632 Rich Compulsory Heterosexuality omething like that. I was an Anna who invited defeat from men without ever being conscious of it.(But I am conscious of it. And being conscious of it means I shall leave it all behind me become--but what?)I was stuck fast in an emotion common women of our time that can turn them bitter, or Lesbian or soli- ary. Yes, that Anna during that time was [Another blank line across the page The bias of compulsory heterosexuality, through which lesbian exper ence is perceived on a scale ranging from deviant to abhorrent, or simply rendered invisible, could be illustrated from many other texts than the two just preceding. The assumption made by Rossi, that women are choice is simply an acting-out of bitterness toward me g, that the lesbian innately sexually oriented"toward men, or by Less n,are by no means heirs alone; they are widely current in literature and in the social sci- ences. I am concerned here with two other matters as well first. how and why womens choice of women as passionate comrades, life partners, co-workers. lovers tribe. has been crushed invalidated. forced into hid ing and disguise; and second, the virtual or total neglect of lesbian exis- tence in a wide range of writings, including feminist scholarship. Obvi ously there is a connection here. I believe that much feminist theory and criticism is stranded on this shoal My organizing impulse is the bel ief that it is not enough for feminist hought that specifically lesbian texts exist. Any theory or cultural/ political creation that treats lesbian existence as a marginal or less"nati al"phenomenon, as mere"sexual preference, " or as the mirror image of either heterosexual or male homosexual relations, is profoundly weakened thereby, whatever its other contributions. Feminist theory can no longer afford merely to voice a toleration of" lesbianism"as an alternative life-style, "or make token allusion to lesbians. A fer minist critique of compulsory heterosexual orientation for women is long over due. In this exploratory paper, I shall try to show why I will begin by way of examples, briefly discussing four books that have appeared in the last few years, written from different viewpoints and political orientations, but all presenting themselves, and favorably reviewed, as feminist. 3 All take as a basic assumption that the socia 2. Doris Lessing, The Golden Notebook(New York: Bantam Books [1962]1977), p. 4 3. Nancy Chodorow, The Reproduction of Mothering(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978); Dorothy Dinnerstein, The Mermaid and the Minotaur: Sexual Arrangements and the Human Malaise(New York: Harper& Row, 1976); Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English, For Her Own Good: 150 Years of the Experts'Advice to Women(Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday &Co, Anchor Press, 1978): Jean Baker Miller, Toward a New Psychology of Women(Boston: Beacon Press, 1976Compulsory Heterosexuality something like that. I was an Anna who invited defeat from men without ever being conscious of it. (But I am conscious of it. And being conscious of it means I shall leave it all behind me and become-but what?) I was stuck fast in an emotion common to women of our time, that can turn them bitter, or Lesbian, or soli￾tary. Yes, that Anna during that time was ... [Another blank line across the page:]2 The bias of compulsory heterosexuality, through which lesbian experi￾ence is perceived on a scale ranging from deviant to abhorrent, or simply rendered invisible, could be illustrated from many other texts than the two just preceding. The assumption made by Rossi, that women are "innately sexually oriented" toward men, or by Lessing, that the lesbian choice is simply an acting-out of bitterness toward men, are by no means theirs alone; they are widely current in literature and in the social sci￾ences. I am concerned here with two other matters as well: first, how and why women's choice of women as passionate comrades, life partners, co-workers, lovers, tribe, has been crushed, invalidated, forced into hid￾ing and disguise; and second, the virtual or total neglect of lesbian exis￾tence in a wide range of writings, including feminist scholarship. Obvi￾ously there is a connection here. I believe that much feminist theory and criticism is stranded on this shoal. My organizing impulse is the belief that it is not enough for feminist thought that specifically lesbian texts exist. Any theory or cultural/ political creation that treats lesbian existence as a marginal or less "natu￾ral" phenomenon, as mere "sexual preference," or as the mirror image of either heterosexual or male homosexual relations, is profoundly weakened thereby, whatever its other contributions. Feminist theory can no longer afford merely to voice a toleration of "lesbianism" as an "alternative life-style," or make token allusion to lesbians. A feminist critique of compulsory heterosexual orientation for women is long over￾due. In this exploratory paper, I shall try to show why. I will begin by way of examples, briefly discussing four books that have appeared in the last few years, written from different viewpoints and political orientations, but all presenting themselves, and favorably reviewed, as feminist.3 All take as a basic assumption that the social 2. Doris Lessing, The Golden Notebook (New York: Bantam Books [1962] 1977), p. 480. 3. Nancy Chodorow, The Reproduction of Mothering (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978); Dorothy Dinnerstein, The Mermaid and the Minotaur: Sexual Arrangements and the Human Malaise (New York: Harper & Row, 1976); Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English, For Her Own Good: 150 Years of the Experts' Advice to Women (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Co., Anchor Press, 1978); Jean Baker Miller, Toward a New Psychology of Women (Boston: Beacon Press, 1976). 632 Rich