Heteronormativity 1

RUNNING HEAD: HETERONORMATIVITY

Heteronormativity and Sexual Assault

Kiera M. Wibberly

Glen Allen High School

 Heteronormativity 2

Introduction

Just about every member of the LGBTQ+ community is at higher risk for sexual assault

than their cisgender-heterosexual peers. About 46% of bisexual women experience rape

throughout their lifetimes, of whom at least 48% are raped before the age of 18. According to the

2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, 47% of transgender people experience sexual assault at some

point during their lives, with Native American transgender people at the highest risk at 65%. On

top of that, 85% of NCAVP victim advocates have reported working with an LGBTQ+ victim

who was denied services due to their sexuality or gender identity, making it far more difficult for

queer survivors to come forward and get the help they need (“Sexual assault and the LGBT

community,” n.d.). In this paper, the link between heteronormative attitudes and sexual

assault/harassment is investigated at length to determine whether or not a society more educated

and accepting of non-straight identities would report lower rates of sexual assault.

Statistics

On top of the statistics for bisexual women, bisexual men also face sexual violence, with

47% having experienced sexual assault other than rape, compared to 40% of gay men, and 21%

of heterosexual men. Compared to the 46% of bisexual women who have experienced rape, this

number drops to 17% for heterosexual women. Only 13% of lesbians report being raped, but

44% report experiencing physical violence, stalking, or rape by an intimate partner, compared to

61% of bisexual women, and 35% of heterosexual women (“Sexual assault and the LGBT

community,” n.d.). An Australian study on safety at LGBT public events showed that gay men

were more likely to encounter physical violence, while lesbian women were more likely to

experience sexual harassment in a public space, suggesting gendered patterns in the occurrence

of heterosexist violence (Fileborn, 2012). Within intimate partnerships, the National Violence
 Heteronormativity 3

Against Women Survey found that 39.2% of women who reported having ever cohabitated with

another woman in the context of an intimate relationship also reported having experienced

physical or sexual intimate partner violence at some point throughout their lives. Only 20.3% of

women who only reported having cohabitated with a man reported experiencing the same

violence. However, when asked to report the gender of their assailants, only 11.4% of women

who had lived with a female partner reported being assaulted by a woman, suggesting that

women in relationships with other women actually have a higher chance of being physically or

sexually assaulted by a man (Sorenson & Thomas, 2009).

Heteronormativity

When investigating why this might be, societal attitudes toward homoromantic and

homosexual relationships must come into play. Heteronormativity is the idea that heterosexuality

and sex-conforming gender identities are the “norm” and are thus more valid than or preferable

to LGBTQ+ identities. This attitude can be propagated in a number of ways, both intentionally

and unintentionally. Societal biases are often implicit, and can be spread simply through erasure

and lack of awareness - intentionally not talking about LGBTQ+ issues makes a negative

statement regarding their validity (Thompkins, 2017).

Heteronormative attitudes associate sex and gender as inseparable, meaning those who

present as “masculine” must experience sexual attraction to those who present as “feminine.”

Even within the context of homoromantic or homosexual relationships, heteronormativity still

presents itself, as society often expects one partner to take on the role of the “man” in the

relationship while the other takes on the role of the “woman,” under the assumption that a

normal relationship must consist of one of each. These attitudes become apparent in studies of

transgender experiences, as people report peer responses before and after transitioning.
 Heteronormativity 4

For example, many transgender people report that even when their transition is accepted

in the workplace, it is done so in the context of the gender binary. After transitioning, these

employees are then expected to conform to a new dress code, and they are often moved to

perform tasks more “suitable” to their new gender. Transmen report being asked to perform more

manual labor, such as lifting and moving heavy objects, simply because they are now perceived

as male. Similarly, people who were seen as “gender-nonconforming” before their transition (i.e.

“masculine” women or “feminine” men) are often accepted with greater ease by their peers

because the transition reaffirms traditional gender roles - the “masculine” presenting person is

now a man, while the “feminine” presenting person is now a woman (Schilt & Westbrook,

2009).

Because heteronormativity links gender with sexuality, peer attitudes toward transgender

people in a sexual context are also noteworthy. Transmen often find that their interactions with

fellow men at work become hypersexualized, as male coworkers attempt to relate to them

through a shared sense of heterosexuality, often assuming that their identity as a man includes

being sexually attracted to women. On the flipside, female coworkers tend to react with

discomfort when imagining transmen in a sexual context. Where straight men see transmen as

heterosexual males (and thus sexually off-limits, allowing them to ignore physical attributes),

straight women tend to see transmen as homosexual females, as they feel repulsed by the idea of

engaging in intercourse without the “proper” heterosexual genitalia involved (Schilt &

Westbrook, 2009). These reports demonstrate how heteronormativity impacts the attitudes and

reactions even of those attempting to accept their LGBTQ+ peers.

 Heteronormativity 5

Media Influence

These attitudes are more often than not perpetuated by the media. Media portrayals of

LGBTQ+ identities and relationships, when they exist at all, are often depicted with a

heteronormative spin because they do not exist for the benefit of the LGBTQ+ community.

Instead, they often serve to reinforce heteronormative attitudes by watering down the

representation until it becomes more palatable to a heterosexual audience. Lesbian relationships

in particular are more often than not portrayed to appeal to straight male viewers. As such, they

become hypersexualized, with lesbians in the media featuring traditionally feminine

characteristics in order to make them more attractive to heterosexual men. Lesbian relationships

are portrayed as erotic rather than emotional, dependent mostly upon the sexual gratification of

the male audience, and leading to a stigmatization of the word “lesbian,” which has become

associated with sex and pornography (Graham, 2019). Lesbian porn is frequently acted out by

heterosexual women, further contributing to the idea that lesbian women are simply straight

women with a sense of adventure (Pfeiffer, n.d.). This attitude is dangerous: it sends the message

to straight men that lesbians are a challenge to overcome, and that lesbians are simply waiting for

the “right man” to show them their latent heterosexuality. This message is the driving force

behind hate crimes like corrective rape - the idea that sexually assaulting a lesbian woman will

somehow “cure” her of her sexuality (Graham, 2019).

Conclusion

This review investigated the relationship between heteronormativity and sexual assault

within the LGBTQ+ community. Through a variety of studies involving LGBTQ+ individuals

and their experiences with both sexual violence and heteronormative attitudes, it can be

concluded that members of the LGBTQ+ community experience higher rates of sexual violence,
 Heteronormativity 6

particularly at the hands of men, that the media largely contributes to a hypersexualization of

queer relationships, and that heteronormative attitudes promote a heavy emphasis on sex with

regard to identity. It is reasonable to conclude that there is a direct relationship between

heteronormativity and sexual violence because heteronormative attitudes contribute both to

homophobia/transphobia, and to hypersexualization.

Research List

Fileborn, B. (2012). Sexual violence and gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans, intersex, and queer

communities [PDF file]. Retrieved from https://aifs.gov.au/sites/default/files/publication-

documents/rs3.pdf

Graham, K. (2019). Removing the stigmas of lesbian relationships. Retrieved from

https://statenews.com/article/2019/02/fetishization-of-lesbian-relationships

Pfeiffer, A. (n.d.). LGBT marketing: Inclusivity or fetishization? Retrieved from

https://nowfashion.com/lgbt-marketing-inclusivity-or-fetishization-23566

Schilt, K., & Westbrook, L. (2009). Doing gender, doing heteronormativity: 'Gender

normals,' transgender people, and the social maintenance of heterosexuality. Peer

Reviewed Articles, 7. Retrieved from

https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=soc_articles

Sexual assault and the LGBT community. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.hrc.org/resources/sexual-assault-and-the-lgbt-community

Sorenson, S. B., & Thomas, K. A. (2009). Views of intimate partner violence in same-

and opposite-sex relationships. Journal of Marriage and Family, 71. Retrieved

from https://www.jstor.org/stable/40262883.
 Heteronormativity 7

Tompkins, C. (2017). Why heteronormativity is harmful. Retrieved from

https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/why-heteronormativity-is-harmful.