Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence

by Adrienne Rich

In this essay, Adrienne Rich coined the term “compulsory heterosexuality”, now often shortened to “comphet”, for an oppressive social dynamic that affects all women and queer people, particularly examining the ways compulsory heterosexuality affects lesbians.

Also published in Blood, Bread, and Poetry: Selected Prose 1979-1985.