Heterosociality

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Relationships
(Outline)
Types
Genetic or adoptive
By marriage
Partner(s)
Intimate and sexual
Activities
Endings
Emotions and feelings
Practices
Abuse

In sociology, heterosociality describes social relations with persons of the opposite sex or a preference for such relations, often excluding relationships of a romantic and sexual nature.[1] The opposite of heterosociality is homosociality.

At an institutional level, the spread of heterosociality, epitomized by the entrance of women into public life and space, is closely associated with the progress of

modernization.[2]

Terminology

The term heterosocial can refer to either:

  • an individual who prefers to befriend or socialize with the opposite sex, as opposed to homosocial (preferring same-sex social relations) or
    bisocial
    (enjoying social relations with both sexes)
  • a social relationship between two people who are of different sexes, as opposed to homosocial (of the same sex).

Whether the term can be applied to groups of three or more people has been disputed. One possible argument is that such a group is homosocial if composed of people of a single sex, and bisocial if composed of people of both sexes, since in the latter case each member will be interacting with people of both sexes. On the other hand, Collins English Dictionary[3] defines heterosocial as "relating to or denoting mixed-sex social relationships", without specification of whether it applies to relationships between two people or among larger groups, suggesting that the term can describe social interactions involving people of both sexes more generally.

Historical developments

The pervasiveness of heterosociality in contemporary life can lead to the obscuring of its

totemism, binding men and women into two separate totemic corporations, with such a social division of the sexes.[5] Even in the twentieth century, rules of etiquette in some traditional villages dictated that men and women do not greet each other when passing in public.[6]

amusement parks.[9]

In the 21st century, the challenge presented to traditional societies by the way the discourse of modernity encourages heterosociality over an older homosociality continues to be a live issue.[10]

Impact on feminism

The 20th century opening up of the public sphere to women

separatist feminism challenged heterosociality, let alone heterosexuality,[13]
in ways many found unacceptable.

raunch culture within the new 21st century public gender regime.[14]

Adolescence

Acquiring heterosocial competence is a key adolescent task.[15] Other-sex friendships, even more than romances, can play a key role in this process.[16]

Different societies and different subcultures place varying restrictions upon adolescent heterosocial roles and opportunities.[17] American teen culture in particular has been seen as aggressively promoting heterosociality over homosociality.[18]

Culture

The advancement of culture was seen by Henry James as linked to heterosociality.[19] Similarly, Kenneth Clark saw the flourishing of 18th-century French culture as rooted in the heterosociality of the salon.[20]

Artistic conflicts

  • Postfeminist criticism of Buffy Summers as powerful female role model has centred on the heterosocial nature of her particular universe of social networks.[21] Cross-sex relationships play a predominant part in the Buffy world, foreclosing more politicised readings[22] from a feminist viewpoint.
  • Bloomsbury group as a whole can be seen as a heterosocial construct, formed in opposition to the more segregated sexual worlds of the late nineteenth century.[24]

See also

References

  1. ISBN 0-313-27462-2
    .
  2. ^ Ben Singer, Melodrama and Modernity (2001) p. 21
  3. ^ "Definition of "heterosocial" - Collins English Dictionary". collinsdictionary.com.
  4. ^ Sigmund Freud, On Sexuality (PFL 7) p. 271
  5. ^ Emile Durkheim, The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life (1971) p. 165-6
  6. ^ Erving Goffman, Relations in Public (1971) p. 122
  7. ^ Stephen Greenblatt, Will in the World (2005) p. 186
  8. ^ Mark P. Holt, Alcohol: A Social and Cultural History (2006) p. 152
  9. ^ Kathy Peiss, Cheap Amusements (1987) p. 136
  10. ^ N. Naghibi, Rethinking Global Sisterhood (2007) p. 110
  11. ^ Jennifer Craig, The Face of Fashion (1994) p. 178
  12. ^ Susan Layleff, Wash and be Healed (1991) p. 162
  13. ^ Sylvia Walby, The Future of Feminism (2011) p. 3
  14. ^ Walby, p. 20 and p. 88
  15. ^ R. J. R. Levesque, Encyclopedia of Adolescence (2011) p. 1302
  16. ^ Levesque, p. 1297-9
  17. ^ Erving Goffman, Relations in Public (1972) p. 269–70
  18. ^ R. Wilson/D. Lavery, Fighting the Forces (2002) p. 49–51
  19. ^ Beverly Havilland, Henry James's Last Romance (1997) p. 168
  20. ^ Kenneth Clark, Civilisation (1969) p. 251-8
  21. ^ Lorna Jowett, Sex and The Slayer (2005) p. 50
  22. ^ Wilcox, p. 49 and p. 60
  23. ^ Quoted in Hermione Lee, Virginia Woolf (1996) p. 248
  24. ^ Lee, p. 161 and p. 266
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