The construction of female homosexuality in Adrienne Rich’s poems

The main purpose of this paper is to reflect on the different female subjects brought up by Adrienne Rich's poetry. Based on the selected corpora of the American poet, the aim is to reflect on the process of constructing the subjectivity and sexuality of these subjects in contemporary times, in opposition to the female figure present in the discourse of hegemonic heteronormativity. Detached from the social representations that assume that the female body is merely a male object and going beyond the notion that a woman's sexual possession is a factor that maintains the social order, Rich's lyrical self is therefore the subject formed by and in difference, a figure marked not only by their gender, but by their race, class, language and cultural representations. Today, with the multiplicity of values, meanings and representations, the centralized and static female subject is losing its place to a contradictory, dynamic and fragmented figure, the result of her experiences. From this perspective, it is understood that Rich's poems discussed here constitute a space for reflection on the hegemonic discourse and social practices guided by Western culture.