Editing Heterosexism (section)

===Contrast to homophobia===

''[[Homophobia]]'', a form of heterosexism, refers both to "unreasoning fear of or [[antipathy]] towards homosexuals and homosexuality"<ref name=dictionary.com>{{cite web|url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/homophobia|title=Dictionary.com|access-date=2008-01-29|year=2008|publisher=Dictionary.com}}</ref> and to "behavior based on such a feeling".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/homophobia |title=homophobia – Dictionary definition and pronunciation – Yahoo! Education |publisher=Education.yahoo.com |access-date=2014-01-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204061410/http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/homophobia |archive-date=2013-12-04 }}</ref> ''Heterosexism'', however, more broadly denotes the "system of ideological thought that makes heterosexuality the sole norm to follow for sexual practices".<ref name="granddictionnaire.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.granddictionnaire.com/ficheOqlf.aspx?Id_Fiche=8373795#eng |title=Accueil |publisher=Granddictionnaire.com |date=2013-05-13 |access-date=2014-01-12}}</ref> As a bias favoring heterosexuals and heterosexuality, heterosexism has been described as being "encoded into and characteristic of the major social, cultural, and economic institutions of our [[society]]"<ref>Dines, Gail (2002). ''Gender, Race, and Class in Media: A Text-Reader''. {{ISBN|0-7619-2261-X}}.</ref> and stems from the [[essentialist]] cultural notion that [[maleness]]-[[masculinity]] and femaleness-[[femininity]] are complementary.

Researcher, author, and psychology professor Gregory M. Herek states that "[Heterosexism] operates through a dual process of invisibility and attack. Homosexuality usually remains culturally invisible; when people who engage in homosexual behavior or who are identified as homosexual become visible, they are subject to attack by society."<ref name="psychology.ucdavis.edu">{{cite web |url=http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/HTML/prej_defn.html |author= Gregory M. Herek
|title=Definitions: Sexual Prejudice, Homophobia, and Heterosexism |publisher=Psychology.ucdavis.edu |access-date=2014-01-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131229154227/http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/html/prej_defn.html |archive-date=2013-12-29 }}</ref> Furthermore, in interviews with perpetrators of [[anti-gay violence]], [[Forensic psychology|forensic psychologist]] Karen Franklin points out that "heterosexism is not just a personal [[value system]], [rather] it is a tool in the maintenance of [[gender]] dichotomy."<ref name="Franklin">Franklin, Karen (1998). "Inside the Minds of People Who Hate Gays" Retrieved May 29, 2008: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/assault/roots/franklin.html</ref> She continues by saying that "assaults on homosexuals and other individuals who deviate from [[Gender role|sex role]] norms are viewed as a learned form of [[social control]] of deviance rather than a defensive response to personal threat."<ref name="Franklin"/>