Chris Mohney

35 notes

Speaking of heteronormativity

Can I register a small, non-judgey grammar objection to this term? Despite its relatively recent coinage and re-minting into even more recent currency, it’s a bad construction. A literal definition of its Latin roots would be “making the different normal,” but its intended definition is about heterosexuality, not just hetero-ness generally. In fact a better (or, more literal) construction for the intended sense would be “homonormative,” i.e. making sameness (i.e. the normality of homogeneity, allegiance to heterosexual norms) normal. But really what the coiners were trying to get out would be “heterosexual normativity,” or “normative heterosexuality,” or “heterosexuonormativity” which is a more Germanic portmanteau word than I think we’re willing to tolerate, conversationally speaking.

This post brought to you by me waiting for a fax.

  1. breezybythebay reblogged this from chrismohney and added:
    remembering our Latin…
  2. catladyinwaiting reblogged this from chrismohney
  3. butterflystories reblogged this from chrismohney
  4. jodymichael reblogged this from chrismohney
  5. notalexus reblogged this from chrismohney and added:
    hetnorm? “Stop being so hetnorm, you guys.” “This t-shirt...so hetnorm I want
  6. nervemedia reblogged this from chrismohney
  7. ocean-bright-wine reblogged this from chrismohney and added:
    word having a meaning that is not the same as the...grammar problem.
  8. choire said: HOPE YOU GET YOUR GAY-ASS FAX SOOOON.
  9. brianvan said: The actual Germanic is paaremitzweigeschlechter
  10. artyucko replied:
  11. drseth said: look at your life, look at your choices
  12. chrismohney posted this