Heteronormativity - What It Is & Are We It?
(adapted from my academic essay written during my time at Uni - so slight nerd alert)
Heteronormativity is a term referring to attitudes/opinions that see heterosexuality (being 'straight') as a norm. In leighman's terms - treating anything other than being straight as 'different' or 'other'.
Though the issue of heteronormativity is being tackled with a general rise in awareness - it does seem to persist in the minds of individuals. And I do understand why. It can be complex and confusing - especially perhaps to the older generation - having to suddenly adapt your perceptions to somehow be deemed more 'correct' or 'moral'. However - it is important that we do.
Because if we don't, then heterosexuality will remain the default or 'normal' sexuality from which LGBTQ+ individuals are seen to be straying. Meaning that these individuals will remain 'different' both in the minds of people and in the media - which in turn perpetuates these thoughts for those that see them. Eugh - the internet can be such a problem sometimes (I'm aware of the irony lol).
With this comes the issue of 'coming out'. Why should that even be a thing? It is because of our heteronormative outlooks that people are assumed straight unless they state otherwise.
As well as this - not to get too nerdy buuut - there are a few studies, like Adrienne Rich in 1980, that suggest that lesbian existence and relationships have been discredited in general as well as in feminist discourses. She refers to the work of a feminist academic (Lessing) who writes; 'that the lesbian choice is simply acting-out of bitterness towards men'. Ouch. That's not good.
Judith Butler also writes some interesting stuff about something she calls 'performativity' - meaning that there is no fixed gender other than what is reinforced by years and years and generations upon generations of behaviour patterns, clothes, conventions and mannerisms that have slowly formed expectations.
A key example that she draws on that I think is super interesting (and super controversial) is the drag industry. As Rupaul's Drag Race enthusiast I will defend the honour of the drag industry until I'm stabbed with a stilhetto, but Butler says the imitation of the female sex by the male sex (NB - sex not gender - transgender queens are often disputed in the drag industry but are just as much a part of it as anyone else, see Peppermint from series 9) reinforces stereotypes of women and demonstrates these behaviours and images of women that have been created and perpetuated through generations etc - in the imitation of the female sex, the performers reveal the theory of gender performativity.
As for the question of heteronormativity in our lives - all we have to do is look to the past. Homosexuality was only declassified as a 'mental illness' thirty years ago, which says a lot about the kind of society that most of the people alive today grew up in - which in turn perhaps can explain the persistence of heternormativity to this day. Who knows. Though it is important to recognise - gender dysmorphia in the case of transgender individuals is still to this day represented and explained on the NHS website with 'symptoms' and 'treatments', though importantly it does specify that 'it's not a mental illness'. So, we're moving in the right direction - but there's a lot still to go.
It's also important to recognise the health risks that became associated with homosexuality in the 1970/80s alongside the politics of the era - Thatcherism brought with it a return to 'new morality', following the second-wave feminism of the 70s, with stress on 'family values'. This time also saw a peak in the AIDs/HIV epidemic, which many feminist theorists suggest gave a new motivation or 'excuse' for validating homophobia.
These kind of socio-political events can be linked to homophobia and the promotion of heteronormativity even now, depressingly enough. Just three months after the 2016 EU referendum and the beginning of Brexit negotiations, there was a 147% increase in homophobic acts and hate crime. If that doesn't make you hate life just a little bit more - I don't know what will.
Heteronormativity has also leaked into other areas of our media-orientated lives; with a worrying absence of LGBTQ+ representation in TV and film, with just 1% of film characters are LGBTQ+. Again, reinforcing these figures as 'different'. The representation of the characters themselves is also often problematic in itself.
So, in my long, roundabout and nerdy way, I most definitely think our society is one of a heteronormative disposition - though we are taking steps to change that, it doesn't look like it'll be rectified any time soon. But here's to hoping! It's not all doom and gloom (yet).
References
Butler, J., (1990), Gender Trouble. New York: Routledge.
Heteronormativity is a term referring to attitudes/opinions that see heterosexuality (being 'straight') as a norm. In leighman's terms - treating anything other than being straight as 'different' or 'other'.
Though the issue of heteronormativity is being tackled with a general rise in awareness - it does seem to persist in the minds of individuals. And I do understand why. It can be complex and confusing - especially perhaps to the older generation - having to suddenly adapt your perceptions to somehow be deemed more 'correct' or 'moral'. However - it is important that we do.
Because if we don't, then heterosexuality will remain the default or 'normal' sexuality from which LGBTQ+ individuals are seen to be straying. Meaning that these individuals will remain 'different' both in the minds of people and in the media - which in turn perpetuates these thoughts for those that see them. Eugh - the internet can be such a problem sometimes (I'm aware of the irony lol).
With this comes the issue of 'coming out'. Why should that even be a thing? It is because of our heteronormative outlooks that people are assumed straight unless they state otherwise.
As well as this - not to get too nerdy buuut - there are a few studies, like Adrienne Rich in 1980, that suggest that lesbian existence and relationships have been discredited in general as well as in feminist discourses. She refers to the work of a feminist academic (Lessing) who writes; 'that the lesbian choice is simply acting-out of bitterness towards men'. Ouch. That's not good.
Judith Butler also writes some interesting stuff about something she calls 'performativity' - meaning that there is no fixed gender other than what is reinforced by years and years and generations upon generations of behaviour patterns, clothes, conventions and mannerisms that have slowly formed expectations.
A key example that she draws on that I think is super interesting (and super controversial) is the drag industry. As Rupaul's Drag Race enthusiast I will defend the honour of the drag industry until I'm stabbed with a stilhetto, but Butler says the imitation of the female sex by the male sex (NB - sex not gender - transgender queens are often disputed in the drag industry but are just as much a part of it as anyone else, see Peppermint from series 9) reinforces stereotypes of women and demonstrates these behaviours and images of women that have been created and perpetuated through generations etc - in the imitation of the female sex, the performers reveal the theory of gender performativity.
As for the question of heteronormativity in our lives - all we have to do is look to the past. Homosexuality was only declassified as a 'mental illness' thirty years ago, which says a lot about the kind of society that most of the people alive today grew up in - which in turn perhaps can explain the persistence of heternormativity to this day. Who knows. Though it is important to recognise - gender dysmorphia in the case of transgender individuals is still to this day represented and explained on the NHS website with 'symptoms' and 'treatments', though importantly it does specify that 'it's not a mental illness'. So, we're moving in the right direction - but there's a lot still to go.
It's also important to recognise the health risks that became associated with homosexuality in the 1970/80s alongside the politics of the era - Thatcherism brought with it a return to 'new morality', following the second-wave feminism of the 70s, with stress on 'family values'. This time also saw a peak in the AIDs/HIV epidemic, which many feminist theorists suggest gave a new motivation or 'excuse' for validating homophobia.
These kind of socio-political events can be linked to homophobia and the promotion of heteronormativity even now, depressingly enough. Just three months after the 2016 EU referendum and the beginning of Brexit negotiations, there was a 147% increase in homophobic acts and hate crime. If that doesn't make you hate life just a little bit more - I don't know what will.
Heteronormativity has also leaked into other areas of our media-orientated lives; with a worrying absence of LGBTQ+ representation in TV and film, with just 1% of film characters are LGBTQ+. Again, reinforcing these figures as 'different'. The representation of the characters themselves is also often problematic in itself.
So, in my long, roundabout and nerdy way, I most definitely think our society is one of a heteronormative disposition - though we are taking steps to change that, it doesn't look like it'll be rectified any time soon. But here's to hoping! It's not all doom and gloom (yet).
References
Butler, J., (1990), Gender Trouble. New York: Routledge.
McNicholas Smith, K., (2017). Lecture 18 of Winter Term, Frankland Lecture Theatre.
NHS, (2016). Gender Dysmorphia. Available at https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/gender-dysphoria/ [Accessed 10th January 2018].
Rich, A., (1980), ‘Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence’. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 5(4), 631-633. JSTOR. [Accessed: 10th January 2018].
Stacey, J., (1991), Promoting Normality: Section 28 and the Regulation of Sexuality. In Franklin, S., (Eds.) Feminism and Cultural Studies. London, Harper Collins.
Townsend, M., (2016). ‘Homophobic Attacks in UK rose 147% in three months after Brexit vote’, The Guardian, 8 October. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/oct/08/homophobic-attacks-double-after-brexit-vote [Accessed 12 January 2018].
World Health Organisation. (1992). The ICD-10 classification of mental and behavioural disorders: clinical descriptions and diagnostic guidelines. Geneva, World Health Organisation.
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