heterosexism

Heterosexism. This is the result of power structures in society that encourage a strict heterosexuality and everything that surrounds it, for example traditional ideas about masculinity, femininity, male/female relationships, marriage, or having children and how to raise them. These structures deter or even punish anything that doesn’t conform to this heterosexuality. People feed heterosexism when their attitudes back this strict heterosexuality, even in subtle ways. Society’s institutions contribute to it too, for example when they grant privileges to male/female couples only. Messages society sends are also part of it, like when these messages treat heterosexuality as the default option or as better than other sexual orientations.