The Sociology Book

307

Hollywood films such as Basic

Instinct that depict lesbians as killers

provide an ideological endorsement

of lesbianism as threatening and

deviant and heterosexuality as normal.

Modes of dress that restrict women’s movements

are designed, Rich argues, to inhibit women’s

freedom and prevent them from moving outside

and participating in the public sphere,

independent of men: they can then,

she says, be kept under control by

men within compulsory

heterosexuality.

The veil and niqab

Corset

High heels Bound feet

Tight dress

power over women as the key
to understanding women’s
subordinate position.

The power of ideology
Rich discusses many of the ways in
which the ideology of compulsory
heterosexuality “forces” women
into sexual relationships with men.
The unequal positions of men and
women in the labor market, for
instance, can result in women
being financially dependent on
men. And the pervasive myth that
women are at risk of male violence
in public spaces, and should
restrict their movements and
seek male protection, is another
example of how women are coerced
into heterosexual relationships.
Women are encouraged to view
themselves as sexual prey, and
men as “natural” sexual predators
(reinforced by beliefs such as
stranger danger), so entering into
heterosexual relationships offers
women a (false) sense of security.
Despite increasing numbers
of people opting to delay marriage,
many young women still perceive
it as a normal and inevitable part
of their lives: this expectation
is an important aspect of Rich’s
argument about the compulsory
nature of heterosexuality. Once
again, ideology helps shore up
heterosexuality through the
promotion of romantic narratives
in films such as Titanic and fairy
tales like Cinderella.
So prevalent is the idea of
heterosexuality in society that
people are assumed to be
heterosexual unless they declare
otherwise. The irony then is that
when lesbians or gay men “come
out” they are viewed as being
more sexual than those who do

not have to. Heterosexuality

therefore carries with it an

insidious assurance of normality.

Oppressive tactics

Karl Marx argued that capitalism

is, in part, maintained through

violent actions such as conquest

and enslavement. Heterosexuality,

Rich contends, can be viewed in

a similar way. Under conditions of

compulsory heterosexuality, men

and women no more choose to be

heterosexual or homosexual than

a worker chooses wage labor.

Alongside the symbolic violence

of ideology, physical violence is

often used to control the behaviors

of women. Acts such as female

genital mutilation and punishment

for female adultery or lesbianism ❯❯

See also: Karl Marx 28–31 ■ Judith Butler 56–61 ■ R.W. Connell 88–89 ■ bell hooks 90–95 ■ Sylvia Walby 96–99 ■
Steven Seidman 326–31

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