Heteronormativity in contemporary society and culture

Heteronormativity

Femininity and Heteronormativity

In understanding the meaning of femininity, it is also critical to have an understanding of the concepts that composes it. Femininity as understood in American culture is the manifestation of womanhood, any characteristics that make a person look or act like a woman. Further, the achievement of "true womanhood" as understood in earlier Western culture are rooted in the ideal characteristics of a woman during the late Victorian Period of the 19th century: "piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity" (Brannon, 2005:162).

In fact, up to the 19th century, women are idealized based on these four characteristics (purity, piety, submissiveness and domesticity). Men, meanwhile, are considered the direct opposites of women, and generally manifested the following characteristics: "stoic, aggressive, dependable" and simply, "not feminine" (164). These ideals determined and imposed by societies during this period (towards late 19th century) have created an impact in the way that women and men looked at their roles in their respective communities. In the case of women, it is to create the fulfillment of indeed, becoming a true woman, which is to act pure, pious, submissive, and become domesticated in her ways and lifestyle. The same adherence to the socially-expected and -- accepted characteristics applies for men. In effect, what occurs is the fulfillment of social expectations of how men and women should behave, therefore reinforcing the stated stereotypes of men and women to communities. This creates a vicious cycle wherein people think about males and females in a stereotypical manner, and behave/act in the same manner because of these stereotypes.

The personification of the "true woman" has been a very popular concept that even advertising exploits these stereotypes. Advertising remains susceptible to illustrating women through its 'true womanhood stereotypes'; similarly, it is just as susceptible of showing men as having an aggressive, non-feminine nature. The use of sexuality in advertising appeals to society's sensibilities as it tries to determine femininity and masculinity socially and historically. Unfortunately, advertising would always fall back to the traditional depiction of males and females even after it was determined that 'true womanhood and manhood' concepts are actually gender stereotypes that limited male and female roles and behaviors.

Because of this traditional and incorrect depiction of sexuality in advertising and popular media, these stereotypes are communicated to a greater number of audiences, with unfortunate results. These stereotypes are communicated to a higher number of people, and because it is the perceived correct manifestation of womanhood and manhood, people will just start embodying these characteristics in their lives. Thus, women who believe they are expected by society to act submissive and domesticated would behave the same way to be socially accepted. However, a woman who does not believe in these stereotypes might not be empowered to uphold her true feminine characteristics because her actions, behavior, and beliefs are negated by the highly influential popular/mass media.

Another concept relevant to the discussion of sexuality is heteronormativity, which characterizes heterosexuality as the "natural" gender identity (Weiss, 2001:132). Heteronormativity divides the gender identity spectrum into the 'normal' and 'not normal' sexual orientations: individuals who sexually prefer the opposite sex are considered normative, otherwise the individual does not have the normal sexual preference (not normal in terms of sexual orientation). This concept is an attempt to differentiate and further discriminate against individuals with different sexual orientations and preferences, more specifically lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.