Prompt #6 Compulsory heterosexuality is the idea that everyone is heterosexual unless otherwise proven. This concept is present in a lack of sex education for people other than heterosexuals, the assumption growing up that children will eventually marry the opposite sex, the process of “coming out,” and the automatic assumption that people you meet are heterosexual. In Laurel Gilbert’s, “You’re Not the Type” she directly mentions the theory of compulsory heterosexuality when she talks about what it was like growing up in a small town in Utah and unknowingly being in the closet. Growing up she developed a crush on her best friend Kris. They often talked about the future with homosexual overtones (“we’ll be old and gray, two mean old ladies on our front porch, and …show more content…
An example is given of a story about a young man who has sexual desires for one of his teammates, and instead of acting on them by accepting them, he lashes out at the boy by teasing him. The young man, scared by the thought of being gay, must not only prove he is not gay by participating in sports, he must also tear down other boys who are perceived as gay, least he be the one receiving the harassment. (Messner, pages 362-363) Analyzing the boy’s decision to engage in sports and his behavior towards other boys who might also have same-sex desires, Messner mentions the Freud “bisexual theory.” Sigmund Freud believed most people are born bisexual, but will “grow out” of this “behavior.” But why do they? A large part is the cultural forces that lead many people to suppress absolutely any form of same-sex desire, much like what the young man in the Messner piece does. (Messner, pages 363-364) If compulsory heterosexuality is the idea, hegemonic masculinity is one of those cultural force that helps uphold