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The Tragedy of Heterosexuality

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The Tragedy of Heterosexuality

By: Jane Ward
Narrated by: Dara Rosenberg
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About this listen

A troubling account of heterosexual desire in the era of #MeToo

Heterosexuality is in crisis. Reports of sexual harassment, misconduct, and rape saturate the news in the era of #MeToo. Straight men and women spend thousands of dollars every day on relationship coaches, seduction boot camps, and couples' therapy in a search for happiness.

In The Tragedy of Heterosexuality, Jane Ward smartly explores what, exactly, is wrong with heterosexuality in the 21st century, and what straight people can do to fix it for good. She shows how straight women, and to a lesser extent straight men, have tried to mend a fraught patriarchal system in which intimacy, sexual fulfillment, and mutual respect are expected to coexist alongside enduring forms of inequality, alienation, and violence in straight relationships.

Ward also takes an intriguing look at the multi-billion-dollar self-help industry, which markets goods and services to help heterosexual couples without addressing the root of their problems. Ultimately, she encourages straight men and women to take a page out of queer culture, reminding them "about the human capacity to desire, fuck, and show respect at the same time."

©2020 New York University (P)2020 Tantor Gender Studies Social Sciences Sociology Discrimination Marriage
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Most relevant
Loved this book more than I expected. Well written and eye opening in some of the issues it raises, giving fresh thinking on the age old topic of human relations.

Powerful and moving

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If you're heterosexual, don't let the title put you off, this book is fantastic and it's not an attack on your sexual orientation at all. if anything the author has written this as a labor of love that can help people of all sexualities understand the history behind what society currently considers "normal" and why it's harmful to *all of us* to have such a narrow view of what's acceptable or not in terms of consensual sexual interactions between adults.

for those of us who aren't heterosexual, this book is invaluable in terms of understanding historic context for current social expectations in regards to intimacy and relationships, and will give you some great facts to file into the "retorts for intolerant a-holes" folder in your mind, especially if they're claiming it's "always been this way" (regarding oppressive heteronormativity) and other such nonsense.


overall it's well written, well researched, easy to understand and worth a read for anybody interested in anthropology, social justice, human relationships. it's even more worth a read for those who might think they're not interested in such subjects. 10/10, I've read this twice now and will return to it again in future no doubt. well done and thank you to Jane Ward for such a thoughtful, factual and nuanced contribution to a subject often sensationalised and overrun with unqualified opinions

Brilliant look into history, links between eugenics in the past and homophobia today

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To many quotes, studies and movements mentioned without enough context. Quite derogatory in many parts. No solution for the perceived problem.

Shallow and questionable assumptions about men and relationships

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