Sunday, September 30, 2012

Compulsory Heterosexuality

Probably following trend to everyone in the class, I had to go outside the text to understand it. Finding the definition of lesbianism, compulsory heterosexuality.
Lesbianism, defined by my best friend who is a female and who is gay, defines it as being sexually attracted to a female, and being a female yourself.

A standard response in my eyes. However, there tends to be more to the issue than just the typical response.

Rich's Compulsory Heterosexuality, thanks to Jessica Parenteau for the link, explains things in a different manner. Rich says that women should focus their energy on other women rather than men to show that lesbianism is a branch of feminism. Now feminism, is defined differently to many people. To the majority, it's fighting for the equal rights of women and everyone alike. Now, there is definitely more to it, and I am still unaware of what it means to be a feminist. Rich makes a good point that in the 1980's, when the sexual preference of someone had to be heterosexuality, it was tough on lesbians because they were either told to keep it a secret or they would tend to get fired. And not only is it tough to be a lesbian, but being a lesbian of color is worse. Also, the statement made that lesbians have only an innate sexual attraction to men but act out in the bitterness is an interesting statement. To say that lesbians only associate themselves with other women because they have some unknown bitterness towards men is an ignorant statement. Just because someone is attracted to the same sex does not mean that they have some unspoken bitterness towards the same sex. In my opinion, it's not really about the sex of someone you are attracted to. I'm not one to judge either, so love who you want to love.

A quick interview with my best friend:
Me:"Do you feel like you are a lesbian because you have a feeling of bitterness towards men?"
PG:"No, because it's like needing glasses." (Which is a reference to Greys Anatomy)
Me:"Have you had a sexual relationship with a man before?"
PG:"Yes, we dated for two years"
Me:"During that time,did you find any satisfaction?"
PG:"No, it wasn't something that felt right, and it goes back to that glasses statement"

This is the video that my friend showed me to explain how she knew she was gay.

2 comments:

  1. i like how you actually talked to someone and had them explain a little more in detail what Rich was trying to get at in the text. the video was another good touch.. i actually saw that episode :p!

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  2. I agree with you that saying lesbians are only attracted to women because of their bitterness towards men is totally ignorant. If anyone said to a man, "well, you're only gay because you're bitter towards women," people would think that is ridiculous! Apparently it means more and is more legitimate when when a man comes out as being gay than when a woman comes out as a lesbian?? I seriously don't understand some people sometimes!

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