Heterosexism

Abstract

Abstract This entry provides an overview of the complex concept of sexuality and discusses the role of heterosexuality in defining both marital and nonmarital social roles. Social norms construe heterosexuality as a stable, monolithic entity when in fact it is heterogeneous and fraught with internal contradictions and inconsistencies. In contemporary US society, one form of reproductively oriented heterosexuality associated with stable nuclear families is privileged over other forms of heterosexuality and homosexuality. This entry illustrates that while heterosexuality is frequently associated with erotic behaviors, desires, and practices, it is a pervasive social institution with significant nonsexual implications. Institutionalized heterosexuality construes social roles and contributes to the formation of gendered material inequalities and divisions of household labor as well as prioritizing husbands' careers in marriage. This entry also discusses the superordinate position that heterosexuality occupies in relation to non‐heterosexualities in contemporary US American society.