Much of our lives is structured through the lens of heteronormativity. This str
Much of our lives is structured through the lens of heteronormativity. This structure of compulsory heterosexuality influences the way sexuality is experienced in the United States. Our sexual identity cannot be isolated or separated from our other identities. Multiple parts of our identities come together to build our experiences in the social world. Identities related to race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality intersect to shape our experiences, but they are also subject to broader power structures that are pervasive in our lives.
This chapter opened with a discussion of the Parental Rights in Education Act, often referred to as the “Don’t Say Gay” law from Florida. We use this example to illustrate the connection between institutional inequalities and policies. These types of policies affect people based on their sexual identity. The impact of inequalities at the interactional level can lead to bullying and violence, while the structural arrangements of our social institutions create spaces where we see harassment and discrimination in marriage, healthcare, and workplaces.
Sex education can frame one’s ideas about what sex should and shouldn’t be, and it has a long history rooted in debates of abstinence and excludes LGBTQIA+ populations. In learning about the rules of sexuality, you saw that they are highly gender-based double standards, which align with the norms of the United States. They result in significant differences across gender lines regarding what is acceptable or unacceptable and how someone is perceived. Some interactions may lead to an increased risk of violence based on one’s sexual identity or gender presentation. Finally, you learned that social institutions are shaped by policies that perpetuate social inequalities. In Chapter 11, you will learn more about prejudice and discrimination as we examine race and ethnicity. After examining theories related to race, you will learn how race is connected to people’s identities, influences group interactions, and is embedded in institutions and structures.
- Homophobia: an extreme or irrational aversion to gay, lesbian, bisexual, or all LGBTQIA+ people, which often manifests as prejudice and bias.
- LGBTQIA+: an abbreviation for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual. The additional “+” stands for all of the other identities not encompassed in the short acronym. An umbrella term that is often used to refer to the community as a whole.
- Marriage equality: the legal recognition of the rights of marriage regardless of one’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
- Microaggression: a term used for commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, or environmental slights, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative attitudes toward stigmatized or culturally marginalized groups.
- Orgasm gap: the disparity or unequal outcome in orgasms between couples, genders, and sexualities.
- Queer theory: a field of critical theory that