Body image, compulsory heterosexuality, and internalized homophobia

ABSTRACT Body dissatisfaction in lesbians is a subject which has traditionally been ignored in the psychological literature on body image and eating disorders. Early feminist theorists and researchers argued that body dissatisfaction in women developed as a way of dealing with the oppression and misogyny they are faced with on a daily basis. However, these theories failed to take issues of race, class, and sexual orientation into account, thereby excluding the experiences of a diversity of women. This article focuses specifically on the lesbian experience and explores how cultural messages about thinness, femininity, and heterosexuality shape lesbians' feelings about their sexuality and about their bodies. Through the inevitable process of internalizing homophobia and fat hatred, both of which are institutionalized ways of keeping heterosexuality and female oppression in place, lesbians may begin to believe that there is something inherently wrong with them and with their bodies. This article explores how the impact of racism, classism, sexism, and homophobia on women may provide a more comprehensive understanding of the cultural forces behind women's dissatisfaction with their bodies.