Comparing Homosexual and Heterosexual Relationships
In relation to the comparison of heterosexual and homosexual relationship, Clarke et al. (2005) explored in their article of what occurs in relationships when there are unavailable ‘off-the-shelf’ roles. Gender difference is one issue that appears constantly in psychological analyses of heterosexual relationships.
A world in which gender differences are widely believed in is where heterosexual couples build their relationships in, which in turn are reflected in institutions and popular culture. Couples are judged, positioned and regulated both by others and by themselves, against and through these ideas about gender difference. However, many heterosexual couples report resisting these stereotypes
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Many psychologists draw attention to the similarities between lesbian and gay and heterosexual relationships despite those obvious differences. Some lesbian and gay psychologists like Kitzinger & Coyle, (1995) have argued that a focus on similarities can be problematic, moulding lesbian and gay relationships into patterns (supposedly) typical of heterosexual relationships and therefore overlooking aspects that do not conform to this ideal. A focus on sameness can also lead to a failure to explore the marginalisation of lesbian and gay relationships in the wider society. The importance of gender differences and similarities is evident in research on the division of domestic labour in lesbian, gay and heterosexual relationships. Kurdek (1993) compared how lesbian, gay and married heterosexual couples allocate household labour. Kurdek identified three patterns of household labour allocation: equality, balance and segregation. Couples who allocate using the principle of equality do so by sharing household tasks and completing them together. Couples who allocate by balancing distribute tasks equally but specialise – one partner does the ironing, and the other does the …show more content…
Relatively few differences have been discovered, and most are rather small. Of the differences identified to date, some suggest that gay and lesbian partners are slightly better off than their heterosexual counterparts, while others imply that they are slightly worse off. One noted advantage of same-sex couples is that they are nicer and use more humour during arguments compared to heterosexual couples. This may have something to do with the fact that gay partnerships tend to have much greater equality (i.e., power-sharing) within their relationships, perhaps this is due to not adhering so strongly to traditional gender