(1980) - Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence - Adrienne Rich
This article written by Adrienne Rich directly responds to the erasure of lesbian existence within literature, in particular women of colour, due to the double bias of racism and homophobia present. She further states that this article is a means of bridging gaps between what it means to be lesbian and a feminist. There must a shift away from women being seen only has " sexual properties" of men, and move towards an acceptance of women holding full autonomy over themselves. The act of assimilation into what is politically and structurally deemed normative must come to an end.
A feminism of action, often though not always without a theory, has constantly re-emerged in every culture and in every period. We can then begin to study women’s struggle against powerlessness, women’s radical rebellion, not just in male defined “concrete revolutionary situations” […].