insist that using the words is "ascribing a mental disability" because while that may be the medical use of -phobia, it certainly isn't the sole common use.
By that logic you can't say things like "it's a bit claustrophobic in here" because "in here" can't be claustrophobic only people can.
You'd have to say something like, "this place seems likely to induce claustrophobic symptoms in those prone to phobic mental disorders".

Addendum

OK. I've now managed to read the column in question (which I couldn't access this morning) and he has a point about Islamaphobia which does seem to be primarily a fear response. Islamaphobia seems as good a word as any to describe the irrational post-9/11 fear of anyone and anything connected with Moslems.

I'm still a bit dubious about the use of homophobia though: the contention that "Whether homophobia is based on fear or 'maybe envy in some cases,'it shouldn't matter," seems to me to be on rather shaky ground.

I would never argue that words, or in this case suffixes, can't change their meaning but pretty well everyone takes phobia to mean "fear of", whether in common speech or in a stricly clinical sense. The usage of "homophobia" doesn't, to me anyway, seem to fit this pattern. I doubt that if you scoured the length and breadth of America and the UK you would find a single person who has been described as "homophobic" who would claim to be scared of homosexuals - to hate, despise, abominate; yes - to be scared; no.

I still don't think it makes sense to ban use of the word, I just think their ought to be a better word for it because if someone was genuinely scared of homosexuals - in the way that claustrophobia is fear of closed spaces - we wouldn't have a word for it.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: BobHale,

I, too, have never liked those phobia words that much and can see not using homophobia. But I do see his point for Islamaphobia.