Coffee Thoughts - Introduction to Heteronormativity

You may or may not have heard the term “heteronormativity” - as a sociology student I heard it quite consistently ever since I walked through the doors of my university. The one caveat? I did not fully understand what it meant. It involved a lot of head nodding. I could understand the basics of it - that heterosexual (straight man and/or straight woman) were the assumed and expected coupling. Which is a piece of it! However, heteronormativity itself is indicative of an entire process.

To introduce the term, I will use the quote provided by Michael Warner (in "Fear of a Queer Planet: Queer Politics and Social Theory" [Introduction, 1993])

He states that heteronormativity is a "normalizing process which supports heterosexuality as the elemental form of human association, as the norm, the means of reproduction, without which society would not exist”.

This quote is amazing at explaining what heteronormativity is, but is a highlight of the fact that heteronormativity is a diverse and dense term. The "normalizing process" that they have mentioned is best explained through Foucault’s process of normalization, however, we will dive into that in a different week. For now, the main parts that you need to understand is that heteronormativity is not the foundation of human life - we were not born with an understanding that one should strive for a white house and picket fence - it was an idea forged throughout time with several factors at play. When we speak about parts of society or life that are “heteronormative” they are pieces that have built the forever evolving and changing process of “heteronormativity”.

This is difficult to put into a small example without going overboard and describing endless systematic flaws, so please forgive my attempt at a crude example:

The contract of marriage used to regard ownership - it was literally a business transaction. Once this was no fully longer accurate, or an attractive option, society began to interact differently with marriage. Though it still decrees ownership, it became a pivotal contract describing family. Once the papers have been signed - you are both legally and socially accepted as being a family. Now, marriage is a “celebration of love”. The shift from business to romance was/is a process of heteronormativity.

If you are still having a difficult time understanding the term, fret not! This article demonstrates a shift in how my "Coffee Thoughts" series will be moving forward. An introductory definition will be provided, and then we will examine that idea or concept throughout the subsequent days. So if you feel like you still don't understand, or are interested to hear about some of the ways heteronormativity is visible throughout our society, stay tuned or subscribe for more updates!

Some of the ways we will be describing heteronormativity are through:

1. Old Advertisements

2. Modern Advertisements

3. The Double Shift/Motherhood

4. AMP Radio's Listener Submission Regarding Marriage

5. Using Marriage to Increase your Political Legitimacy

6. Pop Culture Review

7. Donald Trump

Heteronormativity is fascinating in the fact that it goes beyond the walls of sexuality and integrates within several layers and processes of inequalities; and, like most sociological theorems, heteronormativity is connected with post-colonialism. However, to start, the above examples will focus on how the core family has become the compulsory and assumed lifestyle. When we speak about heteronormativity, we must also assume an interaction with anything that is not heteronormative. In the future, there will be more articles regarding Queer Theory; however, before we jump into that pool, I want to ensure that we have a firm grasp upon what "heteronormativity" is.

These articles will be written and posted each day while I am drinking my morning coffee. If you have any questions specific to today's article, or have any ideas or experiences that you think might be related to heteronormativity, please let me know in the comments section! I will either respond to your comment, or incorporate your questions/ideas into a following article.

If you can't wait before learning more, you can also check out the other stories that I have posted discussing social or political themes!