A review by tinido
The Tragedy of Heterosexuality by Jane Ward

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.25

Essential read for everybody interested in understanding heterosexuality and why it so obviously not working for most women (and a lot of men, too) and making the miserable up to actually harming them IS part of the appeal of heterosexuality or its core mechanism. Ward shows what a recent "invention" heterosexuality is and how it is connected to specific forms of white imperialist capitalism and eugenics.  She talks about the heterosexuality repair industry and how its making female suffering and male unavailability and cruelty to a rite of passage into straight-hood, from marital hygiene of the early 20th century to PUAs and relationship coaching agencies and the contemporary heteroromantic entertainment complex, that  reinforces and adapts heterosexuality to fit transformations in society and economy. It's very accessible, using no academic jargon, and even funny in places. 
My only criticism: I think the discussion on how heterosexuality is attractive to women because it gives them access to resources and a desired social status could have been a bit more extensive.