The Sociology Book

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deny women sexuality. Child and
arranged marriage, pornographic
images that depict women enjoying
sexual violence and humiliation,
child sexual abuse, and incest—
all force male sexuality on women.
Rape is another violent tactic;
marital rape was not recognized
in many Western nations until the
1990s—a reflection of the belief
that a woman must be sexually
submissive to her husband. And
Rich says that “using women
as objects in male transactions”
is another oppressive tactic of
compulsory heterosexuality—
as revealed, for instance, in the
trafficking of women for sexual
exploitation and the use of
prostitutes for sexual pleasure.
The view, persistent in some
cultures, that it is preferable to send
the son to school because sons will
stay in the family, whereas girls
leave to join the husband’s family
after marriage, means that across
the globe only 30 percent of girls
get a secondary-school education.
A poor education will inevitably
mean poor employment prospects.
Another method whereby male
power is maintained is through the
barring of women from exclusive

clubs, and from leisure pursuits

such as golf where important

business deals might be made.

It is in these many different

ways that heterosexuality can

be understood as an institution

that operates through rigid social

constructions of gender and

sexuality. Considerable social

control, including violence, is used

to enforce these ideas of gender.

The effect is to keep women inside

heterosexuality and to ensure

that they remain subordinate

within it. A direct consequence

of heterosexuality, for Rich, is the

oppression of women.

ADRIENNE RICH

Erasure and denial of lesbianism

in history and culture is one of the

ways in which heterosexuality is

maintained. Rich contends that

society is male-identified, meaning

it is a place where men and their

needs are placed above women’s

needs. Women feel the need to look

beautiful for men, and place more

value on romantic relationships

with men than on their friendships

with women. Rich calls upon

women to try and reshape their

lives around other women—in other

words, to be woman-identified.

This does not mean that she urges

all women to give up men and sleep

with women but, rather, she wants

all women to experience that which

has arguably only been available to

lesbian communities—namely, to

love other women.

The lesbian continuum

Rich challenges preconceptions

about what a lesbian is—it is not

someone who hates men or sleeps

with women, but simply a woman

who loves women. This idea is

known as “political lesbianism”:

Rich and others saw it as a form

of resistance to patriarchy rather

than simply a sexual preference.

Adrienne Rich Feminist, poet, and essayist

Adrienne Rich was born in 1929

in Maryland. Her home life was

tense, due to religious and cultural

divisions between her parents.

Despite later identifying as

a lesbian, Rich married, in part

to disconnect from her family.

During this time she took a

teaching post at Columbia

University. Her experiences as

a mother and a wife impeded

her intellectual potential and

radicalized her politics. She was

committed to anti-war protests,

and was also actively engaged

in feminist politics and the civil

rights movement. In 1997, in

protest against the inequalities

in the US, she refused the

National Medal of Arts from

President Bill Clinton.

Key works

1976 Of Woman Born:

Motherhood as Experience

and Institution

1979 On Lies, Secrets, and

Silence: Selected Prose,

1966–1978

1980 “Compulsory

Heterosexuality and

Lesbian Existence”

[Heterosexuality] has had

to be imposed, managed,

organized, propagandized,

and maintained by force.

Adrienne Rich