Fandom Problem #14,368:
I didn't used to believe heterophobia existed before I engaged in fandom, but now I absolutely do.
Now, before anyone bites my head off, I am not saying it exists in the real world the way homophobia does (in the sense that people disown their family members if they find out they're straight or entire countries banning straight marriage, though I have honestly come across people in fandom I would totally believe would love to live in a world like that, despite claiming how "inclusive" they are), I'm talking about exclusively in fandom. Heterophobes are those who feel completely at ease bashing and bullying m/f ships and people who ship them simply because they're straight, or even go as extreme as acting like shipping any m/f ship, even if it's canon (sometimes especially if it's canon, cause then you're supporting the heteronormative agenda) automatically makes you a homophobe and an evil person. And even if an m/f ship DOES somehow get popular among these people in fandom, it can never ever be seen as a straight ship, oh no; the characters are both bi or pan or (somehow) lesbians, or one or both of them are trans, or they're put in a polyship with the popular m/m ship, or they're queer platonic, or any other number of hoops to jump through just so that the ship is "okay" to ship. These people will do anything and everything to justify their liking for an m/f ship EXCEPT just admit they like a straight ship (and if they somehow do admit it as a straight ship they will then claim it is the ONLY example done right). They do what homophobes do and criticize anyone for daring to suggest romance between two characters that are just friends in canon, spouting "why can't a boy and a girl ever just have a platonic relationship?", and isolate fans who ship them. They write rants and essays about how an m/f ship is terrible and badly written, but endlessly gush about an m/m ship in the same fandom that's written exactly the same way.
Homophobes believe they are justified in their hatred because they think being queer is evil. The people who act as I have described above think they are justified in their behavior because they think being queer is the only thing stopping someone from being evil. So tell me, what term is a more accurate description for them than "heterophobe"?







