heteronormativity

(noun)

The view that all human beings are either male or female, both in sex and in gender, and that sexual and romantic thoughts and relations are normal only when between people of different sexes.

Related Terms

  • heterosexual/homosexual binary
  • asexuality
  • pornography
  • sodomy laws

Examples of heteronormativity in the following topics:

  • Socialization and Human Sexuality

    • In regards to sexuality, socialization in the U.S. and Western countries most notably adheres to heteronormativity, or the marking of heterosexual unions as normal and homosexual unions as socially abnormal and deviant.
    • While homosexual unions are the types of unions most commonly marked in opposition to normative heterosexual unions, heteronormativity marks any type of non-heterosexual sexual activity as deviant, as heterosexual sexual acts are considered the norm.
    • These representations are typically heteronormative.
  • Sexual Orientation

    • Heteronormativity is the body of lifestyle norms that holds that people fall into distinct and complementary genders (man and woman) with natural roles in life.
    • A "heteronormative" view is one that involves alignment of biological sex, sexuality, gender identity, and gender roles.
  • Age and Sexuality

    • ., seek to be as normal as possible through inclusion into marital, religious, and familial heterosexual institutions), and younger LGBTIQA people typically promoting more radical / Queer / Feminist / Social Justice approaches to sexual politics (see also heteronormativity and LGBTQIA movement histories for further elaboration on the relationship between historical context and sexual politics and for a basic introduction to some sexual political history).
  • Sexual Orientation

    • The United States is a heteronormative society, meaning it supports heterosexuality as the norm.
  • Sexual Orientation

    • Some individuals have tried to trouble these categories of sexual orientation by not describing themselves as hetero-, homo-, bi-, or asexual and preferring the umbrella term "queer. " Part of the opposition to the gender binary is that it creates heteronormative assumptions that mark heterosexuality as normal and homosexuality deviant merely because it is the opposite of heterosexuality.
  • Sexual Orientation

    • The United States is a heteronormative society, meaning it supports heterosexuality as the norm.
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