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Assignment 6

In “Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence” Adrienne Rich explores why homosexuality in women is seen as deviant or inherently negative behavior – addressing the misconception that a woman only indulges in sexual activities with other women out of spite for men. Rich also addresses that lesbianism has been underrepresented in feminist theory and literature. Citing Kathleen Gough, Rich explores her hypothesis that this perception has been created, in part, by man’s desire to control women. Female circumcision, chastity belts, denial of masturbation, idealization of heterosexuality, arranged marriages, prostitution and much more, are elements of male power dynamics that have been used against women to confine and control their sexuality. Women are threatened physically and fully employed in the home which prevents their movement, both literally and figuratively, outside of their designated role as homemaker, wife and mother. Women are objectified and subjugated against men, ultimately being held back in society to allow male power to progress and remain dominant against women and female objectives.

Rich claims that these power tactics enforce heterosexuality because they lead women to believe that participating in the institution of marriage (and of course, motherhood) is their purpose in society, that marriage and children are inevitable and a man is a vital component of fulfilling that legacy. A woman couldn’t be a woman, in society’s standards, without a man (a man to provide a woman with a socially accepted heterosexual marriage, children and family dynamic).

Kathleen Barry claims that domestic abuse, incest, prostitution, marital rape, daughters being sold into marriages and more have created a system that acts to enslave women through ‘female sexual slavery’. Rich suggests that compulsory heterosexuality basically acts as a ‘procurer and pimp’ in a world-wide prostitution ring that manipulates women into accepting the conditions they are forced into (creating an analogy to the battered woman that stays with her husband because she doesn’t think she has a way out, is confined economically, is emotionally manipulated, scared, etc.).

Rich’s argument suggests that the institutionality of heterosexuality (in terms of marriage, female reliance on men, love, etc.) is another, almost global, means of control that manipulates women into dependence on men and sexual suppression that could result in ignorance to homosexuality. Rich calls out feminists for largely ignoring this in feminist theory and literature, suggesting that their lack of attention is actually making the problem worse for women. It is troubling to think of heterosexuality as the norm and homosexuality as deviant or wrong. After unraveling the history of heterosexuality and women, it is evident that women have “resisted male tyranny” seen throughout every period. Rich suggests we do away thinking/labeling things in society as “good” or “bad” and “right” or “wrong”. The freedom to choose and have autonomy over your decision making, without society telling you what is right or wrong, is a crucial component in developing an understanding of your desires and sexuality.