Chapter 5 - Gender of Sexuality

Aromantic

having no romantic drive or desire to find a romantic partner

Asexuality

category of sexual identity describing people who do not experience sexual attraction

Back stage

actions hidden from others, where people can be "themselves" and audience is restricted

Cisheteropatriarchy

the interconnections between gender identity, gender inequality, and sexuality, or the ways in which the dominance associated with a gender binary system also presumes heterosexuality as a social norm

Compulsive heterosexuality

the way in which heterosexuality becomes institutionalized into the practice of daily life and therefore enforced as a way of regulating our behaviors and distributing power and privilege

Double standard

a cultural belief in Anglo-European society that the exact same sexual behaviors or feelings are okay for one gender but not for the other

Emotional intimacy

sharing aspects of the self with others with the goal of mutual understanding

Ethnocentrism

believing one's own culture to be better, more correct, or right relative to another culture

Front stage

performance of roles more purposefully geared toward others' expectations

Hegemonic curriculum

educational institutions that legitimize the dominant culture and marginalize or reject other cultures and forms of knowledge

Heteronormativity

the way in which heterosexuality is viewed as the normal, natural way of being

Hetero-privilege

the set of unearned rights given to heterosexuals in many societies

Hetero-romantic norms

specific behavioral norms for men and women that are important to proving their masculinity or femininity

Homosexual identity

considering being lesbian or gay to be a part of one's individual self-concept

Ideal love

submission and adoration of an idealized other whom one would like to be like and from whom one wants confirmation and recognition

Nationalism

a genre of claims, understandings, and grounds for recognizing, promoting, and legitimizing peoplehood, identity, and sovereignty

Romantic love

a couple coming together, sharing the excitement of an erotic relationship, and feeling united with each other in such a way that their love is unique and irreplaceable

Sex

any act identified as sexual

Sexology

the scientific study of sex

Sexual cultures

a particular way of life characterized by a group of people who share a sexual identity

Sexual desire

a combination of objective physical responses and subjective psychological or emotional responses to some internal or external stimulus

Sexual identity

the particular category into which people place themselves base on the current, Anglo-European division of the world into heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, and asexual

Sexual object

the passive recipient of sexual behavior and sexual desire, or the one who is sexually acted on and sexually desired rather than the one doing the sexual acting and sexual desiring

Sexual scripts

the learned guidelines for sexual expression that provide individuals with a sense of appropriate sexual behaviors and sexual desires for their particular culture

Sexual subjects

people who have a sense of power and agency in their own body that allows them to act in their bodies rather than being acted on

Two-gender model

women and men are believed to be two completely different types of people, and sex categories are viewed as discrete (you are either male or female, and there's nothing in between)

Two-sex model

a model of sex categories in which women and men are believed to be two completely different types of people and sex is viewed as a bounded category

Two-spirit

blanket term for the wide variety of third-gender roles in Native American cultures; places emphasis on the cultural aspect of these positions