Blog #9 - Rupp, Rich

 

Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Experience by Adrienne Rich, is an article that discusses the means in which society imposes heterosexual relationships on women.  Compulsory Heterosexuality is the assumption that women and men are innately attracted to each other emotionally and sexually. This theory establishes heterosexuality as the norm and undermines women’s sexual, political and social autonomy.  Rich rejects compulsory heterosexuality by stating that women are inherently more loving and emotional than men. Therefore individuals of both genders should naturally be attracted to women. “If women are the earliest sources of emotional caring and physical nurture [mothers] for both female and male children, it would seem logical, from a feminist perspective at least, to pose the following question: whether the search for love and tenderness in both sexes does not originally lead toward women, why in fact women would ever redirect that search.” Rich further explains that women redirect their affection to men, because society promotes heterosexual relationships and rejects the lesbian existence because it challenges male dominance. Lesbianism is a “women identified experience” that embraces female power by rejecting the idea that women are the sexual property of men. Lesbianism is an “attack on male right of access to women” and a rebellion against our patriarchal society.  However, the belief of compulsory heterosexuality is still widely accepted because of the stigma that has been attached to lesbianism.  Rich sites pornography as one of the major reasons why lesbian relationships are considered “queer” and “sick”. Pornography degrades women and depicts them as entirely sexually beings devoid of any emotional needs or attachment. It promotes the belief that a woman is essentially a “sexual commodity” waiting to be exploited by men. Lesbian pornography on the other hand not only debases women but also portrays lesbianism as a spectacle that is neither moral nor natural.  Rich blames pornography for creating a violent sexual atmosphere in which women are stripped of their dignity and autonomy.  In her article, Rich also attacks our capitalist economy for keeping women in a subservient role. Most women are expected to have low paying service jobs (secretaries, nurses, child-care workers) and they are subjected to “perpetual sexual harassment” in the workplace.  Women gradually become accustomed to the constant harassment and accept the male violation as normal.

 

Toward a Global History of Same-Sex Sexuality by Leila Rupp is an article that explores the history and designation of homosexual relationships as same sex sexuality.  A major component to her article is the problem that arise from calling all homosexual relationships same sex sexuality.  Rupp explains through historical examples that not all homosexual relationships are sexual in nature. For example, in ancient Greece older men would have intercourse with teenage boys in order to express their power and dominance.  It has also been documented that women in history would dress up as men in order to escape female oppression and gain a higher status.  These women would have to transform every aspect of their lives, including their sexual relationships, in order to become a convincing man. Rupp argues that in this case the relationships between two women may not have been sexual, but just a necessary means to an end.  Another point that Rupp makes is that in history sexual relationships were not always dictated by the individual’s gender, but by their age or social status. For example in Athens male-male relationships were very common, and the major deciding factor for a sexual relationship was not gender but the age disparity between the two men.