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Assignment 06

In her essay “Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence”, Adrienne Rich introduces the argument that heterosexuality is institutionalized. This is a very radical thought compared to previous literature and ideas on heterosexuality being “innate” within the female conscious. Rich argues that heterosexuality is not innate, but rather compulsory and has been imposed and forced upon women throughout history as a way to keep women under male siege. She lists ways in which institutions have deemed heterosexuality the ‘norm’, namely through idealization of heterosexual marriage (assuming she means in art, literature, and film), and by the mere “erasure of lesbian existence” within these institutions. (I would also add that religion has played a role in this as well.) Through a historically male-dominated society, these heterosexual ‘norms’ have added to inequality and sexism within the household and in the public sphere, including the work place. In addition, if we deem heterosexually ‘normal’ and natural, women who have chosen to be lesbians are therefore deviant. If heterosexuality becomes an imposition on women instead of a natural inclination, we are forced to re-evaluate women’s resistance to men over the years. The author goes on to say that many scholars view resistance to men part of lesbianism. To dismiss heterosexuality and “choose” to love women is to stand up against the tyranny of a patriarchal force. However, it is much more complicated than that.

Heterosexual feminists, as Rich explains, may have a hard time thinking about their heterosexual preference as compulsory, but this questioning is imperative in order for these feminists to truly understand the intricacies of lesbianism as “woman-identified experience” (135). The lesbian existence has been associated with male homosexuality as a version of male homosexuality, therefore adding to the lack of female voice and unique female experience. Rich decides that we need to examine institutionalized forms of heterosexuality in order to have a feminist perspective on sexuality as a whole.