Compulsory Heterosexuality - Essay Example

Explain some of the ways that Compulsory Heterosexuality is produced and how it might be resisted. Introduction: Every human being is born with an innate potential for sexual expression. It depends on the nature of the society to which he belongs as to how much of it is actually realized. Sexual behavior adopted by children is usually what has already been accepted by their society to which they are born. However different societies have varying ideas of tolerance when it comes to sexuality. Many acts considered taboo in one society may be considered a ritual in another. This paper looks at how compulsory sexuality is produced and how it may be resisted in a modern setting. In the process, the paper will review relevant literature that provides views and opinions on the topic before arriving at a logical conclusion. Compulsory sexuality – production and resistance: Captain Cook in his 1769, ‘Account of a voyage around the world’ has described how he witnessed a Tahitian having sex with an eleven year old girl in public as part of a religious custom. (Hawkesworth 469). If the same thing had happened in modern America, the man would have been called a ‘pedophile’ and arrested for the rape of a minor, the girl would have been labeled a delinquent and the spectators would have been arrested for viewing a public act of lewdness. What appears as sinful to the rest of the world had a religious connotation to the Tahitians. In fact they even had a community of priests who gave sexual performances as part of religious rituals. Sexuality in society is inextricably linked to a variety of factors including religion, traditions and local laws. Saint Augustine in his book “The city of God’ has mentioned that “sexual intercourse is always performed with lust and therefore needs to be hidden…..and why so if not because that which is by nature fitting and proper is so done as to be accompanied by the penalty of shame” (Augustine 579). The prudishness with which sexual activity of any kind is considered in many of our civilized societies can be seen here. It is a fact that when it comes to sexuality or sexual preferences there are no social norms. It depends on the tolerance of the community in question. This essay shall try to understand how compulsory heterosexuality was produced and how it can be resisted. The influence of films and television episodes will also be studied. The term ‘compulsory heterosexuality’ was coined by Adrianne Rich in an essay in her book ‘Blood, Bread and Poetry’. Heteronormativity refers to the socially accepted norm that only heterosexuality exists in society. According to it only opposite sexes are attracted to each other and only this sexual reality exists in society. Compulsory heterosexuality refers to the result of the attempts made by various aspects of the society in undermining the importance of homosexual relationships. The various aspects of a society include everything ranging from religious beliefs to the print media. Rich further opines that heterosexuality is propagated by the society to permanently put women in a position always secondary to the man. It is constantly drilled into a woman’s mind from her birth that she is inferior to a man. The impression she is given is that the only purpose for her existence is reproduction. In many societies across the world a woman’s role is mainly child bearing and housekeeping. Rich further elaborates on the evils caused by compulsory heterosexuality, exploitation of women, rape and molestation which constantly reminds her that she is the weaker part of society and men are superior to her, discrimination against women in the workplace and so on. A woman in society is not given a chance to consider the options she has regarding her sexuality. Any attempts made by her to break free from this mould is frowned upon and dealt with seriously. According to Rich, suppression of a woman’s sexuality is done in order to deny her the economic freedom and the rightful place she has in the society. By denying her economic freedom she is constantly under the impression that she cannot live without the support of a man and has to endure everything that he does to her. She also says that compulsory heterosexuality propagates theories that only a man can sexually satisfy a woman and this prevents a woman from exploring her body and experimenting with her sexuality thus preventing her from having a relationship with another woman. Adrianne Rich also encourages all women to indulge in some form of lesbian relationship to explore their sexuality and then make a choice. She believes that all women pass through a phase she calls lesbian continuum and she gives the example of the pleasurable feeling that a mother feels while breastfeeding a female infant. She asserts that to understand the term ‘lesbian’ one has to think of it in terms of lesbian continuum or lesbian existence. However she is against viewing homosexuality in men and the lesbian experience in the same way. According to her even though they have worked together in during gay rights activism, homosexuality in men and women are two different things and must be viewed differently. The fact that lesbianism has been entirely ignored by writers and the print media also receives mention in her essay. She analyses four books that in spite of being concerned with matters relating to female sexuality and feminism fail to acknowledge lesbianism and compulsory heterosexuality. There are many reasons for the propagation of the idea of compulsory heterosexuality. The first and foremost being religion. When sex itself is considered a shameful act it is of little surprise that homosexuality is condemned. The following are some passages from the Bible that are related to homosexuality. “Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable (Leviticus 18:22)” “If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads” (Leviticus 20:13). It must be noted that emphasis here is on homosexuality among men. A same sex relationship among women is not even acknowledged here. Apparently it was considered too blasphemous even to be regarded as possible. Different Christian denominations also have a policy of intolerance towards homosexuality. The Adventists, Baptists, Christian reformed church, Methodists, Catholics all support heterosexuality. Though homosexuality is in violation of the laws of Islam, the punishments differ. “Virtually all of the major religious traditions-Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism have espoused the principle that the husband is the breadwinner and the wife is the homemaker” (Bancroft, 1987;Mclaughlin, 1974;Reineke, 1989) (Spilka 188). The structure of a family propagates the idea of heterosexuality. “The family as a social institution does not of itself condemn homosexuality but through its mere existence it implicitly provides a model that renders the homosexual experience invalid”. (Plummer, 1975 p-210) Social activities like proms result in students being forced to believe that they are meant to be with members of the opposite sex. “Yet investing in romance is also a way boys can demonstrate their identities as men at the prom. Given that they are still able to claim heterosexual agency, a central component of masculinity.” (Best 66). Attraction towards the opposite sex and the ability to satisfy the woman sexually is often seen as the yardstick to measure masculinity. When a girl is with a boy and it makes her feel special she is not likely to approach another girl for a similar relationship. On the contrary there is a chance that she may harbor a sense of sexual competition towards all girls in case her boyfriend feels attracted to one of them. “Many expressed that they had experienced considerable pressure from parents, teachers and peers to go to the prom even though they didn’t want to.”(Best 94). Prom night is one of the first occasions in an American teenager’s life when he or she is forced to bond with the opposite sex. Parents support it in order to make sure that their son or daughter is sexually oriented in a socially acceptable way. According to Amy Best, there are schools that allow same sex couples to attend prom on the condition that they prove to the management that they are really gay. With this rule in place the school has probably made sure that gay couples don’t attend prom. Photographers compose photos differently depending on the subjects included in them. For a typical boy-girl photo the subjects are made to pose in a way that brings out the sense of romance between the two. When the subjects are girls, the same pose is not adopted. (Best 101). Fiction plays an important part in promoting heterosexuality as a norm. Romance novels portray a woman as pining for her lover who usually is a man who is either a poor man with a good heart or a member of royalty. In his book ‘Sexuality’ Joseph Bristow mentions the book ‘The well of loneliness’ which was one of the first books to have a female protagonist who ‘sacrifices her love for a feminine young woman, knowing that her girlfriend would be happier and safer in a sexual relationship with a man.” (Bristow 51). Even the episode in which Stephen, the protagonist experiences physical love is handled with a lot of discretion. The only words that hinted at lesbian sex in a novel that spanned 400 pages were “and that night they were not divided”. According to Julie Abraham, ‘novels construct heterosexuality as a norm’. A lesbian plot consists of a woman facing problems of not being heterosexual. So eventually the topic is about a woman facing an identity crisis in a heterosexual society not of her trying to adjust to the lesbian society. “Heterosexuality remains the precondition for whatever is being addressed, whether that is the intricacies of particular relationships, adolescent angst or adult ambition” (Abraham 3). ’ Depiction of women in pornography also promotes heterosexuality. It is evident that lesbian videos are made with a man’s sexuality and his gratification in consideration. “It (pornography) widens the range of behavior considered acceptable from men in heterosexual intercourse-which reiteratively strips women of their autonomy, dignity and sexual potential, including the potential of loving and being loved by women in mutuality and integrity” (Rich 234). The concept of lesbianism has been misrepresented in movies. Lesbians are usually shown as “sadistic, ruthless antisocial, perverse, lacking in maternal instinct, predatory, anti-male, lecherous and sick.” (Darren 4). A typical lesbian in a Hollywood movie wields an ice pick and is prepared to even kill a man to attain the heterosexual woman she is obsessed with. In her book ‘Lesbian film guide’, Allison Darren comments that when an audience sees a lesbian on screen they want to know why she ended up being one. The reason that she could be a lesbian just because of her sexual orientation is not usually accepted. Eventually the character is portrayed as being mentally imbalanced or the result of a broken marriage and hence a lesbian. Heterosexual women in our society view these characters with the satisfaction that they met the specification that the society set for them. Actresses who portray lesbians on screen are suspected to be so in real life too. Any heterosexual character portrayed by her after that is not accepted wholeheartedly. The only actress who could do so in spite of having open relationships with women was Marlene Dietrich. For many heterosexual people the only contact they have with a gay person is through a television screen. It is through sitcoms and talk shows that they meet them. The concept of reality in television is very different from what is usually seen in the real world. Many people are not aware of that and they tend to believe whatever they see on T.V. it must be understood that scripts for sitcoms and even the format for talk shows are created for the heterosexual viewer alone. Politically and morally correct views are propounded and the viewer will accept it as long as it is only on the television. What seemed acceptable on TV may seem blasphemous to him when it happens in his own family. It was in the 1990s that gay characters started making their appearances in popular sitcoms. Will and grace, and Friends addressed certain issues. No opinions or judgments were passed about the community because all references were based on situations that were concocted to elicit canned-laughter from the audience. For example there was a situation in Friends where Ross suggests a threesome as an idea to his wife just to add a spark to their sex life and realizes that his wife has homosexual feelings. Eventually they get divorced and his wife moves in with her girlfriend. Even though this is a very fictitious situation it addresses the possibility that there may be young mothers out there who have same sex feelings in spite of being in a heterosexual relationship. Will and Grace, a sitcom about a gay attorney sharing accommodation with an attractive woman was also directed at the heterosexual male. Both sitcoms only discuss the problems caused to heterosexual characters arising out of the homosexual nature of other characters and not the sexual politics faced by lesbian characters among themselves. Women must be aware that there are better thing in life than trying to conform to the rules of a society that is intent on stifling her preferences throughout her life. Osho Rajneesh in one of his discourses had said that even though humans have to legally attain an age of majority to apply for a driving license, more important decisions like what religion to follow are taken for them without their approval. Being born into a religion automatically makes it blasphemous for the individual to doubt it. The same can be applied to sexuality too. Heterosexuality is accepted as a norm and women having been dependant for centuries follow suit. Many women are not even aware of other options and even when they become aware it is through a cloak of negativity, cynicism and contempt. There are many ways to combat compulsory heterosexuality. One major factor is the support a woman receives from her family. Families must be more unorthodox in their sexual beliefs. Girls must be well educated and aware of the options they have. According to Rich, feminism and lesbianism must be seen as parts of each other. After all feminism is the belief in women’s rights and choosing her sexuality is a right that every woman should have. Even though it is not possible for a parent to openly endorse homosexuality in a family, he or she must be mature enough to accept the fact when it becomes evident that the child has made such a decision. That maturity comes from the fact that the parent is well informed. Even though the portrayal of lesbians on TV has not been very real, there have been some instances when some characters have captured the imagination of women worldwide. Maggie Doyle’ played by Jorja Fox on ER was one such character. Jorja’s character was the exact opposite of the usual portrayal of lesbians. She was a good, compassionate woman who stood up against her boss and even encouraged others to do the same. She supported a colleague who was HIV+ and encouraged her to sue the company for discrimination. These sitcoms try to propagate the idea that lesbians are similar to other women except for the fact that they sleep with women. It must be remembered that these characters must seem real and likeable and they must have characteristics worth emulating. Television must stop trying to cater to the heterosexual male’s fantasies. Because it is when they try to do it that facts get twisted and lesbianism gets separated from feminism. “It would be foolish to expect heterosexual feminists to produce lesbian films, but if their films are meant to describe the reality of women’s experience they must include lesbians as part of that reality” (Becker, Citron, Lesage, Rich ). However, when a lesbian makes a movie about homosexuality there is usually a lot of expectation from the gay community. There are no sterner critics of lesbian films than lesbians themselves. The world of storytelling has made significant development in the fact that lesbianism is acknowledged and plots include lesbians and gay characters. But the obstacle of accurate and decent portrayal is yet to be surmounted. When women are economically independent, it makes a lot of difference in the decisions they make. There is a possibility that when women feel that they can take care of themselves they make bold decisions regarding their sexuality. They tend to experiment with their sexuality. This can help them make a decision on whether to be gay or straight. The usual trend is that more lesbians are visible in cities. A reason for this could be the fact that women are more successful in their careers and feel that they have the right to make a decision without any interference from their families. When a woman is dependant and she chooses to be a lesbian, the entire society blames her family for having raised her the wrong way. But when she is successful in her career and capable of handling her affairs she automatically becomes responsible for her triumphs and also her tribulations. “The development of a homosexual society seems to depend in large part on society’s intolerance for homosexuality and the resulting desire to weaken the stigma imposed by the outside society” (Clinard, Meier 431). There is a popular misconception that members from the gay community are people with a criminal bend of mind and that they opt for homosexuality only because they have contempt for the values of a society. Apart from the fact that they have differing views on sexuality gay people share the same feelings of patriotism, love for society and social welfare. The gay community must work towards eliminating the stigma forced upon them by the society. They must indulge in activities that support the community they are from. They must engage in educational and political activities and work towards the development of the local community. They must erase the image from the heterosexual society that they are different from them. When a society realizes that members of the gay community and the heterosexual community must work together for the common welfare they will come to terms with the fact that they can peacefully coexist with each other. This might lead to a day when compulsory heterosexuality is not enforced upon the society. Even though it will take time there is a possibility that people will come around to acknowledging the fact that a lesbian or a gay member in a family is not such a bad thing. Conclusion: In conclusion it must be understood that not every woman secretly wants to be a lesbian. It is only a matter of sexual preference and it differs from person to person. However everybody must be given complete freedom to make the choice. They must be given an opportunity to explore all avenues possible and make a decision. Instead of living all their lives in regret about a choice they should have made, individuals must have the freedom to choose for themselves. Cinema and television are just mediums of expression. Even though portrayal of lesbians and gays in cinema and television is unfair, the blame for the stigma towards the homosexual community cannot be put on them. If a person knows a member from the gay community personally and has a good opinion about him or her he is not going to believe everything he sees on TV. Gays and lesbians have a responsibility towards their own community and the society. As long as the society is convinced that having homosexuals in their midst will not disrupt their way of life there will not be any problem from their side. Having said this it must also be said that homosexuality can never take the place of heterosexuality in the society. They will forever remain a minority and it is up to them to create a positive impression of themselves and thus gain acceptance. References Augustine. City of God. London: Penguin group, 1972. Bernard, Spilka. The psychology of religion: an empirical approach. New York: Guilford Press, 2003. Best, Amy L. Prom nights: Youth, Schools and Popular Culture. London: Routledge, 2000. Bristow, Joseph. Sexuality. London: Routlegde, 1997. Clinard, Marshall B,Meier,Robert F. Sociology of Deviant Behaviour. California: Thomson Wadsworth, 2008. Creekmur, Corey k and Doty Alexander. Out in cuture: gay, lesbian and queer essays on popular culture. London: Duke university press, 1995. David M Halperin and Michael Barale. The lesbian and gay studies reader. London: Routledge, 1993. Fantina, Richard. Straight writ Queer:non normative expressions of heterosexuality in literature. North Carolina: McFarland and company Inc.,, 2006. Harris, Anita. All about the girl: Culture, power and identity. London: Routledge, 2004. Julie, Abraham. Are girls necessary?: Lesbian writing and modern histories. New York: Routledge, 1996. Parker, Richard G and Aggleton Reter. Culture, Society and sexuality:a reader. London: University College Of London Press, 1999. 13 March 2010 http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/ATLAS_EN/html/sex_and_society.html Read More