A New Dichotomy

     In what liberal scholars are referring to as “a repudiation of modernity,” a new dichotomy has arisen between heterosexuality and homosexuality. Historically, prejudices against the ‘straight’ community have been limited, but in recent times these prejudices have multiplied and become startlingly widespread, creating a social stigma that casts heterosexuals in a light far less than favorable and creates adverse social conditions for what is a significant population of the world. Sociologists studying this shift in perspective have been horrified by the brutalities of this so-called progressive age; an age whose social tendencies with regard to heterosexuality mirror those regarding homosexuals in earlier times. To effectively relate to the plight of the heterosexual world, we are forced to recall such horrors as the Byzantine Empire’s persecution of homosexuals, or the ferocity of Levitican punishment for homosexual acts, though applied now in a reversed sense. The discourse that follows explores the nature of this stigma, cites interviews with heterosexual individuals, and presents statistics meant to inform the average citizen of the nature of the situation that has arisen.

     The explosion of anti-heterosexuality in recent times has been unexpected and rapid, condemning an unsuspecting generation of ‘straight’ youths to a childhood of mockery and social isolation. Terms such as “breeder” have a resoundingly negative effect on the emotional state of heterosexual youths, and unfortunately, have become commonplace not only in institutions of learning, but in the popular media as well. This paradigm shift has left many suffering at the hands of prejudiced individuals. The social brutality directed at heterosexuals in contemporary times all too often has effects reaching far beyond those of banal childhood teasing. Since sexual identity is formed largely in adolescence, more and more heterosexual teenagers are developing crippling emotional or psychological problems, and at earlier ages. The derogatory connotation of the word ’straight’ has emblazoned a brand upon the foreheads of those heterosexuals; the term has become synonymous with ‘moronic’ or ‘laughable.’ These prejudiced antagonists justify in many ways their largely irrational contempt for heterosexuals.

     There are those who claim, with a pious ferocity reminiscent of John Chrysostom’s passionate sermons, that “being straight is a choice,” and hence, can and should be avoided. While there are undoubtedly those who opt, even in the face of social adversity, to pursue a straight lifestyle, so often heterosexuality is a result of one’s upbringing or familial situation. In instances of sexual abuse, for example, 74% of those considered “fully recovered” come into adulthood as heterosexuals, whether or not they express this sexual preference to the public (Hopkins 34). This shockingly high statistic paints a vivid picture of what can clearly be considered one of the more devastating effects of sexual abuse on the sensitive psyche of a child.