heteronormative

comparative more heteronormative · superlative most heteronormative

1. Of or relating to the institutions and practices that privilege or value heterosexuality, heterosexual relationships, and traditional gender roles as fundamental and "natural" within society.

   Much of the language used when discussing wedding planning is heteronormative, which can alienate homosexual couples.

   4 more examples

   [T]he new wave of lesbian and gay studies is at the point of having to force a thorough revision within socio-theoretical traditions, of the kind being won by feminism. There are a number of distinct reasons why that engagement has become necessary: […] concepts and themes of social theory that might be pressed to this purpose are in fact useless or worse because they embed a heteronormative understanding of society; […]

   1991, Michael Warner, “Introduction: Fear of a Queer Planet”, in Bruce Robbins, Andrew Ross, editors, Social Text, volume 9, number 4 (issue 29), Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, →ISSN, →JSTOR, →OCLC, pages 5–6

   The work of critics such as [Jon] Binnie, [Michael] Warner, and [John] D'Emilio implies that to fail to analyze the specific material conditions of reception of gay porno is thus perhaps to remain within a heterosexist framework of analysis. This suggests both that film studies can be heteronormative even when it is analyzing homosexual representations and that close textual analysis is itself structured by heterosexual presumptions and assumptions.

   1997 August (summer), John Champagne, “‘Stop Reading Films!’: Film Studies, Close Analysis, and Gay Pornography”, in David Desser, editor, Cinema Journal, volume 36, number 4, Austin, Tex.: University of Texas Press, →DOI, →ISSN, →JSTOR, →OCLC, page 82

   In the public sphere of work, then, women's sexuality will always be seen as problematic as well as omnipresent. In the same way, homosexuality and bisexuality will always be seen as problematic in heteronormative organizations.

   1998, Ruth Holliday, “Philadelphia: AIDS, Organization, Representation”, in John Hassard, Ruth Holliday, editors, Organization–Representation: Work and Organization in Popular Culture, London; Thousand Oaks, Calif.: SAGE Publications, →ISBN, page 102

   Homonationalism needs to be more broadly understood as one dimension of "homonormativity," which Lisa Duggan described over a decade ago as a gay mindset that does not "contest dominant heteronormative assumptions and institutions but upholds and sustains them."

   2016 August 31, Peter Drucker, “Homonationalism, Heteronationalism and LGBTI Rights in the EU”, in Public Seminar: A Global Intellectual Commons, New York, N.Y.: The New School Publishing Initiative, archived from the original on 28 Apr 2026

   Antonyms: homonormative, nonheteronormative