Heterosociality
In sociology, heterosociality describes social relations with persons of the opposite sex or a preference for such relations, often excluding relationships of a romantic and sexual activity|sexual] nature. The opposite of heterosociality is homosociality.
At an institutional level, the spread of heterosociality, epitomized by the entrance of women into public life and space, is closely associated with the progress of modernization.
Terminology
The term heterosocial can refer to either:- an individual who prefers to befriend or socialize with the opposite sex, as opposed to homosocial or bisocial
- a social relationship between two people who are of different sexes, as opposed to homosocial.
Historical developments
The pervasiveness of heterosociality in contemporary life can lead to the obscuring of its social construction as a late development in Western history. Writing of early society, Freud considered that there was "an unmistakable tendency to keep the sexes apart. Women live with women, men with men". Durkheim associated sexual totemism, binding men and women into two separate totemic corporations, with such a social division of the sexes. Even in the twentieth century, rules of etiquette in some traditional villages dictated that men and women do not greet each other when passing in public.Urbanization and modernization have seen a gradual erosion of the barriers to male/female socialising, not without significant culture wars along the way over each particular new arena. Thus, for example, part of the hostility to the Elizabethan theatre lay in the fact that men and women freely intermingled in its audience; while dance halls and cabarets later offered similarly controversial new areas for heterosocial interaction, as too did amusement parks.
In the 21st century, the challenge presented to traditional societies by the way the discourse of modernity encourages heterosociality over an older homosociality continues to be a live issue.
Impact on feminism
The 20th century opening up of the public sphere to women—work, politics, culture, education—was both fueled and fed by the feminist movement, but the increase in heterosociality which accompanied it was seen as double-edged by many feminists. On the one hand, it served to undercut older feminist homosocial bonds and support systems; on the other, it split the new feminist movement, as calls for separatist feminism challenged heterosociality, let alone heterosexuality, in ways many found unacceptable.Post-feminism has generally accepted heterosociality, along with a new strategy of gender mainstreaming, but not without reservations as to the exploitative aspects of raunch culture within the new 21st century public gender regime.
Adolescence
Acquiring heterosocial competence is a key adolescent task. Other-sex friendships, even more than romances, can play a key role in this process.Different societies and different subcultures place varying restrictions upon adolescent heterosocial roles and opportunities. American teen culture in particular has been seen as aggressively promoting heterosociality over homosociality.