This occurence can be explained very easily:
Some people, when raised, have insecurities and fear they cannot be accepted for who they truly are. The only way for them to cope with these insecurities is to either lash out in strange ways, or learn to accept themselves like a sane person and live with it.
One very common form of coping with such insecurities is called Meathead Syndrome. It is when men feel they have to act tough or macho in order to be accepted by other males. They commonly act as hypochondriacs, but with homosexuality rather than an actual health issue. Other common names include jocks, rubes, and hockey players.
One very common issue they have is to exert their homophobia upon the world. Many anthropologists believe that living in constant fear of somebody suspecting you are homosexual is a sign that you are subconciously homosexual. Their mechanism against this homophobia is to act so predominantly male or "mocho", that people will naturally assume they are real men. This occurence is often the reason behind degradation of woman, for some men have been living in this state for so long that it is imbedded into their personality, and feel that being sensitive or sharing emotion is a sign that they are a homosexual.
When this pointless faux-pas is juxtapositioned with normal, healthy human behavior and presented to a Meathead, they will usually make some unrelated remark to deny that the behavior even exists in the first place.
Example:
"So you think that having emotions and being a human being makes you less of a man?"
"What kind of man cries? Shut up, faggot."
Another similar form of Meathead Syndrome is Short-Man's Complex. This is when a man is shorter than the average man and feels their lack in size makes them less of a man. In a sad attempt to counterbalence this insecurity, they will act just like a Meathead.
In short, as long as insecurites exist, the natural tendency to lash back in this odd form will exist as well.