The Construction Of Heterosexuality By Janet E. Halley

In Janet E. Halley’s chapter titled, “The Construction of Heterosexuality,” Halley makes three arguments regarding how heterosexuality is constructed (especially through the courts), the implications for the different definitions of homosexuality, and how we need to change the way we think about sexuality. In the first section, Halley outlines what she calls the “deviant definition” of homosexuality. This definition is characterized by sexual acts, rather than a sexual identity. Here, the heterosexual population is the default, unless someone is outed as committing homsexual act (Halley, pg. 85). Additionally, it is in the power of the hetersexual population to decide whether or not someone belongs to the homosexual class (Halley, pg. 88).