1.5/5 (1 star for the work itself but added a half of one for the importance of this conversation)
really interesting essay. although there's a lot of praise for this work, i do feel like the criticisms and negatives of this essay need to be addressed. like the other reviews said, this is definitely outdated and there are many, many controversial things that should 100% be talked about when praising this piece and should not be looked away from at all.
rich's underlying tokenizing tone of women of color to prove a point, definite lack of intersectionality, radical feminist terf rhetoric, claiming all women are lesbian in a way, and her assuming the hijab is "oppressive" is extremely frustrating and angering.
it's an expressive piece that addresses gendered oppression to the lesbian identity through a “feminist” point of view and logic that is easy enough to understand and is 100% a needed conversation we need to have in society today, but the negatives definitely outweigh the positives of this piece.
her incredibly binary view of things is again, frustrating because mentioning non-binary and trans lesbians' would add to the nuance of lesbianism for comphet and additionally, our personal experiences with gender as lesbianism does not conform to societally gender norms is a definitive struggle that is important to the lesbian experience. however, i did like how rich describes heterosexuality as an institution.
i do recommend those interested to read this, especially non-terf feminists and sapphics, but not to idealize her writing in any way like many have, but to use this piece as intense criticism for the patriarchy AND radical feminism. the topics that rich addresses are important but her transphobia and ignorant point of view made the piece ultimately too upsetting to enjoy like i saw many others doing. the term compulsory heterosexuality is a term we need to go more in depth with and help others in our community understand, but this is not the piece to do so with.

Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence - Likewise Book Reviews

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