Who Is Adrienne Rich's Compulsory Heterosexuality?

In Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence, Adrienne Rich argues that heterosexuality is not natural, but an institution imposed upon many cultures and societies that makes women inferior. Rich believes that compulsory heterosexuality leads to a loss of power. Society has a constructed a myth, were it is believed that women are drawn to men, women need men as social and economic protectors, and that the heterosexual family unit is the basic social unit. Lesbianism is assumed to be synonymous with man-hatred, despite the unacknowledged fact of the basic misogyny embedded in the culture. Rich writes this essay to inform women of the restrictions placed on them, but also to assist them gain the power that was stripped from them. Rich supports her argument by including excerpts from other scholars who support her argument, such as Audre Lorde. Rich and Lorde makes similar arguments were women live a double life, where women make life tolerable for each other. They encourage women to reclaim themselves from the institutions that oppress them in numerous ways, by informing them of the intuition of …show more content…
Rich and Lorde describe how men’s desire toward women and women’s desire toward men are seen in the heterosexual world: men’s sexual desire is overwhelming, unstoppable, “all conquering”, and always carries a sense of adolescent immaturity (Rich 301); for women, it is characterized by the sexual and erotic responsibility as a wife, and the construction of “love” and romance that asserts that women are naturally drawn to men. Women according to Lorde are taught to separate the erotic from the most important parts of their lives other than sex. Both scholars understand the importance of inclusion and participation, as it allows women to pursue change within the world, rather than settled for a shift of