The Making of Heterosexualities

Drawing on an ethnographic study on young Moroccan immigrants in Europe (France and Italy), this book analyses the hegemonic power of heteronormativity and its plural expressions.

It tries to give an answer to the following main questions: How the normative power of heterosexuality is socially constructed among men? How and why heterosexuality is interpreted as the socially “appropriate” norm to be recognised as a “true” man by other men? Attention is focused on those people who use heteronormativity in order to produce and reproduce heterosexual identifications through performing hegemonic masculinities. The objective is to deconstruct the “normality” of heterosexuality and the ways through which it is commonly used as a normative reference to talk about sexual life as well as to build masculinities, especially within homosocial relationships.

An enlightening book consisting of a rich empirical material and theoretical analysis, this volume will appeal to undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as postdoctoral researchers who are interested in fields such as Sociology, Anthropology and Gender Studies.

Vulca Fidolini is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the Université de Lorraine (France) and member of the Laboratoire Lorrain de Sciences Sociales in Nancy. His main research topics are in age transitions, masculinities, sexuality and health. His last contributions are focused on constructions of masculinity linked to sexual behaviour in Islam context, and on health and food habits. Publications include “Eating Like a Man. Food, Masculinities and Self-Care Behavior”, Food, Culture & Society (2022); “Heteromasculinities. Sexual Experiences and Transition to Adulthood among Young Moroccan Men in Europe”, Men and Masculinities (2020) and “Youth and Chronic Illness. Thinking Age and Health Care Trajectories among Asthmatic Patients”, Salute e Società (2019).