This text explores the way sexual divisions are constituted, regulated and transgressed, through an analysis of cultural representations of sexuality, expecially through the media. It studies the contradictory ways that sexual identities are constructed and affirmed, and how this informs our reading of history, science and popular culture. This study seeks to expose the myth of heterosexuality as neutral or ordinary, demonstrating how it is physically enforced and policed in everyday society. The authors use media analysis, psychoanalytical theory, ethnography, poetry narrative, autobiography and reminiscences to illustrate their themes.