heteropessimist

From hetero- +‎ pessimist.

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heteropessimist (plural heteropessimists)

1. (neologism) One who espouses or exemplifies heteropessimism.

   Synonym: heterofatalist

   • 2021, Marni Appleton, “Feeling Straight: Heterosexual Fatigue in 'Cat Person'”, in Alluvium: 21st-Century Writing 21st-Century Approaches, volume 9, number 3:

     Heteropessimists are keen to distance themselves from the “awfulness” of heterosexuality and frame their own continued attachments as a kind of “prison” (Seresin).

   • 2022, Billy Holzberg, Aura Lehtonen, “The affective life of heterosexuality: heteropessimism and postfeminism in Fleabag”, in Feminist Media Studies‎^[1], volume 22, number 8, page 1911:

     For Berlant, “the fantasy life of normativity” (2011, 167) is precisely such an object, and correspondingly, despite all evidence to the contrary, the heteropessimist continues to optimistically tether her desires to a world and to relationships ill-equipped to meet them.

   • 2024, Samantha Pinson Wrisley, “Heteropessimism and the Pleasure of Saying "No"”, in Capacious: Journal for Emerging Affect Inquiry‎^[2], volume 3, number 2, page 39:

     As with the feminist heteropessimists, the heteropessimistic nature of The Black Pill seems to function as an “anesthetic feeling,” succinctly captured in the idea that "the game is rigged from the start."

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:heteropessimist.

heteropessimist (comparative more heteropessimist, superlative most heteropessimist)

1. (neologism) Related to, characteristic of, or exhibiting heteropessimism.
   • 2022, Billy Holzberg, Aura Lehtonen, “The affective life of heterosexuality: heteropessimism and postfeminism in Fleabag”, in Feminist Media Studies‎^[3], volume 22, number 8, page 1911:

     Rather, we are identifying a particular heteropessimist sensibility that critiques the gendered constraints of the institution of heterosexuality while simultaneously embracing them—albeit with flat and cynical detachment.

   • 2024, Stephanie Tsz Yan Ng, "On Compromise: Neoliberalism, Postfeminism, and the Disappointed Promise of Personhood", thesis submitted to University College London, page 55:

     In heteropessimist fashion, she resents her husband’s neglect and find his habits “irritating,” yet she remains attached to him, dredging up romanticized possibilities of belonging to manage her homesickness (Cusk Kudos 53).

   • 2025, Javier Sethness Castro, Tolstoy's Search for the Kingdom of God Gender and Queer Anarchism‎^[4], unnumbered page:

     In this vein, her fate may convey Tolstoy's heteropessimist critique of toxic masculinity, male sadism, and straightness, as reflected in the "happiness and pride" that Vronsky takes in his "conquest" of her person, which made him feel like a "tsar."

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:heteropessimist.