Heteronormativity

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Heteronormativity is a term that is used to describe situations wherein variations from heterosexual orientation are marginalized, ignored or persecuted by social practices, beliefs or policies. These include the idea 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[attribution needed] who identify and criticize heteronormativity say that it distorts discourse by stigmatizing deviant concepts of both sexuality and gender and makes certain types of self-expression more difficult.

Contents

[edit] Origin of term

The term was coined by Michael Warner in 1991[1], in 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[2]. In a series of 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.[3][4]

Cathy J. Cohen defines heteronormativity as the practices and institutions "that legitimize and privilege heterosexuality and heterosexual relationships as fundamental and “natural” within society” [5]. 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[6].

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.

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.

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[7].

[edit] Heteronormativity and patriarchy

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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.

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.

[edit] Social and political manifestations of heteronormativity

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

[edit] Intersexed people

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Intersexed people have biological characteristics which are ambiguously 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).

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, and 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.

[edit] Gay, lesbian, and bisexual people

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Lesbian, gay, bisexual behavior is commonly disapproved of in many societies, 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.

[edit] 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].

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.[8][9] Other societies have considered transgender behavior as a psychiatric illness serious enough to justify institutionalization.

Certain restrictions on the ability of transgender people to obtain gender-related medical treatment have 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.[citation needed] These norms might include dress and mannerisms, choice of occupation, choice of hobbies, and the gender of one's mate (heterosexuality required).[citation needed] (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.[citation needed] Some medical communities, especially since the 1990s, have adopted more accommodating practices, but many have not.[citation needed]

Many governments and official agencies have also been criticized as having heteronormative systems that classify people into "male" and "female" genders in problematic ways.[citation needed] 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).[citation needed] 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.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed][citation needed]

[edit] Roots of heteronormative attitudes

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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 based on a purported desire to be 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".[10] 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.[citation needed]

However, this criticism represents a view that those who describe current social structures as heteronormative[attribution needed] 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.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed]

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 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 necessarily 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."[11]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Warner, Michael (1991), "Introduction: Fear of a Queer Planet". Social Text; 9 (4 [29]): 3-17
  2. ^ Adrienne Rich, ‘Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence’ Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 5:631-60, 1980.
  3. ^ Samuel A. Chambers, ‘Telepistemology of the Closet; Or, the Queer Politics of Six Feet Under’. Journal of American Culture 26.1: 24-41, 2003
  4. ^ Samuel A. Chambers, "Revisiting the Closet: Reading Sexuality in Six Feet Under, in Reading Six Feet Under. McCabe and Akass, eds. IB Taurus, 2005.
  5. ^ Cathy J. Cohen. 'Punks, bulldaggers, and welfare queen: The radical potential of queer politics?' in Black Queer Studies. E. Patrick Johnson and Mae G. Henderson, eds. Duke UP, 2005. 24
  6. ^ Cathy J. Cohen. 'Punks, bulldaggers, and welfare queen: The radical potential of queer politics?' in Black Queer Studies. E. Patrick Johnson and Mae G. Henderson, eds. Duke UP, 2005. 26
  7. ^ Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, The Epistemology of the Closet.
  8. ^ http://www.gender.org/remember/index.html#
  9. ^ http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?pid=276
  10. ^ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,149573,00.html
  11. ^ http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=506104

[edit] See also

[edit] Further reading

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