Heterosexuality

[Page 867]Heterosexuality is commonly described as sexual or romantic feelings toward the “opposite” sex or gender: For women, heterosexuality dictates a sexual and romantic desire for men, and for men, a desire for women. In this way, people either fit or do not fit into discrete categories of sexual orientation; people are thought to be heterosexual and oriented to the other sex or gender, homosexual and oriented to the same sex or gender, or bisexual and oriented toward both the same sex and the other sex or gender. This fixed trait version of heterosexuality is frequently understood as biologically determined and, therefore, the normal and essential sexuality for people. Although not disconnected from biology, psychologists and other social scientists have come to understand heterosexuality (and ...