Bridget Thomas
WGST 202 H
December 9, 2014
Article Review #3
Cowan, Gloria. “Heterosexuals’ Attitudes Toward Hate Crimes
and Hate Speech Against Gays and
Lesbians: Old-Fashioned and Modern Heterosexism.” Journal of
Homosexuality 49.2 (2005): 67-82.
In
“Heterosexuals’ Attitudes Toward Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Against Gays and
Lesbians: Old-Fashioned and Modern Heterosexism”, Gloria Cowan and her colleagues examine the
predictability of attitudes toward hate crimes and hate speech against homosexual
people. This was done through the investigation of both old-fashioned and
modern heterosexism. The study indicated the importance of the fact that
old-fashioned and modern beliefs may be interconnected and might exist on a
spectrum: these concepts are not separate from one another. Additionally, Cowan
noted that hate crimes and hate speech experienced by homosexual people are
expressions of the animosity and prejudice also faced by ethnic and religious
minority groups.
Cowan
first defines hate crime as “a criminal act in which the victim was targeted
because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin,
ethnicity, gender, disability, or sexual orientation. This may include, but is
not limited to, threatening phone calls, hate mail, physical assaults,
vandalism, fires, and bombings” (68). In comparison, hate speech uses symbols
and words, such as faggot, nigger, or pictures. Cowan points out that this type
of speech is legal under the US constitution until it contains threats or intimidation.
She argues that both hate crime and hate speech are problematic, as they
generate trepidation within homosexual communities. Cowan writes, “Since hate
speech toward gays often accompanies actual physical violence, the receipt of
hate speech leaves the gay target with extreme feelings of vulnerability” (69).
Successively,
Cowan goes on to write about the differences between old-fashioned and modern
heterosexism. Old-fashioned heterosexism involves the obvious demonstration of
aversion and disapproval toward homosexuals. In contrast, modern heterosexism
is elusive. Modern heterosexists do not always blatantly deem homosexuals as
inferior, nor do they always blatantly show hatred toward them. Rather, modern
heterosexists enforce and maintain policies that promote heterosexism while
muffling homosexual rights.
Cowan
predicted modern heterosexists to have attitudes that uphold a society where
overlooking and excusing hate crimes and hate speech against gay and lesbian
people is endorsed. She predicted that old-fashioned heterosexists will have
attitudes that commend hate crimes and hate speech against homosexuals. The
research indicated that the predictions
were accurate, with an additional significant finding: both old-fashioned and modern
heterosexism diminishes the damage caused by hate speech. Cowan discusses the
significance of these findings in relationship to freedom of speech in the US.
She writes, “… freedom of speech is a double-edged sword. It protects gays and
lesbians and it indirectly contributes to the tolerance of harmful speech”
(79). In other words, as the importance of freedom of speech grows and
perpetuates to old-fashioned and modern heterosexists, so does the belittling
of the harm inflicted by hate speech.
The
topics of old-fashioned and modern heterosexism in relationship to hate crime
and hate speech toward homosexuals pertain to my blog topic of violence against
LGBT people. Hate crimes and speech are essentially forms of physical and
verbal violence, driven by thoughts of heterosexist superiority. This concept
of heterosexist superiority that drives hate crime and hate speech against
homosexuals ties into the course themes of heterosexual privilege and
heteronormativity, where heterosexuality is deemed the normal, acceptable, and
natural sexual orientation.
Cowan
and colleagues discuss the attitudes of old-fashioned and modern heterosexists
that drive hate crimes and hate speech. Although the Cowan’s and Paul Kwon’s
articles discuss different topics, the topics are interrelated. Hate speech and
hate crime can be tied into Paul Kwon’s article titled “Resilience in Lesbian,
Gay, and Bisexual Individuals”. It relates because the resilience factors
utilized by many LGBT people, as Kwon writes, is necessary because of the
violence they experience in the forms of hate crime and hate speech endorsed by
heterosexists, as Cowan writes.
The
article by Cowan gave me new insight into how heterosexual privilege and
heteronormativity play out in our society. I had never before thought about,
but now I understand, how freedom of speech can be a “double-edged sword” for
LGBT people. Overall, the article was very thought provoking and I thought the
authors did not leave anything out that needed to be addressed.