“Compulsive Heterosexuality”

Exhibiting masculinity may seem like a generally simple concept, but it applies to many aspects of our everyday lives. Pascoe, in her book Dude, You’re a Fag, calls this concept of “constellations of sexualized practices, discourses, and interactions” “compulsive heterosexuality.” This term does not refer to a sexual orientation. Rather, it refers to a variety of behaviors, social interactions, and institutional structures. This is a good umbrella term for a lot of different physical, verbal, and emotional actions. Pascoe describes how male students exhibit compulsive heterosexuality verbally when referring to their sexual interests. It is all about “the ability to exercise mastery and dominance literally and figuratively over girls’ bodies.” Whether a boy is objectifying, privately or publicly, a woman’s body directly at her or in the company of other men/boys, these are forms of compulsive heterosexuality. Pascoe examines how masculinity is present in not only in media, sexual practices, and desire but also in politics. This leads to how it also affects economics and gender inequality in both physical and emotion ways. It can be seen in television shows, clothing ads, or unequal pay wages between men and women. Compulsive heterosexuality is not reserved for the bedroom. In fact, in most cases, it is a public, yet subtle, display of male dominance. It is a way that “’eroticizes male dominance and female submission.’” It is the combination of “ritualized interactions” that create compulsive heterosexuality. I would even argue that compulsive heterosexuality could also apply to women to a certain extent. Women sometimes emasculate men by talking about them in a diminutive and/or domineering way. Although women do not have equal political rights or fair representation in the media, woman can use social interactions in a compulsive heterosexual way. This behavior is an interesting and prominent issue in modern society.