Normative sexual practice in the United States, entailing sexual and other relations between those gendered as male and those gendered as female, usually in dyadic couples.

Reinforced by media images of love and romance, by legal and religious covenants of marriage and by social interactions, this norm is generally only called into question by recognition of alternative practice or calls to avoid implicit prejudices (heterosexist speech, for example) in politically sensitive settings. Given the widespread acceptance of the way “things are,” questions about heterosexuality—whether as a general practice or in reference to a specific figure like a celebrity—also evoke intense responses and defenses.