It is important to understand the development of the two sexual categories of heterosexuality and homosexuality as pertains to history. Interestingly, the emphasis on sexual identity as hetero or homo was not always distinguished until a label was actually created that emphasized a sexual preference. It was only near 1860 that a distinction and focus of sexuality was emerging as the Victorian sex-love paradigm was created (Katz, 1990). Prior to this period there was no clear distinction made of heterosexuals as the normal or natural way to be. Although, male female unification was typically what was practiced, there was no emphasis on this as heterosexuality or as the “normal sexual choice.” Prior to this point there were very particular expectation of sex between men and women that was strictly for procreation. Women were not expected to be lustful in their enjoyment of sex, but men were allowed to indulge in the passion, yet the purpose had always been to procreate (Katz, 1990). It is over a period of changes culturally that began the labeling of heterosexual and homosexual preference, which ultimately made heterosexuality the dominant and socially acceptable choice for men and women.
It was author Walt Whitman who began to write about the women enjoying the act of sex for procreation as much as their male counterpart (Katz, 1990). Whitman began to write about the male-female and male-male eroticism, which was the beginning of bringing attention to the distinction of sexual encounters occurring within the same sex (Katz, 1990). From this point forward, more and more attention was being paid to about the sexual acts that occurred between same sex individuals, while the labels began to come into existence. The term heterosexual was the natural method of man and woman involved in sexual interactions, while homosexuality began to emerge as a deviant behavior.
It was after World War II that an emergence of heterosexual hegemony was in full force as women began to re-establish their roles inside the home as a wife and mother (Katz, 1990). This era brought with it a negative stigma for those who identified as homosexual. During the sexual revolution and changes in civil liberties that began in the 1960’s there began a slight awareness in the treatment of homosexuals. The homosexual population had been treated as some type of freaks or lesser than their heterosexual peers. It has taken a lot of cultural changes and awareness of the biological tendencies that influence sexuality for there to have movement in the direction of equality regardless of sexual preference. Understanding the evolution of the process of sexuality from the heterosexual and homosexual populations is important to be aware of as the world works harder to establish equality among all the diversity that exists in the world.
Works Cited
Chauncey, George, Jr. "Christian Brotherhood or Sexual Perversion? Homosexual Identities and
the Construction of Sexual Boundaries in the World War One Era." Journal of Social
History 19.2: 189-211. JStor. Web. 26 Mar. 2016.
Katz, Jonathan Ned. The Invention of Heterosexuality. 1990. Print.
