Heterosexism.

Heterosexism is a form of discrimination that favors heterosexuals over lesbian women, gay men and bisexuals. Upon meeting a person one doesn’t stop to think if that person is homosexual or not, it is in human nature to think every person is straight, as majority of the population is. I think companies choose heterosexual couples (woman and men) over homosexual (woman and a woman, man and a man) couples because majority of people in North American are heterosexual and they are easier to find. Another reason to why companies use heterosexuals over homosexuals is because many homosexual couples are still “in the closet” about their relationship as they fear the discrimination they would face. In my opinion, the last reason to why heterosexuals are the chosen target is because not many people are comfortable with the scene of same sex couples/people being intimate. Therefore, they use heterosexual to advertise, sell products and to promote something or someone.
I found two examples of heterosexual advertisements. The first one is a magazine ad of a Calvin Klein perfume. It shows a women’s perfume “Eternity Moment” is a magnet for men. The model is Scarlett Johansson with a male model. The company chose a man and a woman to advertise their product. The second advertisement I chose was a commercial for the men body spray, Axe. The axe commercial advertises the new product “Axe Dark Temptation”. It shows that they are heterosexual. The women are going for the guy because he smells good. These two advertisements have several things in common, but the one that stands out the most is the fact that, they are heterosexual commercials. The reason heterosexual couples were chosen was because, majority of the people are uncomfortable with people seeing the same sex couples being intimate, as mentioned above.
Upon meeting someone I assume that person is straight. I think most people assume someone is straight is because to this day people think that is the “norm.” Although it’s the 21st century, some people have still not accepted that fact that everyone is different; sexuality, race, language etc.

Cited:
"New AXE Dark Temptation Commercial" United States. 2009. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEpfTicDVUE

Elizabeth A. Suter.(2008)Heterosexism and the media. International Encyclopedia Of Communication. Retrieved March 7, 2010. http://www.communicationencyclopedia.com/public/tocnode?id=g9781405131995_chunk_g978140513199513_ss17-1