General
comphet
What does comphet mean?
Short for compulsory heterosexuality. The idea that society funnels everyone into straightness by default, so many lesbians spend years assuming they like men because they were never offered another script. Used constantly in coming-out discourse, often as the 'aha' that explains the boyfriends that never quite worked. The slang shorthand 'comphet' exploded out of Tumblr's Lesbian Masterdoc.
"Looking back, every relationship with a guy was just comphet, I was performing a crush I never actually felt."
Origin
Clipped from 'compulsory heterosexuality', a concept from Adrienne Rich's 1980 essay; revived for a new generation by the viral Tumblr 'Am I a Lesbian? Masterdoc' (2018) by Angeli Luz.
Frequently asked questions
Where does comphet come from?
The concept is from Adrienne Rich's 1980 essay 'Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence'. The snappy term 'comphet' and its mass popularity come from the 2018 Tumblr 'Am I a Lesbian? Masterdoc'.
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