Team of Researchers Blames Children's Films for Perpetuating "Heteronormativity" (What?)

ANN ARBOR, Michigan, June 24, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Researchers at the University of Michigan have concluded that the love stories told in classic Disney and other G-rated children's films - such as the Little Mermaid - are partially to blame for the pervasiveness of what they label "heteronormativity."

"Despite the assumption that children's media are free of sexual content, our analyses suggest that these media depict a rich and pervasive heterosexual landscape," wrote researchers Emily Kazyak and Karin Martin, in a report published in the latest issue of the Sociologists for Women in Society (SWS) publication Gender & Society.

Kazyak and Martin said they studied the role of heterosexual relationships in several of the highest-grossing G-rated films between 1990-2005.

The results, say the researchers, illustrate two ways that the children's films "construct heterosexuality": through "depictions of hetero-romantic love as exceptional, powerful, transformative, and magical," and "depictions of interactions between gendered bodies in which the sexiness of feminine characters is subjected to the gaze of masculine characters."

"Characters in love are surrounded by music, flowers, candles, magic, fire, balloons, fancy dresses, dim lights, dancing and elaborate dinners," the researchers observed. "Fireflies, butterflies, sunsets, wind and the beauty and power of nature often provide the setting for - and a link to the naturalness of - hetero-romantic love."

The SWS press release on the research blamed what they called the "old ideals" of romantic relationships, specifically those found the Brothers Grimm fairy tales, which in many instances inspired the films' storylines, for "such heavily gendered depictions and glorified portrayals of heterosexual relationships."

The team says the results point to heterosexuality achieving a "taken-for-granted status" "because hetero-romance is depicted as powerful."

"Both ordinary and exceptional constructions of heterosexuality work to normalize its status because it becomes difficult to imagine anything other than this form of social relationship or anyone outside of these bonds," they concluded.

"These films provide powerful portraits of a multifaceted and pervasive heterosexuality that likely facilitates the reproduction of heteronormativity."

The SWS press release concluded: "President Obama may have declared June to be Gay Pride Month, but entertainment for children therefore continues to perpetuate a less inclusive message, leaving those outside its confines with little to build their own dreams of happily ever after."

Sexuality expert Dr. Judith Reisman told LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) yesterday that the "politically correct" study reveals "the growing dominance of Heterophobia within academia and the spread of heterophobes among female professionals."

"Now, if the Ladies of the Sociology Society think pornography is becoming the heteronorm and that Disney is contributing to that form of what is really Heterophobia, they might have an argument," Reisman noted.

"However, the Ladies of the Sociology Society appear to favor Homoerotic child propaganda, as the current academic party line dictates."

Interesting how day to day sources provide a fairly accurate description of the word without getting into a political discourse yet sources from the left are constantly "defending" the criticizing of anyone/thing that subscribes to the facts.

For instance...

Wikipedia

Heteronormativity is a term describing the marginalization of non-heterosexual lifestyles and the view that heterosexuality is the normal sexual orientation. Instances of this include the idea that people fall into two distinct and complementary categories (male and female), that sexual and marital relations are normal only when between people of different sexes, and that each sex has certain natural roles in life. The heteronormative view is that physical sex, gender identity, and gender roles should, in any given person, align to either all-male or all-female cultural norms. The norms that this term describes might be explicit or implied. Those who identify and criticize heteronormativity say that it distorts discourse by stigmatizing some forms of sexuality and gender, and makes certain types of self-expression more difficult when that expression violates the norm.

WordIQ.com

Heteronormativity is a term used in the discussion of gender and society, mostly, but not exclusively within the field of critical theory. It is used to describe, and, frequently, to criticize how many social institutions and social policies are seen to reinforce certain beliefs. These include the belief that human beings fall into two distinct and complementary categories, male and female; that sexual and marital relations are normal only when between two people of different genders; and that each gender has certain natural roles in life.

Fairly accurate, between the two common sources one can gain a solid grasp of the definition.

Then there are the lefties...

Boise State University Composition Studies, Heteronormativity, and Popular Culture

Thomas Peele Boise State University

In this article, I argue that the field of composition studies is heteronormative. That is, as Michael Warner writes in another context, it thinks of heterosexuality as “the elemental form of human association, as the very model of intergender relations, as the indivisible basis of all community” (xxi). As a result of its heteronormative practices, composition studies not only underserves lesbian and gay students but also perpetuates the hegemonic marginalization of those students. Furthermore, in the absence of significant productions or examinations of discursive resistance to hegemonic constructions of lesbian and gay subjectivity, all students lose the opportunity to think of sexuality as discursively produced rather than as a natural or normal category of difference.

Purdue University
HETERONORMATIVITY (heteronormative): Those punitive rules (social, familial, and legal) that force us to conform to hegemonic, heterosexual standards for identity. The term is a short version of "normative heterosexuality."

Harvard University "Crimsom."

Pinkett Smith’s Remarks Debated
BGLTSA calls comments “heteronormative,” pledges to work with Foundation
Published On Wednesday, March 02, 2005 12:00 AM

By ANNA M. FRIEDMAN
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

After some students were offended by Jada Pinkett Smith’s comments at Saturday’s Cultural Rhythms show, the Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, and Supporters Alliance (BGLTSA) and the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations have begun working together to increase sensitivity toward issues of sexuality at Harvard.

Students said that some of Pinkett Smith’s remarks concerning appropriate gender roles were specific to heterosexual relationships.

In a press release circulated yesterday by the BGLTSA—and developed in coordination with the Foundation—the BGLTSA called for an apology from the Foundation and encouraged future discussion of the issue.

And in Obamaland... CNSNews.com

Obama's Faith-Based Adviser Urges Challenge to ‘Heteronormative' Fatherhood
Monday, May 18, 2009
By Fred Lucas, Staff Writer

President Barack Obama - A controversial member of President Barack Obama’s faith-based council said that part of the administration’s role in promoting responsible fatherhood should include moving beyond America’s “heteronormative view of fatherhood.”

Apparently all the leftie gayboys want is "apologies" and "moving beyond."

Gee, that sounds kind of familiar. Seems like someone else in the news has been running around talking about "moving beyond" and “apologizing.”

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