Amatonormativity (/əˌmætənɔːrməˈtɪvəti/) is the set of societal assumptions that everyone prospers with anexclusive romantic relationship.Elizabeth Brake coined theneologism to capture societal assumptions aboutromance.[1][2] Brake wanted to describe the pressure she received by many to prioritizemarriage in her own life when she did not want to. Amatonormativity extends beyondsocial pressures for marriage to include general pressures involving romance.[2][3]
The wordamatonormativity comes fromamatus, which is theLatin word for "loved", andnormativity, referring to societal norms.[4][1] Related terms includeallonormativity, which means a worldview that assumes all people experience sexual and romantic attraction, andcompulsory sexuality, which means social norms and practices that marginalize non-sexuality.[5]
The term was modeled after the termheteronormativity, the belief that heterosexuality is the default for sexual orientation.[2] Normative bias againstethical non-monogamy in particular is known asmononormativity.[6]
Elizabeth Brake describes the term as a pressure or desire formonogamy, romance, and/or marriage.The desire to find relationships that are romantic, sexual, monogamous, and lifelong has many social consequences. People who areasexual,aromantic, and/ornonmonogamous become social oddities. According to researcher Bella DePaulo, it puts a stigma onsingle people as incomplete and pushes romantic partners to stay in unhealthy relationships because of a fear the partners may have of being single.[7][1]
According to Brake, one way in which amatonormativity isinstitutionally applied is the law and morality surrounding marriage.Loving friendships,queerplatonic, and other relationships are not given the same legal protections romantic partners are given through marriage.[8]
In her 2012 bookMinimizing Marriage, Brake defines amatonormativity as "the widespread assumption that everyone is better off in an exclusive, romantic, long-term coupled relationship, and that everyone is seeking such a relationship."[9]