The Social Construction Of Heterosexuality

Alike gender, sexuality is also a social construct, especially when looking at the period before the 18th century, when one’s sexual orientation did not matter, hence there being no need for justification, just as pointed by Foucault: “Sexual practices had little need of secrecy; words were said without undue reticence, and things were done without too much concealment; one had a tolerant familiarity with the illicit.” (3). And the 19th century came and brought with it a big change, and not only did people become engulfed by social norms, whom they should abide at all costs, but they also had to keep their sexual preferences under lock and key: “But twilight soon fell upon this bright day, followed by the monotonous nights of the Victorian

From birth, one's sexuality is shaped by society. Cultures institute behaviors that are to be seen as the societal norms, which work to constantly reinforce societal expectations of how genders should act in relation to one another. Although some may argue that one's sexuality is an innate characteristic resulting from genetic makeup, there is a large amount of evidence pointing to its social construction instead. Through the power differences between males and females, established gender roles, and drastic economic shifts, society establishes sexuality and reinforces the behaviors that are expected of its citizens.

Heterosexism, according to Warren J. Blumenfeld, is the system of advantages given to heterosexuals based on the social construct of gender roles and heterosexual norms, while marginalizing and oppressing homosexuals and others who do not fit into the heterosexual culture (373). The enforcement of this system is known as heteronormality. This is seen in the binary system, which is a social construct that divides people into different strictly bordered categories organized by “social roles, values, stereotypes, and behavioral and attitudinal imperatives, expressions, and expectations” (Blumenfeld 373). Those who stick to the binary system, maintain power and privilege. People who may live in the binary system, but also intentionally

In Stephen Mays’ essay “What about Gender Roles in Same-sex Relationships?” published in They Say I Say, the author discusses how people often assign gender roles automatically, even with gay and lesbian couples. Mays stresses the concept of femininity and masculinity, and also shows the difference in their roles, supports them with vivid imagery, and gives a rare example of gay male preferences, all while using the correct diction when referring to personal experiences. Although the author reiterates gender roles and their effect on same-sex relationships, he gives clear examples that support the idea of masculine or feminine qualities.

Schwartz claims that Hollywood is setting standards for how you have to look or talk in order for you to express your sexuality. In reality, very few movies have the “macho man” like Bruce Willis or the “charming and perfect” Carmen Diaz as their main stars. Most of the movies I believe she is referring to are action movies that men typically want to see, movies with explosions and fast cars. These movies are more geared toward men instead of women. They are some movies that are designed around what women want to see, so some men may not like these movies either. These movies all have the lead roles picked because they are what the people want to see, not picked because they are what the companies want the public to try and mold themselves to look like. Other biases Schwartz displays is that she does not ever look at things from the eyes of one another, by that I mean she never looks at other people's perspective on sexuality. If Schwartz would have had someone with different views than her in the article then maybe she could have made more valid points, If she did that then maybe she could have made her argument stronger. Schwartz is biased because she only writes about her views, and says that those views are the views of the American people, but in fact, they are not everyone's views they are only

In society, heterosexuality is a principal method of organizing institutions and regulating individual behavior. A culture based on ideas of heterosexuality values relationships that are between men and women; as a result, sexual contact occurring between same sex individuals is seen as deviant and labeled as homosexual. In her book, Ward explains how straight white men can have sex with other white men while retaining their heterosexuality in addition to gaining a masculine appeal. Ingraham and Namaste’s discussion of heteronormativity, heterogenders, and supplementarity aids in understanding why straight white men are not labeled as homosexual and how this functions to reproduce inequalities based on race, gender, and sexuality.

There are various perceptions of gay and lesbian couples that they represent a more egalitarian relationship. (Civettini 2015:1) However, when same-sex couples are observed there is still a tendency to believe that the relationship contains a masculine and feminine figure following the heterosexual model. So, it is necessary to address both how these couples deviate from society’s norms as gay individuals but might still be reproducing the same behaviors as heterosexual couples because the ideologies are so deeply rooted in social institutions. The stereotypical connotations of masculinity and femininity influence all aspects of American society and gender display relies heavily on meeting those given expectations. So, in the case of this article, the author Civettini views a connection between sex, gender, and sexual orientation when it comes to displaying

While most homosexuals have horror stories to tell about their childhood and early teen years about growing up in a straight world, others grew up as average all American children. In Andrew Sullivan’s book “Virtually Normal: An Argument about Homosexuality” (Sullivan), he describes to us the feelings he had growing up homosexual in England, and his different experiences and perspectives on homosexuality. I can say that I agree with most of his experiences about how he felt as a young homosexual. Growing up homosexual, I was often ridiculed for the choices I made in a very gender assigned world, I wanted to participate in gymnastics, while most other boys my age wanted to play in dirt or play football with other neighborhood boys.

Heterosexism is a term used to describe people who discriminate against gays and lesbians. Throughout history, an intimate relationship between members of the opposite sex was considered the norm, and breaking this norm would make a person deviant. From birth, children are taught certain characteristics on how boys and girls are suppose to behave. Children learn these things from their parents, the schools they attend, and society that they live in. The characteristics that they learn shapes them into what they become when they’re adults. According to Barrie Thorne, “the sociological significance of children’s play is that boys and girls are helping to socialize one another into primary adult gender roles, girls being more concerned with

This is a argumentative essay against the notions of gender roles portrayed by masculine and feminine traits, from section four of Composing Gender “How Do We Define Sexuality”? The idea that one individual can “feel” masculine or “feel” feminine does not make them a male or female. “Throughout Composing Gender, many readings refer to sexuality as an inevitable part of gender construction, several authors use the terms “heteronormative” and compulsory heterosexuality” to describe a social structure in which the expression of sexuality is seen as normal only.”(Groner, 2014, par.3 p. 184) Your gender is

The issue of sexuality and human sexual orientation is an increasingly hot topic in the American society today. Although this topic has made an upward spiral in society today, there seems to be little talk about the history of sexuality. The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer community has been oppressed throughout history, making it difficult for them to feel safe in the public sphere where heterosexuality is the norm. However, pieces by George Chauncey and Ruth Hubbard have discussed ways in which the LGBTQ world was forgotten about in early society, and how it has evolved to be where it is now.

Heterosexuality has been socially constructed, because what it means to be heterosexual is different across the time: the contemporary definition of heterosexuality is linked with the identity, but the nineteenth century definition of heterosexuality “indicated a reproductive drive or behavior (Seidman, 2005; 46).” Seidman elaborates that the heterosexuality only became an identity, because societal changes that took place in

Although they differ from Rosik and his coauthors on how social constructionism shapes moral values and affect attitudes, Stephanie and Jill in their research on “Heterosexual Attitudes Toward Same-Sex Marriage: The Influence of Attitudes Toward Same-Sex Parenting” and Evan and Eric’s research on “Attitudes Toward Homosexuality Among Young Adults: Connections to Gender Role Identity, Gender-Typed Activities, and Religiosity, Journal of Homosexuality” contend that in reality – the process of Social constructionism establishes heterosexuality as the social status quo and therefore anything that goes against the norm is received with negative attitudes towards that action. Stephanie and Jill outline that the process of heterosexism (a term they

The heterosexual imaginary is immensely ingrained in our everyday experience that most people, including feminist sociologists, has become inclined to conceptualize and theorize based around the heteronormative. The heterosexual imaginary acts as an invisible framework at play that structures our thinking processes and in which constructs our social identity. For instance, the inquiry of a survey taker’s marital status in most social science surveys come to show that our recognized and appropriate social identity is formed around heterosexuality. That is, any deviation from this heterosexual norm would be considered abnormal and be marginalized. To a minimal extent, this focus has served the interests of women because of the lack of activism

even though sexuality can be considered universal, the sexual behaviors affiliated with it offer different attitudes in various communities. Sexuality is aligned to sexual attraction where individuals can identify themselves with a broad range of sexuality that is bisexual, gay or being lesbian. Sexuality can change over time in a person depending on the circumstances surrounding him or her. It may be affected by the social circle and emotional imbalances that may occur in an individual. Interestingly there exists sexual inequality among many societies in the world. As observed, many societies encourage men to have multiple sex partners but forbid it in women. Moreover, pre-marital sex is promoted in men, but women are flaunted if they participate in pre-marital sex. Across the globe, Western Europe has embraced certain norms in sexuality such as homosexuality whereas African society embraces a negative attitude towards the same.