In this chapter I review the social psychological underpinnings of identity, emphasizing social cognitive and symbolic interactionist perspectives and research, and I turn then to key themes of current work on identity—social psychological, sociological, and interdisciplinary. I emphasize the social bases of identity, particularly identities based on ethnicity, race, sexuality, gender, class, age, and (dis)ability, both separately and as they intersect. I also take up identities based on space, both geographic and virtual. I discuss struggles over identities, organized by social inequalities, nationalisms, and social movements. I conclude by discussing postmodernist conceptions of identities as fluid, multidimensional, personalized social constructions that reflect sociohistorical contexts, approaches remarkably consistent with recent empirical social psychological research, and I argue explicitly for a politicized social psychology of identities that brings together the structures of everyday lives and t...

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Heterosexuality and Social Theory

Social Psychology of Identities

Heteronormativity is everywhere. It is always already present in our individual and collective psyches, social institutions, cultural practices, and knowledge systems. In this essay, I provide some sketches for a critical analysis of heteronormativity in the communication discipline. More specifically, I examine the symbolic, discursive, psychological, and material violence of heteronormativity, and begin exploring ways to heal, grow, transform, and contemplate new possibilities in our social world. To accomplish this, this essay is divided into live sections. First, I discuss the study of sexuality in Communication. Next, through the notion of injury, I focus on the violence of heteronormativity. Third, using the concept of healing, I discuss ways of unpacking heteronormativity through a critique of hegemonic heterosexuality. Further, I offer potential ways for queer world-making through the lens of queer theory. I conclude by exploring the need for more sexuality research in the discipline by engaging the productive tensions between constructive and deconstructive impulses.

The violence of heteronormativity in communication studies: notes on injury, healing, and queer world-making

Lesbian and gay movements are increasingly demanding equal rights of citizenship on the grounds of being the ‘same’ as most heterosexuals. Citizenship is the central concept appealed to in calls fo...

Locating sexualities: from here to normality

According to the writings of members of the polyamorous community, polyamory is a type of nonmonogamous relationship orientation in which it is considered acceptable to love more than one person and emphasis is placed on openness and honesty within one's relationships. The proliferation of websites, E-mail groups and books on the topic since the mid 1990s mean that polyamory can be seen as a burgeoning sexual story (Plummer, 1995). However, very little has been written academically on the topic, despite its fascinating potential to challenge mainstream discourses of monogamy and infidelity and to reveal the constructed nature of “compulsory heterosexuality” (Rich, 1980). In this article I draw on social constructionist and personal construct psychology perspectives to examine the ways in which polyamorous individuals construct their personal and group identities in relation to conventional monogamy and to explore the implications of polyamory for a person's own sense of self.

/pdf/this-is-my-partner-and-this-is-my-partner-s-partner-19bq341lgi.pdf

This Is My Partner, and This Is My...Partner's Partner: Constructing a Polyamorous Identity In a Monogamous World.

The tradition of thinking behind the idea of citizenship, which has become a key concept of modern social theory, has given insufficient attention to either gender or sexuality. In this paper it is...

Heterosexuality and Social Theory

Citations

Social Psychology of Identities

The violence of heteronormativity in communication studies: notes on injury, healing, and queer world-making

Locating sexualities: from here to normality

This Is My Partner, and This Is My...Partner's Partner: Constructing a Polyamorous Identity In a Monogamous World.

Sexuality and Citizenship

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