Toward a Phenomenology of Sex-Right: Reviving Radical Feminist Theory of Compulsory Heterosexuality

Abstract

In this essay, Miriam argues for a phenomenological-hermutic approach to the radical feminist theory of sex-right and compulsory heterosexuality. Against critics of radical feminism, she argues that when understood from a phenomenologicalhermeneutic perspective, such theory does not foreclose female sexual agency. On the contrary, men's right of sexual access to women and girls is part of our background understanding of heteronmtivity , and thus integral to the lived experience of female sexual agency.In 2004, a special issue of the Journal of Women's History devoted itself to Adrienne Rich's landmark 1986 essay, "The Lesbian Continuum and Compulsory Heterosexuality." As a contributor to this volume, Rich reflects critically, from the perspective of twenty-three years, on the shortcomings of her essay. While expressing ambivalence about the concept of the "lesbian continuum," she remains convinced of the "lasting usefulness" of her critique of the heterosexual presumption. She writes, "That new generations of young women have met with that critique for the first time in my essay only indicates how deeply the presumption still prevails" (10).My own encounters, in the past five years, with college-age women and men confirm Rich's remarks. Seasoned by mass media circulating "normal" and "likeable" images of gays and lesbians and to some degree enlightened by the educational efforts of GLBT groups on campus, many of the young people I teach hold the liberal attitude that gays and lesbians "are just like everyone else." Yet despite this spirit of tolerance for gays and lesbians, the heterosexual Hypatia vol. 22, no.

‘I have the confidence to ask’: thickening agency among adolescent girls in Karnataka, South India

“…However, because all people operate within contexts and structures that are frequently organised according to inequitable gendered norms and expectations, the level to which agency can be equated with 'empowerment' or 'transformative agency' is widely debated, and feminist authors contest the notion that agency is inherently subversive or emancipatory. Indeed, girls and women can exercise agency to serve their own interest and agendas, in ways that nonetheless reproduce gender inequalities (Kathy 2007;McNay 2000). Pereira emphasises that at times feminists privilege forms of agency that subvert or resist hegemonic discourse at the expense of other forms of agency (Pereira 2014).…”

Interrogating Norms: Feminists theorizing sexuality, gender and heterosexuality

“…In order to understand the complexity of heteronormative social relations, therefore, it is important to examine the relations among gender and sexuality in general, and heterosexuality in particular. Miriam (2007) argues that the heterosexual norm cannot be fully understood without retheorizing the connection between heteronormativity and male supremacy. She draws on Adrienne Rich's notion of 'the law of male sex-right to women' to make the point that the heterosexual norm is theorized here in terms of a relation to power.…”

Unmasking Queerness: Blurring and Solidifying Queer Lines through K‐Pop Cross‐Dressing

“…Like talnori , Korean society approves of K‐pop cross‐dressing not because of progressive advocacy of homosexuality but, rather, because of compulsory heterosexuality. Military regimes along with neo‐Confucian beliefs have stigmatized homosexuality as a “foreign” value or “mental disorder” as a means to uphold gender hierarchies and notions of the ideal heterosexual family in Korea (Bong; Lee; Miriam; Park‐Kim). In such a heterosexist structure, homosexuality's denial rather creates space for male performers to freely perform cross‐dressing roles as they are not read as homosexual.…”