Invention of Heterosexual Culture

Heterosexuality is celebrated but taken for granted as the cultural and sexual norm. However, this book reveals that premodern Europe viewed heterosexuality as an alternative culture. While heterosexuality was standard, the symbolic primacy of the heterosexual couple was not.

Author Louis-Georges Tin explains that before “courtly love” in the early twelfth century, the man-woman pairing was considered unworthy of more than passing interest. As heterosexuality became prevalent in art and literature, the nobility saw it as a disruption of chivalric ideals. Feudal lords objected to the “hetero” in heterosexuality and its associated dangers of weakness and effeminacy, while the church criticized the “sexuality” threatening Christian values. Finally, the medical profession labeled heterosexuality as pathology, warning of “lovesickness.”

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