638 Rich Compulsory Heter from woman-identified values. These forces, as I shall try to show, range rom literal physical enslavement to the disguising and distorting of possible options I do not, myself, assume that mothering-by-women is a"sufficient cause " of lesbian existence. But the issue of mothering-by-women ha been much in the air of late, usually accompa anied by the view that increased parenting by men would minimize antagonism between the exes and equalize the sexual imbalance of power of males over females These discussions are carried on without reference to compulsory het- erosexuality as a phenomenon let alone as an ideology. I do not wish to psychologize here, but rather to identify sources of male power. I believe large numbers of men could, in fact, undertake child care on a large ale without radically altering the balance of male power in a male In her essay"The Origin of the Family, "Kathleen Gough lists eight characteristics of male power in archaic and contemporary societies which I would like to use as a framework: men's ability to deny wo exuality or to force it upon them; to command or exploit their labor control their produce; to control or rob them of their children;to confine them physically and prevent their movement; to use them as objects in male transactions; to cramp their creativeness; or to withhold from them large areas of the society's knowledge and cultural attain ments. 4( Gough does not perceive these power-characteristics as specifically enforcing heterosexuality: only as producing sexual in equality ) Below, Goughs words appear in italics; the elaboration of each of her categories, in brackets, is my own Characteristics of male power include the power of men 1. to deny women [our own] sexuality [by means of clitoridectomy and infibulation; chastity belts; punishment, including death, for female adultery; punishment, including death, for lesbian sexuality: psychoanalytic denial of he clitoris; strictures against masturbation; denial of maternal nd postmenopausal sensuality; unnecessary hysterectomy; pseudolesbian images in media and literature; closing of archives and des of documents relating to lesbian existence 2. or to force it [male sexuality] upon them [by means of rape(including marital rape) and wife beating father-daughter, brother-sister incest; the socialization of women to feel that male sexual"amounts to a right; 1s idealization 14. Kathleen Gough, The Origin of the Family, "in Toward an Anthropology of women, Rayna[ Rapp] Reiter(New York: Monthly Review Press, 1975), Pp 69-70 ry,PP.216-19Compulsory Heterosexuality from woman-identified values. These forces, as I shall try to show, range from literal physical enslavement to the disguising and distorting of possible options. I do not, myself, assume that mothering-by-women is a "sufficient cause" of lesbian existence. But the issue of mothering-by-women has been much in the air of late, usually accompanied by the view that increased parenting by men would mninimize antagonism between the sexes and equalize the sexual imbalance of power of males over females. These discussions are carried on without reference to compulsory het￾erosexuality as a phenomenon let alone as an ideology. I do not wish to psychologize here, but rather to identify sources of male power. I believe large numbers of men could, in fact, undertake child care on a large scale without radically altering the balance of male power in a male￾identified society. In her essay "The Origin of the Family," Kathleen Gough lists eight characteristics of male power in archaic and contemporary societies which I would like to use as a framework: "men's ability to deny women sexuality or to force it upon them; to command or exploit their labor to control their produce; to control or rob them of their children; to confine them physically and prevent their movement; to use them as objects in male transactions; to cramp their creativeness; or to withhold from them large areas of the society's knowledge and cultural attain￾ments."14 (Gough does not perceive these power-characteristics as specifically enforcing heterosexuality; only as producing sexual in￾equality.) Below, Gough's words appear in italics; the elaboration of each of her categories, in brackets, is my own. Characteristics of male power include: the power of men 1. to deny women [our own] sexuality [by means of clitoridectomy and infibulation; chastity belts; punishment, including death, for female adultery; punishment, including death, for lesbian sexuality; psychoanalytic denial of the clitoris; strictures against masturbation; denial of maternal and postmenopausal sensuality; unnecessary hysterectomy; pseudolesbian images in media and literature; closing of archives and destruction of documents relating to lesbian existence]; 2. or to force it [male sexuality] upon them [by means of rape (including marital rape) and wife beating; father-daughter, brother-sister incest; the socialization of women to feel that male sexual "drive" amounts to a right;15 idealization 14. Kathleen Gough, "The Origin of the Family," in Toward an Anthropology of Women, ed. Rayna [Rapp] Reiter (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1975), pp. 69-70. 15. Barry, pp. 216-19. 638 Rich