HETERONORMATIVITY BEYOND SEXUAL PRACTISES

HETERONORMATIVITY BEYOND SEXUAL PRACTISES

Heteronormativity Beyond Sexual Practices

Introduction

Heteronormativity refers to the certain beliefs that are withheld by people that human beings generally are known to fall into separate yet matching their genders that makes them a victim of specific roles that occur naturally. Thus, it means that if one is a female, she is identified as a female and she will be attracted to the opposite sex. It will also say that she will be recognised traditionally as feminine. These genders are that you are either a male or a female. Heteronormativity is widely known to be associated with some social problems such as the homophobia as well as transphobia.

Due to heteronormativity, society views men and women to be different way far beyond gender. This view is presented to the children as well where the community has the belief that if a child is a girl regarding sex, then she is allowed to play with the dolls, but the same toys are not to be used by the male kids while they are playing. The boy child during his childhood is deemed to represent using the trucks as well as the gun toys. However, this is not true because it is known that there are no significant differences between the male and the female gender as their brain composition does not differ. Therefore, the capabilities of a woman are not limited to her gender, and neither is it the case in men (Johnson & Jayla, 2016).

The heteronormativity is known to be linked with the patriarchal norms. The norm identifies a man as the one with the gender that has been entitled with power as well as leadership roles. The model makes the man to be the one holding the moral authority, to have control over the property as well as the social privileges. The heterosexuality is another norm that is associated with the heteronormativity. In this norm, it is believed that the only people of the opposite genders can be considered as having a default sexual practice. It, therefore, ignores other forms of sexual orientation such as gayism, lesbianism etc.

People believe that different genders are entitled to different roles. These roles are considered to be the right roles for them and that they should behave by their gender. In the United States, for example, it is known believed that the male gender is associated with the control, strength as well as being aggressive. The female gender on the other side is associated with being passive, being a subordinate as well as being entrusted with the role of upbringing (Jina M, 2018).

The heteronormativity is, therefore, an essential topic for study since it gives an insight into the gender and the outlines beliefs that the society withholds. The survey of heteronormativity helps people to know that they are capable of performing duties or tasks that were previously thought to belong to other genders. It has also helped in shaping the equality between the male and the female gender. The norms that exist are the limiting factors, and therefore people need to be informed about them to gain knowledge that they are not restricted by the fact that they are of a particular gender.

Arguing the link between gender identity and assumptions about its correlation with one’s sexual identity

There is a relationship between one’s gender identity and one’s sexual identity. The society stipulates what the wrong is and what are the right practices to be carried out by specific genders. Some ideologists engage in some beliefs that the female gender should remain pure and chaste. However, this may lead to some detrimental consequences like women participating in the Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) to stay pure.

On the other hand, this may make them avoid some engagements like vying for political positions. Several dimensions can be viewed as a contributing factor to the sexuality and gender identity. They are discussed below.

Gender Norms

These are expectations by the society that are identified with a specific gender. Men and women are expected to behave distinctly in line with their gender. Their behaviours, their feelings as well as their attitudes should differ. These expectations fall due to the belief that we have two categories of people in the society the male and the female. These two distinct genders should have different behaviours as dictated by their biological sex. In the development policy and programming, it is assumed there are gender and biological sex involvement. Therefore, it takes that those who receive the intervention are heterosexual. The subjectivity of individuals into their biological sex gives rise to the norm that a family constitutes of a man and a woman. Due to these expectations by the society, each gender will strive to engage in certain practices that demonstrate that they are conforming to the roles of that gender (Rothing, 2017).

Ideologies that control women

There is a general view among the members of the society that the female gender needs protection. The protection is deemed to emerge from men. Virginity is a virtue that is highly paid in some communities. Therefore, women or ladies in individual communities are highly controlled so that they do not lose their virginity.

In some cases, this will disadvantage the female gender since the parents will not allow any interaction of their child with the boys, which mostly occurs in schools (Rothing, 2017). The parents may also fear that when their girls attend school, they will gain knowledge and in return challenge the patriarchal setup within the society. The outcome is that they will deny the female gender a chance to study. Sexuality is used as a tool of control to avoid women going against the norms of heteronormativity.

Access to certain essential services.

Issues that are associated with sex in most societies are not for women to decide on this issue. The consequences are that women are therefore not given a chance to engage their partners and decide on safety precautions to take as part of their sexual relationships (Steven, James, Jose, 2018).

Heteronormativity underpinning heterosexism.

While heteronormativity stipulates the natural roles that gender is assigned, heterosexuality is a norm that is associated with heteronormativity. As much as people are aware of heteronormativity and the impacts associated with it, there are still many practices that are being carried out that show that it is still in context. Heterosexism is the practice that identifies that there are certain attractions occurs between two opposite genders.

It is considered as standard when an individual is seen walking around with his or her boyfriend/ girlfriend. It is this case that people do not see it as an unusual practice. However, it is still not acceptable to see people who are of the same gender claiming that they are in a relationship. People do not feel ashamed while they publicly announce that they are heterosexual. However, people who are gay or lesbians still hold a secret shame that makes them fear to make it be known that they are gays or lesbians. In some societies, homosexual individuals are treated as outcasts, and such behaviour is not tolerated in that community. This in return makes them be discriminated in several areas. Thus, heterosexism is still considered as a traditional norm among society.

Manhood & Masculinity

Manhood is not defined by the biological sex but by the history that exists. This, therefore, means that for one to meet manhood, it calls for the male gender to live as per expectations that were set in the past days as opposed to what the man thinks he should do. It is doing things, different from the female gender to gain the title, a man (Kimmel, 2004). However, there is fear that the traditional definition of manhood is being lost while the new definition of masculinity has not yet fully established (Kimmel, 2004).

The males who are less masculine are bound to be bullied, and therefore they are subject to accept to fight for their manhood making them struggle to attain heteronormativity (Kimmel, 2004). In the US, masculine is associated with some anxiety, hostility and competition. These traits are demonstrated in an arena context where every man is struggling to meet these expectations (Kimmel, 2004).

A distinction is therefore drawn between the male and the female gender showing that to be a man, one has to fight to maintain that title. The difference between man and a woman is that a man has a more significant role compared to the female gender.

Suicide among the queer men

Men who are gay are at a higher risk of engaging in suicidal practice than their heterosexual counterparts (wang, Martin & Michael, 2015). In a study that was conducted, 16.7% of the gay men that were interviewed, had attempted suicide in their lifetime and 59.5% of them had multiple suicidal attempts(Wang, Martin& Michael, 2015).

Two-thirds of the total population displayed some intention to die while half of them was seeking some assistance. The leading causes of these suicidal attempts were identified to be the social or interpersonal conflicts which constituted the highest percentage. Problems that are associated with love and relationships also played a significant role in causing these suicidal attempts including ones failure to accept his homosexuality nature. Issues that are arising from one’s family were also identified as a cause while depression accounted for 10% of the total population cause for a suicide attempt.

Among the Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgender (LGBT), these individuals are more likely to be depressed than their heterosexual counterparts (Puckett, Horne, Surace, Carter, N, Noffsinger-Frazier, Detrie, A, Ervin, Mosher. 2017)

From the ideologies that have been devised, it is clear there have not yet been clear acceptances of queer groups since most of the people in this group do not feel as loved as those who are heterosexual. Due to the lack of acceptance, these individuals are attempting suicide. Therefore, heteronormativity is still in context.

Conclusion

Heteronormativity subjects individuals to either being of the gender male or female. These genders are believed to have some roles that are emanating from nature. The heteronormativity, therefore, restricts an individual from performing certain activities while guarantying other to conform to one’s gender. In the past, this has tried to be fought and make it that it is all in the society that shapes the gender and not an individual’s biological sex. to conform to this claim, it is possible for a woman to engage in activities that were previously entitled to men like leadership. Men as well are participating in activities already known to be performed by women like nurturing. Things are changing, and that is the reason why the male gender has to fight to maintain the title of manhood as Kimmel reported it. These changes have seen the emergence of a group of queer gender, LGBT, but there have been struggles to fit and accept that these individuals indeed are not for the heteronormativity. It is evident in the number of suicidal attempts and depression cases.

References

Puckett, Horne, Surace, Carter, N, Noffsinger-Frazier, Detrie, A, Ervin, Mosher. 2017. “Predictors of Sexual Minority Youth’s Reported Suicide Attempts and Mental Health”. Journal of homosexuality. Vol.64(6), pp.697-715.

Kimmel. (2004). Masculinity as homophobia: Fear, shame and silence in the construction of gender identity. Race, Class, Gender in the United States: 81-94.

Wang, Martin, Michael. (2015). Understanding Suicide Attempts Among Gay Men From Their Self-perceived Causes. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 203(7): 499-506.

Steven, James, Jose. (2018). Policing Heteronormativity and Sexual Risk-taking Among Young Adult Men. AIDS and Behaviors. 1-10.

Jina Moon. (2018). Beyond Heteronormativity In Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye and Home. English Language and Literature. 64(1): 61-76

Rothing. (2017). Sexual Orientation in Norwegian Textbooks: Heteronormativity and Selective Inclusion in Textbooks and Teaching. Teaching and Teacher Education: 143-151

Johnson, Jayla (2016). Society and Its Influence On Identity: The Consequences of Heterosexism and Heteronormativity. A First-Year Writing Journal 8: 14-20