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Assignment 6

In “Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence,” Rich describes heterosexuality as being institutionalized due to the oppression of women through their sexuality. This oppression stems from what Rich calls compulsory heterosexuality, which denies women the choice of choosing their significant other, only giving them the default option of being with a man. In Barry’s theory, this concept is rooted from the social norm that accepts the “uncontrollable” male sex drive during adolescence, which gives the excuse that males cannot control their sexual urges and that both men and women should just accept it as human nature. However, in the woman’s case, they are apparently dependent on the man, which gave way to the misconception of lesbianism being nonexistent is society’s perspective. The acceptance of compulsory heterosexuality evolved into male assertion of their heterosexuality onto women or denying them their own sexuality, which was expressed in a number of ways such as through rape, incest, prostitution, etc.

By imposing their sexuality and denying women their freedom of sexuality, the men are creating a society that controls and exploits women, which institutionalizes the concept of female sexual slavery. This concept connects the relationship between situations that victimizes women and making them feel responsible for being in that situation, trapping them in this endless cycle of being oppressed by men. An example of this institutionalization is in the work environment, where women are sexualized and sexually discriminated in the work force. First, they are given low wage positions such as being someone’s secretary or waitress, this being an example of being sexually discriminated. Second, they are prone to be victims of sexual harassment by those in higher positions such as a customer or their boss, and they surrender to it as they fear to lose their job, which further reinforces the idea of compulsory heterosexuality in society.

The institutionalization of this heterosexuality limits the potential of feminist thought as it subjugates women to a male egocentric society. It places them in a society in which they believe that heterosexuality with a male is the only acceptable relations a woman could have, which has limited  thoughts such as lesbian relations and the lesbian experience as Rich has  discusses in this work.