"Phobia" definition vs. mainstream usage

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Magna
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30 Aug 2018, 11:06 am

pho·bi·a noun an extreme or irrational fear of or aversion to something.

If a person opposes "open borders", is that person "xenophobic"? Not by definition.

If a person based on their religion (e.g. certain Christian denominations, Islam) believes that homosexuality is immoral, is that person "homophobic"? Not by definition.

If a person believes that Islam is oppressive toward women and homosexuals, is that person "Islamphobic"? Not by definition.

Is the "phobia" label used incorrectly in the mainstream?



Magna
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30 Aug 2018, 4:06 pm

Bueller?



Aprilviolets
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30 Aug 2018, 6:44 pm

I think the term "Phobia" is used by the left to shut down debate and stop people from talking about issues that concern them.



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30 Aug 2018, 7:09 pm

Phobia = extreme irrational fear or hatred of something
In psychology there are phobias, but that is different from homophobia, for example. One means fear, the other means hate.


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TheAP
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30 Aug 2018, 7:23 pm

Yeah, it may be nitpicky, but it is used incorrectly. I've seen a movement lately to replace the -phobia suffix with -misia (like homophobia becomes homomisia), using mis in the same way as in words like misogyny. This can be more sensitive to people with actual phobias as well.



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08 Oct 2018, 11:43 pm

Phobia just means not agreeing with a different perspective.


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lostonearth35
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09 Oct 2018, 3:43 pm

If you have such a terrible fear of a place, an animal, or a situation that you can't live a decent life, your whole world revolves around the thing you're afraid of, and just mentioning or even thinking about the thing you're afraid of makes you frightened, then it's a phobia.

But when it's a hatred of certain people or their lifestyles then it's a form of discrimination and not a true phobia. Although I'm not sure why people don't think an irrational fear of certain animals isn't seen as discrimination.
Most spiders are harmless to humans, at least in my country, but many people are frightened of all spiders anyway.



Magna
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09 Oct 2018, 3:46 pm

Agreed. "Homophobic", "Xenophobic", etc. terms used completely incorrectly. That bothers me.



naturalplastic
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09 Oct 2018, 5:28 pm

League_Girl wrote:
Phobia just means not agreeing with a different perspective.


No it does not mean that.

"Phobia" is Greek for "fear".

It is used in English in both a clinical sense to mean "Fear, and or hatred", and in a colloquial sense to mean "fear/hatred". The clinical and the colloquial meanings may differ slightly but they are both "correct".



graceksjp
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10 Oct 2018, 12:57 pm

I dunno a phobia is an “irrational” fear or hatred right? I would say hating gay people for being gay is pretty irrational. But that’s just my opinion.
On the other hand I’m like deathly afraid of spiders but I don’t find that irrational cause um THEY CAN KILL YOU. Just saying.


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