Although a phobia has been historically understood to be a fear of something (e.g., arachnophobia is a fear of spiders), adding the suffix today is intended to signal that you hold a bigoted view on that subject…and that’s bad. You’re supposed to be so afraid of being labeled phobic that you’ll change your position or, at least, never express it again in public.

Beloved Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling is no longer loved. In recent tweets, she expressed her view that men who identify as women are, in fact, men. Though this view is consistent with what virtually every person throughout all of human history has believed, she was branded transphobic. Checkmate, Rowling! In case you didn’t know, calling someone transphobic is supposed to be bad.

There are a lot of terms that end with “phobic”: homophobic, Islamophobic, xenophobic, and transphobic. If someone expresses disagreement with the mainstream narrative on homosexuality, Islam, foreigners, or transgender people, they’ll be slapped with a “phobic” label. Although a phobia has been historically understood to be a fear of something (e.g., arachnophobia is a fear of spiders), adding the suffix today is intended to signal that you hold a bigoted view on that subject…and that’s bad. You’re supposed to be so afraid of being labeled phobic that you’ll change your position or, at least, never express it again in public. If you do, prepare to be canceled.

I’ll admit there are times when using a “phobic” term, like Islamophobic, might be legitimate. I’ve met people who are genuinely fearful and angry with Muslims. It’s rare, though. That’s why I don’t believe you need to have a fear of being called “phobic” (would that be phobiphobic?). Here are three reasons why you shouldn’t let the label bother you.

First, calling you “phobic” is intended to dismiss you or your view.

Instead of providing a substantive response to your position, sometimes people will try to dismiss it. Once you’ve been labeled “homophobic,” there’s nothing left for you to do but (allegedly) cower and walk away. After all, you’ve been identified as the bigot that you are and now need to bow out from further discourse. Dismissing your position is similar to the next mistake.

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