Comphet Quiz
Questions: 16 · 10 minutes
1. A friend says, “You felt nervous around that man, so you must have been attracted to him.” What is the most accurate response?
Nervousness always confirms romantic attraction
Nervousness always confirms a lack of attraction
Selecting an identity label would reveal what the nervousness meant
Anxiety and bodily arousal can have multiple causes, so context and felt desire also matter
2. Sam dated opposite-gender partners because that seemed like the expected path, then later recognized little personally felt desire in those relationships. Which conceptual distinction best helps interpret this experience?
A relationship’s duration determines the participants’ orientations
Relationship behavior or history is not identical to internal attraction
Discomfort in past relationships necessarily indicates a preference for celibacy
A person’s orientation is assigned by the partners they have dated
3. Which approach is most appropriate when someone wonders whether comphet has shaped their experiences?
Notice recurring patterns of desire, comfort, obligation, and validation without forcing a conclusion
Avoid dating anyone until every feeling can be categorized with certainty
Choose a permanent identity label immediately to prevent ambiguity
Treat one online checklist item as decisive evidence
4. Maya starts dating a boy mainly because her friends insist that every girl should have a boyfriend. She rarely considers what she personally wants and feels relieved when dates are canceled. What does this scenario most directly illustrate?
The couple simply has incompatible schedules
She necessarily has a general fear of commitment
She has conclusively identified an aromantic orientation
Conformity to a heterosexual social script may be influencing her choices
5. A family tells their daughter that her interest in women is “just a phase” and that she will eventually settle down with a man. What does this most clearly demonstrate?
Enforcement of heterosexuality as the expected and more legitimate outcome
Neutral advice about long-term compatibility
Reliable evidence about the daughter’s future orientation
A general preference for relationships that begin later in life
6. Which statement best preserves the historical context of comphet?
It emerged from lesbian feminist analysis and should be understood in relation to that history, even when used more broadly
It was created as a clinical diagnosis for anyone uncertain about dating
It means that all queer identities involve exactly the same social experiences
It originated as an algorithm for determining sexual orientation
7. What does “compulsory heterosexuality,” or comphet, primarily describe?
Social systems and expectations that treat heterosexuality as the natural or required default
A personal fear of entering any romantic relationship
The possibility that a person’s orientation may change over time
A preference for conventional roles within an otherwise freely chosen relationship
8. A bisexual woman experiences genuine attraction to men and women, but her family acknowledges only her relationships with men. How can the comphet framework apply?
It cannot apply because any genuine attraction to men rules out social pressure
Comphet pressure can coexist with genuine attraction while shaping which relationships are recognized or prioritized
Her attraction to women automatically cancels her attraction to men
It proves that her attractions are temporary or confused
9. A person enjoys receiving attention from men but repeatedly finds that they do not want romantic or sexual intimacy with those men. Which distinction is most relevant?
Public relationships are more authentic than private feelings
Enjoying validation or desirability can be different from wanting intimacy
Any enjoyment of attention is equivalent to romantic attraction
Discomfort with intimacy always establishes a specific sexual orientation
10. Which example most clearly shows a structural mechanism that can reinforce comphet?
Someone privately changes the label they use for their orientation
Two partners disagree about how much time to spend together
A person decides that dating is not currently a priority
Institutions repeatedly present opposite-gender partnership as everyone’s expected adult destination
11. Which work is foundationally associated with the concept of compulsory heterosexuality?
Judith Butler’s “Gender Trouble”
bell hooks’s “Ain’t I a Woman”
Adrienne Rich’s “Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence”
Betty Friedan’s “The Feminine Mystique”
12. Which statement best distinguishes comphet from heterosexual attraction?
Comphet affects only people who have never dated someone of another gender
Attraction caused by comphet always disappears as soon as it is questioned
Comphet concerns social pressure and default assumptions, while attraction concerns a person’s felt desire
Heterosexual attraction is entirely produced by media and family expectations
13. Lena usually names a man as her “crush” only after friends suggest him. She focuses on whether he would choose her rather than whether she wants closeness with him. What is the most careful interpretation?
The pattern definitively proves that she is a lesbian
Being interested in another person’s approval is itself proof of romantic attraction
The pattern may invite reflection on social validation versus personally felt attraction
The pattern means she should avoid all romantic relationships
14. What is the most responsible way to use the result of a comphet knowledge quiz?
Treat a high score as proof that the quiz-taker is a lesbian
Use the score to gauge conceptual understanding, not to determine sexual orientation
Let the score override the quiz-taker’s own account of their experiences
Treat a low score as proof that the quiz-taker is heterosexual
15. Which statement about dating history is accurate within a comphet framework?
Never having dated is evidence that comphet cannot affect a person
A long opposite-gender relationship always proves heterosexual attraction
Dating history alone does not allow an outsider to determine someone’s orientation
Past behavior is always a more reliable guide to orientation than present feelings
16. How can media representation contribute to compulsory heterosexuality?
By showing that every heterosexual relationship follows the same pattern
By preventing anyone exposed to diverse stories from experiencing social pressure
By causing viewers to adopt the orientation of their favorite characters
By repeatedly treating heterosexual romance as universal while making other possibilities less visible