Living In A Hetero-Normative Society

As the world is progressing towards being more accepting, more people are comfortable with their sexuality and are much more open than in the past. We are still living in a “hetero-normative” society, meaning that the “normal” way to be is heterosexual, but as our generation gets older, the normativity of being heterosexual is significantly decreasing and acceptance of being homosexual is increasing remarkably. Generations ago, the number of people who supported gay marriage was very small, but with each generation, people are more accepting of people being open with their sexuality. In The Sociology Project: Introducing the Sociological Imagination by Jeff Manza and nineteen others, there is a poll from 2011 stating that from the age group of 18 to 24, 70 percent supported legalization of gay marriage, in the age group 35 to 54, 53 percent supported legalization, and that in the age group of people 55 years and older, only 39 percent supported legalization of gay marriage (311). They also point …show more content…
People are facing the fact that not everyone has the same preference, and are starting to live in harmony with it, rather than fight it. Since moving to college, the majority of the couples that I notice are heterosexual, but I do notice the occasional same-sex couple, which is great. In my hometown, people would not come out, and if they did decide to, it was not until after they moved to college, and were not coming back. This is because the majority of the population is senior citizens, and they still are not very accepting, and people are not used to anything “different.” It is very hard for people to show society who they really are when they are not sure if they will be accepted or not. That is why it is easier to move to a big city where there is more diversity when you are ready to come