NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Heterosexual privilege

In gender theory and queer theory, heteronormativity is the perceived reinforcement of certain beliefs by many social institutions and social policies. These beliefs include the belief that human beings fall into two distinct and complementary categories, male and female; that sexual and marital relations are normal only when between people of different sexes; and that each sex has certain natural roles in life. Thus, physical sex, gender identity, and gender roles should in any given person align to either all-male or all-female norms, and heterosexuality is considered to be the only normal sexual orientation. The norms this term describes or criticizes might be overt, covert, or implied. Those who identify and criticize heteronormativity say that it distorts discourse by stigmatizing alternative concepts of both sexuality and gender and makes certain types of self-expression more difficult. Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ... Gender studies is a theoretical work in the social sciences or humanities that focuses on issues of sex and gender in language and society, and often addresses related issues including racial and ethnic oppression, postcolonial societies, and globalization. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... Institutions are structures and mechanisms of social order and cooperation governing the behavior of two or more individuals. ... Human beings are defined variously in biological, spiritual, and cultural terms, or in combinations thereof. ... The shield and spear of the Roman God Mars are often used to represent the male sex In heterogamous species, male is the sex of an organism, or of a part of an organism, which typically produces smaller, mobile gametes (spermatozoa) that are able to fertilise female gametes (ova). ... Look up Female in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... A bagpiper in Scottish military clan-uniform. ... The shield and spear of the Roman God Mars are often used to represent the male sex In heterogamous species, male is the sex of an organism, or of a part of an organism, which typically produces smaller, mobile gametes (spermatozoa) that are able to fertilise female gametes (ova). ... Look up Female in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... See also norm (sociology). ... Sexual orientation refers to the direction of an individuals sexuality, normally conceived of as falling into several significant categories based around the sex or gender that the individual finds attractive. ... Discourse is a term used in semantics as in discourse analysis, but it also refers to a social conception of discourse, often linked with the work of French philosopher Michel Foucault (1926-1984) and JÃ¼rgen Habermas The Theory of Communicative Action (1985). ...

Origin of term

The term was coined by Michael Warner in 1991 in his Social Text article, "Introduction: Fear of a Queer Planet" (Social Text, 1991; 9 (4 [29]): 3-17.), one of the first major works of queer theory. The concept has roots in Gayle Rubin's notion of the "sex/gender system" and Adrienne Rich's notion of compulsory heterosexuality. In a series of recent articles Samuel A. Chambers has tried to theorize heteronormativity more explicitly, calling for an understanding of heteronormativity as a concept that reveals the expectations, demands, and constraints produced when heterosexuality is taken as normative within a society. This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... Gayle Rubin is best known as an activist and influential theorist of sex and gender politics. ... Adrienne Rich (born May 16, 1929 in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American feminist, poet, teacher, and writer. ... Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence written in 1980, was published in Adrienne Richs 1986 book Blood, Bread, and Poetry. ...

Cathy J. Cohen has defined heteronormativity as the practices and institutions "that legitimize and privilege heterosexuality and heterosexual relationships as fundamental and “natural” within society” (2005: 24). Her work emphasizes the importance of sexuality as implicated in broader structures of power, intersecting with and inseparable from race, gender, and class oppression. She points to the examples of single mothers on welfare (particularly women of color) and sex workers, who may be heterosexual, but are not heteronormative, and thus not perceived as "normal, moral, or worthy of state support" or legitimation (2005: 26). Women of color is a term used to describe non-caucasion women. ...

Heteronormativity has been used in the exploration and critique of the traditional norms of sex, gender identity, gender roles and sexuality, and of the social implications of those institutions. It is descriptive of a dichotomous system of categorization that directly links social behavior and self-identity with one's genitalia. That is to say (among other things) that, because there are strictly defined concepts of maleness and femaleness, there are similarly expected behaviors for both males and females. It has been suggested that Convention (norm) be merged into this article or section. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... A bagpiper in Scottish military clan-uniform. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... A sex organ, or primary sexual characteristic, narrowly defined, is any of those parts of the body (which are not always bodily organs according to the strict definition) which are involved in sexual reproduction and constitute the reproductive system in an complex organism; namely: Male: penis (notably the glans penis...

Originally conceived to describe the norms against which non-heterosexuals struggle, it quickly became incorporated into both the gender and the transgender debate. It is also often used in postmodernist and feminist debates. Those who use this concept frequently point to the difficulty posed to those who hold a dichotomous view of sexuality by the presence of clear exceptions — from freemartins in the bovine world to intersexual human beings with the sexual characteristics of both sexes. These exceptions are taken as direct evidence that neither sex nor gender are concepts that can be reduced to an either/or proposition. Non-heterosexuals is a neologism, used to describe a group of people whose sexual orientation is other than heterosexuality. ... Gender often refers to the distinctions between males and females in common usage. ... Transgender (IPA: , from trans (Latin) and gender (English) ) is an overarching term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies that diverge from the normative gender role (woman or man) commonly, but not always, assigned at birth, as well as the role traditionally held by society. ... Postmodernism (sometimes abbreviated pomo) is a term applied to a wide-ranging set of developments in critical theory, philosophy, architecture, art, literature, and culture, which are generally characterized as either emerging from, in reaction to, or superseding, modernism. ... Feminism is a social theory and political movement primarily informed and motivated by the experience of women. ... A freemartin is a female bovine with a masculinized behavior and non-functioning ovaries. ... An intersexual or intersex person (or animal of any unisexual species) is one who is born with genitalia and/or secondary sexual characteristics of indeterminate sex, or which combine features of both sexes. ...

In a heteronormative society, the binary choice of male and female for one's gender identity is viewed as leading to a lack of possible choice about one's gender role and sexual identity. Also, included in the norms established by society for both genders is the requirement that the individuals should feel and express desire only for partners of the opposite sex. In the work of Eve Sedgwick, for example, this heteronormative pairing is viewed as defining sexual orientation exclusively in terms of the sex and gender of the person one chooses to have sex with, ignoring other preferences one might have about sex. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick (b. ...

Heteronormativity and patriarchy

Heteronormativity is often strongly associated with (and sometimes even confused with) patriarchy. However, a patriarchal system does not necessarily have a binary gender system, and vice versa; it merely privileges the masculine gender over all others, regardless of the number of others. Patriarchy For other uses, see Patriarchy (disambiguation). ...

Still, heteronormativity is often seen as one of the pillars of a patriarchal society: the traditional role of men is reinforced and perpetuated through heteronormative mores, rules, and even laws that distinguish between individuals based on their apparent sex or their refusal to conform to the gender roles that are considered normal to their society. Consequently, feminism can be seen as concerned with fighting heteronormativity and the prescriptions it is seen to have for women. Feminism is a collection of social theories, political movements, and moral philosophies largely motivated by or concerned with the liberation of women. ...

Defense of heteronormative structures

Heteronormativity is a way of describing social structures built around a certain gender model. Challenges to the label may result from a belief that the description of a structure as heteronormative implies that the normative structure is inherently wrong. One of the most common criticisms of the concept of heteronormativity is that it is politically correct. An example of this was a footnote to a March 11, 2005, opinion article by Scott Norvell of FOX News which included a segment on a controversy over comments made by actress Jada Pinkett Smith at Harvard University, describing said controversy as "politically correct nuttiness". [1] This description of a term as political correctness may be applied for a number of reasons. When used as a criticism, it often implies that the use of such carefully chosen wording and terms is a form of repression of speech, although this implies that the articulation of important concepts is prevented or hindered by politically correct regulation of speech by intellectual elites. Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ... Political correctness is the alteration of language to redress real or alleged injustices and discrimination or to avoid offense. ... March 11 is the 70th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (71st in leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Fox News Channels slogan is We Report, You Decide The Fox News Channel is a U.S. cable and satellite news channel. ... Jada Pinkett Smith (born Jada Koren Pinkett on September 18, 1971) is an American actress and singer. ... Harvard University (incorporated as The President and Fellows of Harvard College) is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Founded in 1636,[2] Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning still operating in the United States. ...

However, this criticism represents a view that those who describe current social structures as heteronormative wish to undermine the fundamental assumption that sex and gender are naturally dichotomous.^{[citation needed]} Another concern of critics is that challenges to heteronormativity render moot any justifications for heteronormative social structures, such as the appeal to natural law or certain religious notions.^{[citation needed]} Such people may actually consider departures from the heteronormative structure (e.g., LGBTI — lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex) as abnormal, diseased, or immoral. Therefore, when social structures are described or criticized as being heteronormative, this may be seen as a challenge not only to the structures themselves, but to the underlying religious and philosophical justifications for the normality and the appropriateness of those structures. Look up Dichotomy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Natural law or the law of nature (Latin lex naturalis) is a law whose content is set by nature, and that therefore has validity everywhere. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... A lesbian is a woman who is romantically and sexually attracted only to other women. ... GAY can mean: Gay, a term referring to homosexual men or women The IATA code for Gaya Airport Category: ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Transgender (IPA: , from trans (Latin) and gender (English) ) is an overarching term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies that diverge from the normative gender role (woman or man) commonly, but not always, assigned at birth, as well as the role traditionally held by society. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...

The possible responses from those who subscribe to heteronormativity to individuals and groups who depart from heteronormative experience range from tolerance, pity, and shunning to attempts to help members of these groups gain normalcy through compassionate, forceful, or ultimately even violent means. Events which have brought the idea of heteronormativity more into the foreground of social discourse, such as the Jada Pinkett Smith speech, do not necessarily represent such treatment. Ms Pinkett Smith's comments were not homophobic in that they did not represent active criticism of LGBTI people. However, her comments were heteronormative in that they made the assumption that normal relationships are only those which occur between a man and a woman. Critics that describe her speech as heteronormative stated, "Our position is that the comments weren’t homophobic, but the content was specific to male-female relationships." [2] LGBT (or GLBT) is an acronym used as a collective term to refer to lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender people. ...

Social and political manifestations of heteronormativity

There are many things that are often pointed at to illustrate the concept of heteronormativity, both historically and in contemporary society.

Intersexed people

Intersexed people have biological characteristics which are not unambiguously either male or female. If such a condition is detected, intersexed people are almost always assigned a gender shortly after birth. Surgery (usually involving modification to the genitalia) is often performed to produce an unambiguously male or female body, with the parents', not the individual's, consent. The child is then usually raised and enculturated as a member of the assigned gender, which may or may not match their gender identity throughout life or some remaining sex characteristics (for example, genes or internal sex organs). This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... A sex-determination system is a biological system that determines the development of sexual characteristics in an organism. ...

Some individuals who have been subjected to these interventions have objected that, had they been consulted at an age when they were able to give informed consent, then they would have declined these surgical and social interventions.

Gender theorists argue that gender assignment to intersex individuals is a clear case of heteronormativity, in which biological reality is actually denied in order to maintain a binary set of sexes and genders.

Gay, lesbian, and bisexual people

Lesbian, gay, bisexual behaviour is strongly disapproved of in many societies^{[citation needed]} (bisexual behavior is more frequently tolerated historically and in many societies^{[citation needed]}), both socially and legally. Many argue that this is because it challenges the heteronormative position that sexual relations exist primarily for reproductive means. If sex cannot be suppressed so far as to at least disappear from the public view, then the notion is said to be encouraged that gay men are not really "men", but have a strong female component (and vice versa), or that in a non-heterosexual partnership there is always a "male" (active) and a "female" (passive) partner. This has in some cases gone so far that homosexuals were encouraged (in Europe and North America in the 1960s and 1970s) or even forced (in South Africa in the 1980s and 1990s) to undergo sexual reassignment procedures to "fix" their sex or gender. A lesbian is a woman who is romantically and sexually attracted only to other women. ... GAY can mean: Gay, a term referring to homosexual men or women The IATA code for Gaya Airport Category: ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article is 150 kilobytes or more in size. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1969, inclusive. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, inclusive. ... The 1980s refers to the years of and between 1980 and 1989. ... For the band, see 1990s (band). ... Sex reassignment surgery (SRS) includes the surgical procedures by which a persons physical appearance and function of their existing sexual characteristics are changed to that of the other sex. ...

Transgender people

Transgender people often seek gender reassignment therapy, thereby violating the assumption that only unambiguous female or male bodies exist. They may not develop a gender identity that corresponds to their body; in fact, some never develop one that is plainly male or female. Often, they do not behave according to the gender role assigned to them, even before transitioning; this is especially true for transmen^{[citation needed]}, but also many transwomen. After transitioning, transgender individuals often identify as gay or lesbian, and are often lumped together with homosexual people (relative to their birth sex), although this is almost never correct. While some transmen did identify as lesbians for a time (although still a minority), transwomen who identified as gay men are very rare^{[citation needed]}. Transgender (IPA: , from trans (Latin) and gender (English) ) is an overarching term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies that diverge from the normative gender role (woman or man) commonly, but not always, assigned at birth, as well as the role traditionally held by society. ... Gender reassignment therapy is an umbrella term for all medical procedures regarding gender reassignment of both transgender and intersexual people. ... Transmen or trans men are transsexual or transgendered people who were assigned female gender at birth (or, in some rare cases of intersexuality, later) and who feel that this is not an accurate or complete description of themselves. ... Transwomen or trans women are transsexual or transgendered people who were assigned male sex at birth (or, in some cases of intersexuality, later) and feel that this is not an accurate or complete description of themselves. ...

Some societies consider transgender behavior a crime worthy of capital punishment, including Saudi Arabia and many other non-western nations. In other countries, certain forms of violence against transgender people may be tacitly endorsed when prosecutors and juries refuse to investigate, prosecute, or convict those who perform the murders and beatings (currently, in some parts of North America and Europe [3] [4]). Other societies have considered transgender behavior as a psychiatric illness serious enough to justify institutionalization. The Scream, the famous painting commonly thought of as depicting the experience of mental illness. ... Institutionalization is a term used to describe both the treatment of, and damage caused to, vulnerable human beings by the oppressive or corrupt application of inflexible systems of social, medical, or legal controls by publicly owned or not-for-profit organisations originally created for beneficial purposes and intents. ...

Certain restrictions on the ability of transgender people to obtain gender-related medical treatment has been blamed on heteronormativity. (See the article on transsexualism.) In medical communities with these restrictions, patients have the option of either suppressing transsexual behavior and conforming to the norms of their birth sex (which may be necessary to avoid social stigma or even violence), or adhering strictly to the norms of their "new" sex in order to qualify for sex reassignment surgery and hormonal treatments — if any treatment is offered at all. These norms might include dress and mannerisms, choice of occupation, choice of hobbies, and the gender of one's mate (heterosexuality required). (For example, transwomen might be expected to trade a "masculine" job for a more "feminine" one — e.g. become a secretary instead of a lawyer.) Attempts to achieve an ambiguous or "alternative" gender identity would not be supported or allowed. Some medical communities, especially since the 1990s, have adopted more accommodating practices, but many have not. Look up Transsexualism in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Many governments and official agencies have also been criticized as having heteronormative systems that classify people into "male" and "female" genders in problematic ways. Different jurisdictions use different definitions of gender, including by genitalia, DNA, hormone levels (including some official sports bodies), or birth sex (which means one's gender cannot ever be officially changed). Sometimes sex reassignment surgery is a requirement for an official gender change, and often "male" and "female" are the only choices available, even for intersexed or transgender people. Because most governments only allow heterosexual marriages, official gender changes can have implications for related rights and privileges, such as child custody, inheritance, and medical decision-making.

Literature

Adrienne Rich (born May 16, 1929 in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American feminist, poet, teacher, and writer. ... Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick (b. ... Image:J Butler. ... Michel Foucault (IPA pronunciation: ) (October 15, 1926 â€“ June 25, 1984) was a French philosopher and historian. ...

Contents

Origin of term GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");