Editing Heteronormativity (section)

==Relation to marriage and the nuclear family==
Modern family structures in the past and present vary from what was typical of the 1950s [[nuclear family]]. In the United States, the families of the second half of the 19th century and early 20th century were characterized by the death of one or both parents for many American children.<ref name="Coontz">{{cite book |last1=Coontz |first1=Stephanie |title=The way we never were: American families and the nostalgia trap |date=1992 |publisher=Basic books |location=New York |isbn=0465001351}}{{page needed|date=May 2023}}</ref> In 1985, the United States is estimated to have been home to approximately 2.5 million post-divorce, [[stepfamily]] households containing children.<ref name=CGG>{{cite journal |last1=Coleman |first1=Marilyn |last2=Ganong |first2=Lawrence H. |last3=Goodwin |first3=Chanel |title=The Presentation of Stepfamilies in Marriage and Family Textbooks: A Reexamination |journal=Family Relations |date=July 1994 |volume=43 |issue=3 |pages=289 |doi=10.2307/585420 |jstor=585420 }}</ref> During the late 1980s, almost 20% of families with children headed by a married couple were stepfamilies.<ref name=CGG/>

Over the past three decades, rates of divorce, single parenting, and [[cohabitation]] have risen precipitously.<ref name="Benfer">Benfer, Amy. [http://archive.salon.com/mwt/feature/2001/06/07/family_values/index.html The Nuclear Family Takes a Hit] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080522052539/http://archive.salon.com/mwt/feature/2001/06/07/family_values/index.html |date=22 May 2008 }}, Salon.com.  7 June 2001</ref> Nontraditional families (which diverge from "a middle-class family with a bread-winning father and a stay-at-home mother, married to each other and raising their biological children") constitute the majority of families in the [[United States]] and [[Canada]] today.<ref name="Benfer"/> [[Shared Earning/Shared Parenting Marriage]] (also known as Peer Marriage) where two heterosexual parents are both providers of resources and nurturers to children has become popular. Modern families may also have single-parent headed families which can be caused by divorce, separation, death, families who have two parents who are not married but have children, or families with same-sex parents. With [[artificial insemination]], [[surrogate mother]]s, and [[adoption]], families do not have to be formed by the heteronormative biological union of a male and a female. <ref>{{cite journal |title=The Widening Concept of Parent in Canada: Step- Parents, Same-Sex Partners, & Parents by ART |journal=American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law |year=2012 |last1=Bala |first1=Nicholas |last2=Ashbourne |first2=Christine |volume=30 |issue=3 |url=https://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1577&context=jgspl&httpsredir=1&referer= |accessdate=4 July 2021 }}</ref>

The consequences of these changes for the adults and children involved are heavily debated. In a 2009 [[Massachusetts]] spousal benefits case, developmental psychologist [[Michael Lamb (psychologist)|Michael Lamb]] testified that parental sexual orientation does not negatively affect childhood development. "Since the end of the 1980s... it has been well established that children and adolescents can adjust just as well in nontraditional settings as in traditional settings," he argued.<ref>Michael Lamb, Ph.D.: [https://www.webcitation.org/5n2qV1QIk?url=http://www.glad.org/uploads/docs/cases/2009-11-17-doma-aff-lamb.pdf Affidavit – United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts (2009)]</ref>  However, columnist [[Maggie Gallagher]] argues that heteronormative social structures are beneficial to society because they are optimal for the raising of children.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.marriagedebate.com/pdf/SenateSept42003.pdf |title=Why Marriage Matters: The Case for Normal Marriage. Testimony before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Property Rights Hearing: "What is needed to defend the Bipartisan Defense of Marriage Act of 1996?" |author=Maggie Gallagher |publisher=Institute for Marriage and Public Policy |date=4 September 2003 |access-date=22 May 2012}}</ref>  Australian-Canadian ethicist [[Margaret Somerville]] argues that "giving same-sex couples the right to found a family unlinks parenthood from biology".<ref>[http://www.unisa.edu.au/hawkecentre/events/2007events/MSomerville_InConversation.asp Margaret Somerville – In Conversation] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205100541/http://www.unisa.edu.au/hawkecentre/events/2007events/MSomerville_InConversation.asp |date=5 December 2008 }}</ref> Recent criticisms of this argument have been made by Timothy Laurie, who argues that both [[intersex]] conditions and [[infertility]] rates have always complicated links between biology, marriage, and child-rearing.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Laurie |first1=Timothy |title=Bigotry or biology: the hard choice for an opponent of marriage equality |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-03/laurie-bigotry-or-biology/6514156 |work=ABC News |date=3 June 2015 }}</ref>

Heteronormative temporality, a subset of heteronormativity, posits that the ideal societal trajectory involves achieving heterosexual marriage as life's ultimate goal. This ideology imposes societal expectations that encourage individuals to conform to traditional roles within a nuclear family structure: seeking an opposite-sex partner, entering into heterosexual marriage, and raising children. Heteronormative temporality promotes [[abstinence]]-only until marriage. Many American parents adhere to this heteronormative narrative and teach it to their children. According to Amy T. Schalet, it seems that the bulk of parent-child sex education revolves around [[Abstinence-only sex education|abstinence-only]] practices in the United States, but this differs in other parts of the world.<ref>Schalet, Amy T. Not under My Roof: Parents, Teens, and the Culture of Sex. Chicago: U of Chicago, 2011. {{ISBN|978-0-226-73618-1}}</ref> Similarly, George Washington University Professor, Abby Wilkerson, discusses how the healthcare and medicinal industries reinforce the views of heterosexual marriage to promote heteronormative temporality. The concept of heteronormative temporality extends beyond heterosexual marriage to include a pervasive system where heterosexuality is seen as a standard, and anything outside of that realm is not tolerated. Wilkerson explains that it dictates aspects of everyday life such as nutritional health, socio-economic status, personal beliefs, and traditional gender roles.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wilkerson |first1=Abby |title=I Want to Hold Your Hand: Abstinence Curricula, Bioethics, and the Silencing of Desire |journal=Journal of Medical Humanities |date=June 2013 |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=101–108 |doi=10.1007/s10912-013-9213-0 |pmid=23468394 |s2cid=35152974 }}</ref>