"Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence" is a 1980 essay by Adrienne Rich,[1][2] which was also published in her 1986 book Blood, Bread, and Poetry: Selected Prose 1979-1985 as a part of the radical feminism movement of the late '60s, '70s, and '80s.
Adrienne Rich argues that heterosexuality is not "natural" or intrinsic in human instincts, but an institution imposed upon many cultures and societies that render women in a subordinate situation.
Adrienne Rich argues that heterosexuality is a violent political institution making way for the "male right of physical, economical, and emotional access" to women.
Rich challenges the notion of women's dependence on men as social and economic supports as well as for adult sexuality and psychological completion.
In order to gain this physical, economical, and emotional access for women, Rich lays out a framework developed by Kathleen Gough (a social anthropologist and feminist) that lists "eight characteristics of male power in archaic and contemporary societies".
Rich claims that women may not have a preference toward heterosexuality, but may find it imposed, managed, organized, propagandized, and maintained by society.
Rich argues that these myths have been accepted because of the historical lack of exposure that lesbians have received, being either stigmatized as diseased or ignored as non-existent.
Rich even goes to the extent to pose that women in the twelfth and fifteenth century, called the Beguines, shared living quarters, work and labor were even part of the lesbian continuum.
Rich thinks of the word lesbian as meaning more than a sexual attraction and physical act, but an emotional and strong bond that women can share as they go through the same experiences.