HETEROSEXISM

noun (People and Society) Discrimination or prejudice in favour of heterosexuals (and, by implication, against homosexuals); the view that heterosexuality is the only acceptable sexual orientation. Etymology: Formed by adding the suffix -ism (as in ageism, racism, etc.) to the stem of heterosexuality, after the model of sexism. History and Usage: The word heterosexism was coined at the very end of the seventies in educational circles, when feminism and the gay liberation movement had succeeded in raising public consciousness about attitudes to sexuality enough to make some educators question the traditional assumptions passed on to children through the educational system. The adjective and noun heterosexist were coined at the same time. In a paper at the National Council of Teachers of English convention in San Francisco in November 1979, Julia Penelope summed up the feminist viewpoint: Heterosexist language, like so many of the social diseases that require radical treatment, must be understood to be, in and of itself, one of the few manifest symptoms of a thorough-going systemic corruption of human intelligence...Heterosexism...prescribes that the proper conduct for wimmin is passivity, servility, domesticity...heterosexuality as the only 'natural' sexual interest. By the middle of the eighties there was a lively public debate about the issues involved (both in education and in the general area of discrimination on grounds of sexuality), and it was even possible to attend heterosexism awareness training. The linking of the Aids risk with gay sex added fuel to this debate: see Aids and homophobia. It is important to note that heterosexism does not always imply discrimination against homosexuals; often it is simply the assumption (regarded by many as justified) that heterosexuality is the natural state of affairs and the model on which a society should build. Even a non-sexist history may be heterosexist...in its unquestioned, underlying assumptions; for example, that all women are motivated by an innate desire for men and marriage. Lisa Tuttle Encyclopedia of Feminism (1986), p. 143 The branch [of the NUT] also calls on the union to train members not to adopt 'heterosexism' that discriminates against homosexuals. The Times 1 Feb. 1990, p. 4