INVENTING HETEROSEXUALITY
Dr. M. C. Sengstock
Professor of Sociology
SOC 3300 – “Inequality
http://users.wowway.com/~marycay910
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HETEROSEXUALITY: A NEW CONCEPT
• All Dominant Groups Seek to Prove That They
Are/Were the “Original” Group
• Heterosexuals Are No Exception
– View Today That the “Natural” State of Humans Is
Heterosexuality:
– Adam & Eve Were Normal Sexual Beings Like Us
– Strong Sexual Motivation to Opposite Sex
– NOT Sexually Attracted to Anyone/thing Else
• EX: Same Sex, Animals, Masturbation, etc.
• (Jonathan Katz #13)
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REALITY OF SEXUAL HISTORY
• Heterosexuality “Invented” in Victorian Era
• Pre-Victorian Era:
– Early Victorian “Pure Love”:
– “True Womanhood” – “Proper” – Not “Lustful”
– “True Manhood” – More Sexually Oriented … BUT
– Males Still Aspired to Freedom from Sex Drives
– Aspired to “Higher Things”: Economic Productivity
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SEXUALITY: GREATLY CONFINED
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Sex Was for Procreation – Not Pleasure
Lust Was for Prostitutes
The “Home/Castle” Was for Love & Children
Lust & Sex Was for Prostitutes
This Pattern Prevailed Throughout Most Middle Ages
EX: The Double Standard of Royalty & Nobility
Sex for “Other Woman”– Male Royals Had Mistresses
Think About Most U.S. Immigrant Groups:
Marriages Were Arranged
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LATE VICTORIAN
SEX-LOVE VIEWS (1860-1892)
Eroticizing of Western Society Middle Class:
• Consciousness, Behavior, Emotion, Identity
• Family Became Consumer (vs. Producer) Unit
• Societal Focus Changed to Consumerism
• New Bodily Focus: Pleasure vs. Productivity
• Medicine Became More Professional …
• Doctors Began Defining the Body & Functions
• Literature & Advertising Focus on Body Pleasures
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VICTORIAN CHANGES IN
SEXUAL DEFINITIONS (1892-1900)
2 Major Medical Figures
• James G. Kiernan, MD, Chicago
• Dr. R. von Krafft-Ebing, Germany
• Beginnings Stages of Medicalization of the
Social?
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James G. Kiernan, MD, Chicago
• “Heterosexual” – Mixed Person – Psychical
Hermaphrodites (Today’s Transsexual?)
• Heterosexuals Have Abnormal Methods of
Gratification (Sexuality w/out Procreation)
• Homosexual – Persons Whose “Mental State” Is That
of the Opposite Sex (E.g., Attraction is NOT Toward
the Opposite Sex) (I.e., Same Sex Attraction)
• Deviate from BOTH Gender & Procreative Norms
• New View of Sexuality – Viewed in Terms of
Gratification (vs. Procreation) & Gender Preference
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Dr. R. von Krafft-Ebing, Germany
• “Heterosexual” – Attraction to Opposite Sex
• “Homosexual” – Erotic Feelings for Same Sex
• “Hermaphroditism” – Erotic Impulses Toward
Both Sexes
• Still Viewed Opposite Sex Attraction Oriented
Toward Procreation
• Closest to Current Definitions
• New View of Heterosexual Sex: Introduced
Erotic Motivations (Not Just Procreation)
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CONSEQUENCES FOR
SEXUAL DEFINTIONS
• Heterosexual: Persons Attracted to Opposite
Sex
• Homosexual: Attracted to Same Sex
• Hermaphrodite: Attracted to Both Same &
Opposite Sex
• Introduced Concept of Sexual Attraction As
Motive for Sexual Activity
• Questions Previous Procreation Motive
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EARLY
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20
CENTURY (1900-1930)
• Society Still Viewed Purpose of Sexual Desire
as Procreation
• Increased Public Concern for Sexual Changes:
– Falling Birth Rate
– Rising Divorce Rate
– War of Sexes (Women’s Liberation of the Day?)
• Support of Heterosexual Eroticism as Motive
for Traditional Sexual Relations
• Homosexual Relations Defeated the “True
Purpose” of Sex  Had to Be Opposed
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SOCIAL & RELIGIOUS OBJECTIONS
• Men Increasingly Worried About Changing Sex Roles
• Focused on BOTH Biological & Social Differences
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Shifting Work & Social Roles for Women
Failure to Recognize Old Social Roles with Males Dominant
Decrease of Male Power
Women’s “Andromaniac” Tendencies (Rev. Charles
Parkhurst)
• Objection to the “New Woman” (1890s) & “Flapper”
(1920s)
• These Threatened MAJOR Institutitons in Society
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EVIDENCE FROM READINGS
1. Making Young Boys Heterosexuals (Emma Reynolds #14)
• Boys in Grade School Pressured by Peers (Male &
Female) to Exhibit Adult Heterosexual Characteristics
2. 5 Sexes? (Anne Fausto-Sterling #10)
• Biologically Based Differences (Chromosomes,
External & Internal Sex Organs)
• “Herms, Werms, Ferms” (1.5%-4%, High in AK Yupik)
• In U.S., Medical Modification Common in Infancy
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CONNECTION BETWEEN
WOMEN & HOMOSEXUALS
• Destroys the “Pure Woman” of Early Victorian Ideals
• Discrimination Against Women & Homosexuals
Became Connected:
– If MALES Could Satisfy Sexual Urges Through Same Sex
Relations …
– WOMEN Could Do the Same!
– “The Lesbian” Was Viewed as a Monster
– This Presented a Grave Threat to Sex Between Male &
Female ..,
– Hence Grave Threat to Procreation
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MID 20TH CENTURY
• 1st Suggestion that People Could Alternate
Between Hetero- & Homo- Sexual Categories
• Conservatives Became Concerned That
Limitations on Heterosexual Activity Would
Activate Homosexual Activities
• Encouragement of “Trust of the Opposite Sex”
Became an Impetus for Increased Emphasis on
“Heterosexual” as a Category
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POST WW II: “CULT OF DOMESTICITY”
• Return of Troops from WW II
• Attempt to Return to Normal”:
– “Women’s Place Is In the Home”
– Only Men Work Outside the Home
– Male Dominance
– Procreation Emphasized
– Sex Without Reproduction Immoral  Anti-Birth
Control (Abortion Not Even an Issue!)
– Homosexuality Clearly Threatened this Picture
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ENTER ALFRED KINSEY STUDY(1948)
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Interviewed Males Re Their Sexual Behavior
Found Very Wide Variety of Sexual Activity
Both Hetero- & Homo-Sexual Acts by All Males
Kinsey Questioned Appropriateness of
“Normal” & “Abnormal” in Scientific Terms
• Freed Many Homosexuals to Pursue Their
Personal Inclinations
• Gave Impetus to Gay Rights Movement
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CONCLUSION
• History of Views of Sexual Behaviors Have
Changed Dramatically Over Past 200 Years …
– “Moral” or “Immoral”?
– “Normal” or “Abnormal”?
– Socially Acceptable or Forbidden?
• “help[s] us understand the erotic relationships
of women and men in terms of their modes of
social organization.” (Katz, prev. ed.)
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