#particularly those angry at the raw concept that women can be attracted to men (and claim she isn't REALLY) or erases her male friendships

[captainofthetidesbreath]

it's truly abysmal how shipping fandom has reduced the concept of compulsory heterosexuality / comphet (in all its complex, at times fraught, history as a political and theoretical concept) down to "a character I want to be in a femslash ship is not in a femslash ship"

the concept exists as a radical feminist, typically political lesbian and feminist separatist (more on that later), critique of real-world patriarchy and male power over women's sexuality, agency, creativity, freedom, and relationships in a way that prevents women from having fulfilling, enriching, and dynamic relationships with other women of all types for the purposes of isolating them and forcibly re-focusing their energy into controlling heterosexual relationships and reduces women solely to objects for male desire and power

compulsory heterosexuality also is actually not a fully accepted critique or lens, particularly in the way that it is applied and articulated within political theory, as it's been criticized for its generally rigid adherence to gender binary and conceptualization of strict gender roles and for its lack of intersection with individuals who function or identify outside of gender binary. it has also encountered criticism in how it articulates sexual orientation and politics through gender alone, and does not make a lot of room for other axes of sexual identity, politics, and other factors of identity.

it is also important to understand that the the concepts of "compulsory heterosexuality" and "heteronormativity" are actually somewhat different concepts discussing a similar area (different emphasis, different history, different political associations), and that the concept of compulsory heterosexuality is a core and critical tenet of the feminist separatist movement and political lesbianism, which urges that all women (even those who are not wlw) should and must choose to eschew all relationships with men in all contexts.

in that context, with the relationship of compulsory heterosexuality to feminist separatism and political lesbianism, it actually does worry me that many shipping fandoms who are fixated on this concept constantly say essentially "icb this woman is attracted to a man at all, it's comphet" bc there is a very real connection between this concept and the idea that all women should simply choose never to fuck men, that women have a political responsibility to excise men from all aspects of their lives, to view all men as their enemies, and that any woman with any relationship (of any type) with a man is complicit in her own oppression (which, I won't unpack here why this is horrific, bc this is too long as is and too concise articulation will be misconstrued, but it is Yikes, to put it lightly).

I do actually find it alarming how some shipping fandoms that constantly cry "comphet!" are consistently incredibly angry about the idea ANY woman will have a relationship with or be attracted to a man and believe that EVERY woman should choose to be a lesbian and eschew all relationships with men in the exact political pattern.

the concept of compulsory heterosexuality in queer and feminist spaces is actually very complex, and at times very fraught within the academic and political discourse, and it's actually really insane and in some measure alarming what shipping fandom is doing with it

#this is way longer than I wanted it to be but i found this in drafts #but anyway I do generally distrust any shipping subset that waves 'comphet!' around too much #and is obsessed with labeling every female character (including those shown to be attracted to men) as a lesbian #particularly those angry at the raw concept that women can be attracted to men (and claim she isn't REALLY) or erases her male friendships #because there is a......... sticky sticky sticky sticky history SPECIFICALLY with the relationship between comphet as a concept #and specific feminist political movements that are.... very much yikes