Christy Chung 
24 October 2015 
Section 3
Week 6 Blog

In “Monstor, Terrorist, Fag: The War on Terrorism and the Production of Docile Patriots,” Jasbir K. Puar and Amit S. Rai connect gender and sexuality to terrorism. They argue that the fear of terrorism deeply embedded in the American psyche has steered the normalization of society. After 9/11, Americans, plagued by the fear of the “terrorism monster,” powerfully desired a sense of safety. As a result, the preservation of the ideal heteronormative family became imperative on behalf of the security of the nation. Those who were considered unorthodox, who deviated from the norm in terms of factors like race, religion, sexuality, and such were deemed corrupt.
This idea of the heteronormative family as a sense of security to Americans brought to mind the concept of The Nuclear Family during the Cold War in the 1950s. During the Cold War, the nation was in a state of chaos and constant fear. Consequently, the concept of the home and family as a safe haven against the chaotic outside world became heavily stressed. The threat of communism or the outbreak of a nuclear war led Americans to seek comfort and security in a stable, conventional heteronormative family. I think it's interesting to see how history repeats itself. This cyclical state of mind demonstrates how there is still so much more room for growth and progress in our society.  

My question is: How is the perpetuation of heteronormativity disadvantageous to a progressing society and what can we do to promote the acceptance of diversity, specifically in terms of sexuality and gender?  

Below is an ad from the 1950s depicting a heteronormative family: