So much has been written and broadcast about the hardships endured by gay, lesbian, and trans people—we’re all familiar with queer suffering. Yet, as a society and nation, we tend to overlook or gloss over the constraints and miseries of straight culture.
In THE TRAGEDY OF HETEROSEXUALITY (NYU Press, September 2020), Jane Ward calls attention to the entrapment, disappointment, unwanted sex, and countless daily injustices endured by straight women. While conservatives have long promoted the belief that homosexual relationships are unnatural, damaged, and fraught with dysfunction, Ward examines what might be gained from raising similar questions about the health and sustainability of the heterosexual status quo.