Compulsory heterosexuality
Compulsory heterosexuality, often shortened to comphet, is the theory that heterosexuality is assumed and enforced upon people by a patriarchal and heteronormative society. The term was popularized by Adrienne Rich in her 1980 essay titled "Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence". According to Rich, social science and literature perpetuate the societal belief that women in every culture are believed to have an innate preference for romantic and sexual relationships with men. She argues that women's sexuality towards men is not always natural but is societally ingrained and scripted into women.[1] Comphet describes the belief that society is overwhelmingly heterosexual and delegitimizes queer identities. As a result, it perpetuates homophobia and legal inequity for the LGBTQ+ community.[2]
Concept and terminology[edit]
Adrienne Rich argued that heterosexuality is not natural or intrinsic to humans but is a political institution that supports the patriarchal domination of men over women in society, and feminist literature still functions under a heterosexual paradigm. She believes that feminist authors do not adequately acknowledge that institutions such as marriage are merely socializations that have been internalized and reproduced in society.[1] This institution defines the standards for sexual and romantic relationships and alienates those outside of the standards.[3]
Rich originally wrote this essay to challenge lesbian erasure in the majority of feminist literature. She claims the article was not written to ostracize or widen divides, but as a call to action for heterosexual feminists to look upon heterosexuality as an oppressive political institution and to help dismantle and change it.[4] She urges these women to direct their attention towards other women and claims that lesbian existence is a natural extension of feminism.
Rich introduces the term lesbian existence as an alternative to "lesbianism", and defines it as not only a sexual identity but as a concept and descriptor for living life in a way that consciously defies patriarchal society. The terminology of lesbian existence implies the historical, current, and future presence of lesbians. Paired with this term is the concept of the lesbian continuum as a way to broaden the lesbian existence to include female friendship, camaraderie, and any other type of emotionally intimate relationship between women. The term "lesbian" limits these intimate relationships to only romantic or sexual ones, thus limiting the term "erotic".[1] The term lesbian continuum expands into Audre Lorde's definition of eroticism.
Lorde's definition of the erotic removes it from the sexual context it has been placed in and brings it closer to the origins of the word eros, love in all its aspects. Her definition states that the erotic is women's capacity to feel overwhelming joy when they tap into their innermost desires, using their creative energy, sharing deeper connection with others, and doing what feels innately right. The full experience of erotic is dangerous to the patriarchy because women will search for fulfillment in all aspects of their lives once they understand the full capacity of joy they can experience. It would break the prioritization of men's desires.[5]
Compulsory heterosexuality is viewed as an institution that acts upon individuals from birth, and thus individuals are assumed to be heterosexual until proven otherwise. Due to this, Sandra Lipsitz Bem argues that sexual minorities have a greater "global identity development" from individuals investigating their experiences and senses of self in contrast to society.[6] Individuals with minority sexual orientations are found to consider their sexual orientation as integral to their relationships with other people and as a foundation for their overall identity.[7]
Katerina Deliovsky argues that the Western structure not only compels women's sexuality towards the opposite sex but also to the same race, adjusting the term to compulsory "white" heterosexuality. This is prevalent in the stereotypes of black men being aggressive or Asian men being feminine in media. She argues that when Rich says compulsory heterosexuality is structurally assuring men's rights or needs it is really assuring for white men. The origins of upholding comphet is not only for the comfort of men but also to maintain whiteness societally and institutionally, as can be seen in how interracial marriage was illegal. It isn't to say, though, that only white men are the ones maintaining this. White women are complicit in assisting the racist system that is beneficial to them.[8]
Factors[edit]
Manifestations of male power[edit]
The idea states that male dominance in a patriarchal society is a major factor in enforcing compulsory female heterosexuality;[1] that, in order to serve men's needs, heterosexuality requires men to force women into heterosexual relationships and marriage under a patriarchal society.[9] Kathleen Gough argues that there are eight characteristics of "male power in archaic and contemporary societies", which are:
In men[edit]
While the concept of compulsory heterosexuality initially only included women, later revisions of the idea have included discussion on how compulsory heterosexuality necessarily requires both men and women to reinforce the construct; ergo, that compulsory heterosexuality impacts males as well.
Tolman, Spencer, Rosen-Reynoso, and Porche (2003) found that even heterosexual males reported being negatively impacted by compulsory heterosexuality through being groomed to aggressively pursue women and through the interactions that society allows them to have with other males.[9] In another article, entitled "In a Different Position: Conceptualizing Female Adolescent Sexuality Development Within Compulsory Heterosexuality", Tolman uses the term hegemonic masculinity to describe the set of norms and behaviors that dominate the social development of males.[33] Moreover, hegemonic masculinity mirrors Rich's construct of compulsory heterosexuality by pointing out the social intuitions that demand specific behaviors from males; she says, "these norms demand that men deny most emotions, save for anger; be hard at all times and in all ways; engage in objectification of women and sex itself; and participate in the continuum of violence against women".[33]
Compulsory heterosexuality also negatively affects gay and bisexual men by teaching them from a young age that straightness is "normal" and therefore anything that deviates from that is abnormal. Debbie Epstein discusses in her book, Silenced Sexualities in Schools and Universities, how heteronormative standards, as well as compulsory heterosexuality, lead not only to young males feeling forced to appear heterosexual, but can lead to violence against these males if they deviate from expectations against them.[34] Hellen Lenskyj has further suggested in her article "Combating homophobia in sport and physical education" that heterosexuality is enforced in males through imitation and violence against those who deviate.[35] Through these norms, males are taught from a young age that if they do not comply to heterosexual norms and standards they place themselves at risk for social exclusion and physical violence against them.
Intersectionality with other minority identities[edit]
To understand the complexity of compulsory heterosexuality, several scholars have pointed out the importance of the impact of this construct on the differential effects on all populations, including minorities. In "No More Secrets, No More Lies: African American History and Compulsory Heterosexuality", Mattie Udora Richardson discusses the additional complexities Black women face in terms of forced compulsory heterosexuality. Udora Richardson points out that, "Any divergences from the social norms of marriage, domesticity, and the nuclear family have brought serious accusations of savagery, pathology, and deviance upon Black people."[36] She argues that, as a group that is already stigmatized in multiple ways, Black women face additional pressures from both the Black and White communities towards heteronormativity. Divergences from heterosexuality place Black women in particular risk of physical harm or social exile.[36]
Audre Lorde notes in Age, Race, Class and Sex: Women Redefining Difference that "A fear of lesbians, or of being accused of being a lesbian, has led many Black women into testifying against themselves. It has led some of us into destructive alliances, and others into despair and isolation."[37]
Author L.H. Stallings and her piece, "SBF seeks Miss Afrekete: Authenticity, erasure, and same-sex desire in the personals"[38] documents the ways black lesbians often had to pursue other avenues to date or make friends as a result of discrimination in lesbian bars and spaces due to racist property owners. In order to fully understand the experience of lesbians, women of color must be included.
Criticisms[edit]
Friction developed between members of the gay liberation and lesbian feminist movement due to the emphasis on sexual orientation politics through the lens of gender politics alone. Gay liberationists argued that the complexity of sexual orientation politics cannot be easily reduced to gender politics and that women are denied rights while gay and lesbian individuals are denied existence.[11]
The theory of compulsory heterosexuality is criticized for upholding the existence of a binary gendered system and strict roles under this binary system. This criticism states that compulsory heterosexuality ignores individuals who act outside of their prescribed gender roles as well as ignores individual agency in life.[11]
Institutions such as Human Rights Campaign and Lambda Legal believe that compulsory heterosexuality is upheld by individuals and organizations, not society-wide beliefs. Therefore, as lesbian and gay visibility increases, compulsory heterosexuality decreases. As individual freedoms for sexual minorities increase, the institution of heterosexuality disappears.[11]
Influence[edit]
Rich believes that a woman is able to overcome compulsory heterosexuality by separating herself from men and entering a lesbian relationship to determine if heterosexuality is right for her. She argued that all women can be lesbians, regardless of sexual orientation, by identifying as a "woman-identified woman", meaning that the woman's focuses are on the needs and emotions of other women.[1] The concept of compulsory heterosexuality and being able to reject this notion became a core component of the lesbian separatist movement that began in the 1970s and continued into the 1980s.[39]
The creator of the theory of heteronormativity, Michael Warner, explicitly credits Rich's essay as inspiration for his theory, now considered one of the first major works of queer theory. Compulsory heterosexuality is also seen as a precursor to the development of the theory of heteronormativity, with the difference being that compulsory heterosexuality emphasizes the regulation of sexual expression in individuals.[40] The concept has also been used within asexual studies to develop the theory of compulsory sexuality which argues that in addition to being subjected to the pressures of heterosexual conformity in a heteronormative society, individuals also face the assumption that everyone necessarily experiences sexual attraction unless they are "sick, dead, or lying", leading to the erasure of asexual identities.