Gwen Lloyd On Heteronormativity

In this paper, I will explain how Lloyd’s views on heteronormativity will eventually be outdated, that because there is a norm of heterosexuals that is not how everyone feels, and lastly that violence can take place on a smaller scale and it doesn’t require a sexual relationship to be harmed. Heteronormative violence does not define how individuals function in society because it is rapidly changing as well as there are different aspects that aren’t addressed.

Lloyd describes heteronormativity as the norm that has been centered on being heterosexual and creates grounds to oppress those that are not conforming to that norm. Lloyd specifically is talking about Gwen Araujo and how heteronormative violence influenced the events that took place.

She goes on to make the conclusion that “heterosexuality is the default position in a society” (263 Lloyd). As she continues, she elaborates on how our bodies in the past have been defined as being distinct and determined by our genitalia. Society has defined the roles and our characteristics such that we will either be masculine or feminine and Lloyd agrees when she claims that heteronormativity affects the characteristic traits that make us who we are. Due to this consequence of attraction, she claims that this is how societies are regulated by heteronormativity. Ultimately, she defines the violence that is a result of the norm as “the ordering and classification of bodies according to the norms of sex, gender, and sexuality denoted above” (Lloyd 266). When Lloyd is focusing on the oppression of a class in our society she is evaluating the impacts due to their gender

I have witnessed many friends who do identify as lesbian and gay, and they do not fear their life. They have never once been physically harmed due to the fact they are not heterosexual. However, they have been harmed emotionally and mentally. Lloyd does not talk much about the violence that is not physical. She discusses the violence and harm that comes from the sexing of the body. Which does have mental and emotional effects, yet she does not have that strong of an argument in that aspect. To give an example, my friend told about the time that she came out to her parents and her parents expressed regret that they didn’t raise her right. They also expressed deep remorse about the choices that their daughter made. This has harmed her emotionally and mentally as she now does not feel the support of her parents. This is an example of the violence and harm that is due to heteronormativity. The reason why is she was harmed was because there was an assumption that she would naturally like males. Yet, she is not attracted to them and therefore has to talk to her parents and tell them that she is not like they thought. Therefore, because the norm is being heterosexual, she had to iterate that she was different, which inflicted