Non-heterosexual
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Non-heterosexual is a word for a
Background
Many gay, lesbian and bisexual people were born into different cultures and religions that stigmatized, repressed or negatively judged any sexuality that differed from a heterosexual identity and orientation.[14][15] Additionally the majority of heterosexuals still view non-heterosexual acts as taboo and non-conventional sexual desires are generally hidden entirely or masked in various ways.[6] Non-heterosexual is more fully inclusive of people who not only identify as other than heterosexual but also as other than gay, lesbian and bisexual.[16] Some common examples include same gender loving, men who have sex with men (MSM), women who have sex with women (WSW), bi-curious and questioning.[7][17][18] Non-heterosexual is considered a better general term than homosexual, lesbian and gay, LGBT or queer for being more neutral and without the baggage or gender discrimination that comes with many of the alternatives.[8] For instance, until 1973, the American Psychological Association listed homosexual as a mental illness, and it still has negative connotations.[19]
Usage
Non-heterosexual is found predominantly in research and scholarly environments possibly as a means to avoid terms deemed
In a 2004 book that integrates "the academic disciplines of cinema studies, sociology, cultural and critical studies" regarding the
Non-heterosexual is also used when studying lesbian and gay families and family structures.
Critique
This section possibly contains original research. (August 2019) |
The use of the term 'non-heterosexual' to refer to
Jonathan Ned Katz argues that historically, the term was used to force people into one of two distinct identities; the "normalization of a sex that was 'hetero' proclaimed a new heterosexual separatism — an erotic apartheid that forcefully segregated the sex normals from the sex perverts."
Margaret Denike and Patrick Hopkins have argued that "heterosexism and homophobia are founded on and sustained by binary gender categories, specifically the assumption that there are distinct and proper masculine and feminine gender roles and identities against which deviation is measured."[31] According to Erika Feigenbaum, the use of the term non-heterosexual indicates a departure from what is acceptable in society while highlighting the juxtaposition between the ideal heterosexual and unideal non-heterosexual, stating, "Heterosexism is about dominance, and the practices that support it are often replicated, reinforced, and reflected by the attitudes, behaviors, and practices of even [the] best-intentioned allies."[32]
Although "non-heterosexuality" is considered a blanket term for all LGBTQ identities, it is often interpreted as another word for homosexual which contributes to the continuation of systematic bisexual erasure.
Non-heterosexuality is often used to describe those in the LGBT+ community with non-cisgender identities. This is seen as problematic as sexual orientation and gender identity are different. However the distinction between the two is relatively modern. Historically "[transgender people] were classified as homosexuals by everyone, including the physicians who specialized in their treatment, and it is only in the past fifty years or so that transgender has been theorized as different in kind from homosexuality."[36] Many people still fail to understand or make the distinction between gender minorities and sexual minorities.[36]
Queer people "are often expected to account for [their] sexual identifications by either proving [their] normality (that is, [they] are inside the sphere of heteronormativity), or by accepting that [their] difference from the heterosexual norm constitutes some form of essence."[37] The term non-heterosexual is used to highlight the absolute difference between heterosexual and queer identities. The language needs to change to describe LGBTQ people as autonomous beings "rather than considering [them] solely as sexual beings constituted within a heterosexual logic of sameness or difference."[37] The implied binary that the term non-heterosexual perpetuates erases those whose identities fall in the spectrum between heterosexuality and homosexuality. The hetero/homosexual dichotomy continues the systematic erasure of bisexual identities by emphasizing an assumed oppositeness with nothing allowed in between.[36] It ignores those who identify as non-binary, as the term non-heterosexuality has been interpreted as categorizing those who are sexually attracted to people of the 'same sex' as opposed to those who are attracted to those of the 'opposite sex.'[36]
See also
- Gender binary
- Heterosexism
- Heterosexual–homosexual continuum
- Sexual diversity
References
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- ^ Stevens, Richard A Jr (May–June 2005). "Queer Man on Campus: A History of Non-Heterosexual College Men, 1945-2000". Journal of College Student Development. Archived from the original on 14 October 2008. Retrieved 24 July 2008.
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- ISBN 978-0-304-33959-4. Retrieved 24 July 2008.
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- ^ ISBN 978-0-415-25477-9. Retrieved 24 July 2008.
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- ISBN 978-0-7619-6979-2. Retrieved 24 July 2008.
- ^ Yip, Andrew K.T. (2004). "Queering Religious Texts: An Exploration of British Non-heterosexual Christians' and Muslims' Strategy of Constructing Sexuality-affirming Hermeneutics" (PDF). Nottingham Trent University. Archived from the original on 13 May 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2008.
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: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link); PDF version Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine - ^ Browne, Kath (2003). "Negotiations and Fieldworkings: Friendship and Feminist Research" (PDF). University of Brighton. Archived from the original on 9 November 2005. Retrieved 24 July 2008.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link); - ^ Parker, Blaise Astra (May 2004). "Queer Theory Goes To College". Journal of Sex Research. Archived from the original on 14 October 2008. Retrieved 24 July 2008. "He includes interviews of some men who have a behaviorally bisexual pattern, but none of men who self-identify as bisexual. Therefore, the term non-heterosexual was inherently problematic to me, given that I am sensitive to issues of bisexual exclusion."
- ISBN 978-0-7546-5080-5. Retrieved 24 July 2008.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-415-34416-6. Retrieved 24 July 2008.
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- ISBN 978-0-306-47296-1. Archived from the originalon 6 August 2009. Retrieved 24 July 2008.
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- ^ Dilley, Patrick (1 January 2005). "Which way out? A typology of non-heterosexual male collegiate identities". Journal of Higher Education. Retrieved 24 July 2008.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-86134-916-3. Retrieved 24 July 2008.
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- ^ a b c d e f g Katz, Jonathan Ned (January–March 1990). "The Invention of Heterosexuality" (PDF). Socialist Review (20): 231–142. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
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- ^ ISBN 978-0-226-02089-1. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
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- ^ JSTOR 4640048.