Recent studies of sexuality and space have done much to demonstrate that 'e
veryday' space is experienced as aggressively heterosexual by lesbians and
gay males. In this review essay, I aim to extend this analysis by examining
the (limited) body of work which has explored how heterosexuality has serv
ed to create (and justify) other forms of oppression and confinement in wes
tern cities. Specifically, this essay examines how heterosexuality has been
theorized within and beyond geography, exploring the contention that the '
performance' of particular oedipal identities is central to the normalizati
on of heterosexuality. This idea is scrutinized through an overview of the
geographies of 'moral' and 'immoral' heterosexual identities which serves t
o demonstrate how heterosexuality is territorialized in the city, albeit in
an often complex and contradictory manner. Invoking geographic theories of
morality, identity and difference, the article concludes that a fuller and
more nuanced understanding of heterosexuality needs to be developed in ord
er to understand the role of space in shaping social relations of all kinds
.